There is a need to regulate engineers in South Africa to ensure the safety of citizens from a public works perspective, newly appointed Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) CEO Sipho Madonsela tells Engineering News.

He states that engineers are responsible for much of the country’s infrastructure, which is ultimately used by the general public, and adds that it is important for engineers to be properly regulated to ensure the safety of South Africans.

“The public must rest assured that their health and safety, and the engineering profession, are in safe hands,” Madonsela proclaims.

ECSA is mandated by government to regulate the engineering profession, he says, but adds that there are legislative concerns that need to be addressed.

“The challenges are many and enabling legislation has gaps that need to be tackled,” Madonsela says. He explains that some of these gaps are that the term ‘engineer’ is not defined or protected in the legislation, that the practice of engineering is not exclusive to registered people and that it is not compulsory for an engineer to register with a professional council.

Special categories for engineering practice need to be defined to regulate all engineers to ensure an optimal relationship with all stakeholders, as it is to the benefit of all involved if the entire profession is registered, Madonsela says.

ECSA is collaborating with companies that employ engineers to ensure that engineers are registered with the council. Madonsela says government is aware of the challenges and has indicated that it will take the necessary steps to alleviate some of them.

To ensure that the engineering profession remains relevant, it needs to be ahead of technological advance, he notes; it is, therefore, important to collaborate with other bodies internationally to achieve this.

Madonsela does not believe that there is a shortage of engineering skills in South Africa and says that, although many have qualified as engineers, they are not employed because they have not acquired the necessary experiential training.

“There is an acknowledgement by government [that there is need] to bridge the gap between the demand for skills and the availability of skills through student subsidies; [this means] that government believes that the country does have engineering skills. The problem is that we don’t have a way of communicating to industry the amount of available skills that is actually available.”

South Africa is a bank of high-end skilled engineers that draws multinationals to operate in the country, with the country also being used as a springboard for these multinationals into other African countries, Madonsela states.