Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) advocates integrity and ethical balance among its members and the industry at large, and would take disciplinary action against any member in contravention of these principles, the industry body said in a statement on Friday.

“Our members subscribe to the Cesa Business Integrity Management System and, should any member be found to be unethical, anyone is welcome to contact Cesa, which will investigate the matter and impose strong sanctions for any transgression,” warned Cesa CEO Graham Pirie.

The statement was issued in response to comments made by Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi at the inaugural South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions conference on Thursday, in which he criticised Cesa’s anticorrupution ‘war chest’.

Engineering News Online reported in February that Cesa had established an initial R1-million anticorruption ‘war chest’, which it planned to use in the coming months to take legal action against municipalities and private companies that it suspected of having acted illegally in the award, or securing of contracts.

However, while Nxesi said he “encouraged” Cesa’s fight against corruption – even if this meant taking government to court – he argued that both the public and private sectors were guilty of transgressions, and advised the industry organisation to similarly investigate itself.

“There is a perception that only government is involved in corruption; however, both big companies and government are involved. You cannot have a corruptor without a corruptee. As such, we encourage Cesa to go beyond investigating tender irregularities and look internally,” he commented.

Pirie, however, emphasised the council’s commitment to combating corruption of any kind in the private sector, saying that Cesa had motivated the concept of signing an Integrity Pact at project award stage, which would commit all parties to the principle of integrity during project delivery.

“We would like to dispel any animosity between ourselves and the department, and wish to partner with government to effectively counter the scourge of corruption.

“We agree with the Minister that the country is engaged in a life and death struggle against corruption, where one of the solutions lies in ensuring that the professionals we train have a strong sense of professional ethics and service,” he noted.