The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) says that it is undeterred by the allegations made by the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) over the legitimacy of ECSA’s fifth-term council, which was appointed by Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi in July 2016.
Saice, along with other voluntary associations, has applied to the High Court to have the current ECSA council members suspended.
In response to the allegations, ECSA stated that the council nomination procedure was done in accordance with the requirements of Section 4 of the Engineering Profession Act.
“As a statutory council that regulates and registers engineering practitioners, ECSA’s mandate is ‘subdued’ to the Department of Public Works (DPW), which upholds the legislative authority for the built environment in its entirety. ECSA is the second respondent in this matter,” the industry body said in a statement.
Saice CEO Manglin Pillay told Engineering News that several voluntary associations within the engineering fraternity had expressed concern over the legitimacy of the new council.
In December, nine such associations, all ECSA members, submitted their concerns to both ECSA and the Minister.
The DPW said in a statement that it had received “the grievance of disgruntled ECSA members, [some] of which are those who were not reappointed into the [council]”.
“The Minister and Deputy Minister Deon Viljoen have considered the matter and the outcome of the investigation will be made known to the affected parties in due [course]”, the statement read.
ECSA stated that it reserved the right not to make any further comments until the court ruled on this matter.
“We remain focused and committed to the achievement of our legislative mandate.”