Company Announcement - South Africa’s three leading civil engineering organisations have become the first Associate Members of The Concrete Institute.

Bryan Perrie, Managing Director of The Concrete Institute, says the new Associate Members are:
• Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA);
• The South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC); and
• The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE).

The three organisations will be represented on The Concrete Institute Board together with representatives of the three cement producers, Lafarge, Sephaku, and AfriSam, who founded The Concrete Institute in 2013. The addition of the three new Associate members to The Concrete Institute marks the start of the implementation of the Institute’s mission, stated in 2013 at its establishment following the closure of the Cement & Concrete Institute, to not only concentrate its technical and educational services on the cement and concrete industries, but to broaden its operations to also include complementary organisations in the South African building, construction and engineering sectors.

Perrie says The Concrete Institute is delighted to have the three respected and influential South African civil engineering bodies as Associate Members. “Civil engineers play a vital role in the building and construction industry. They are responsible for planning, designing, building and maintaining infrastructure such as dams, bridges, water distribution networks, railways and runways, roads, sanitation systems, even cellphone towers – everything that adds quality to South Africans’ lives. Having the construction industry on board, is a major step towards The Concrete Institute and its members being able to speak with one voice to assist government in the implementation of the National Development Plan to the benefit of employment and the general economy.”

SAFCEC was founded in 1939 as the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors and re-registered in November 2013 as the South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors. The Forum has played a major in developing South Africa’s infrastructure, which has been the foundation of the country’s economic prosperity. Consulting Engineers South Africa is “The Voice of Consulting Engineering in South Africa”. CESA actively promotes members’ joint interests and provides quality assurance for clients.  Over 500 firms - employing well over 23 300 staff - are members of CESA and are responsible for 80% of the government’s infrastructure spend. As the South African representative of one of the world’s oldest construction professions, SAICE seeks to advance professional knowledge and improve the practice of civil engineering.

SAICE has a proud history spanning more than a century with over 12 000 civil engineering professional members, making it the largest body of its kind in South Africa. Perrie said The Concrete Institute was hoping to persuade other building and construction bodies with similar missions to join the Institute.