Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) is hosting its annual Infrastructure Indaba on 11-12 March 2020 at the Spier Conference Centre, Stellenbosch. Held in the Western Cape this year, the event aims to foster partnerships between government and the private sector, particularly the engineering sector, and capacitate the channels of service delivery through cooperation and the development of common goals. The Indaba will be a platform to engage, network and share best practice required for improved service delivery within the built environment.
The official welcome will be provided by CESA President Sugen Pillay who will be followed by Western Cape MEC for Transport and Public Works, Bonginkosi Madikizela who will provide the opening remarks and the introduction to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, who is the keynote speaker at this important event.
This year’s speaker line-up features engineers, academics, economists, government officials and leaders in key industries. The session on Infrastructure Investment and Development features a speaker list including Head of the Infrastructure and Investment Office in the Presidency Dr Kgosientso Ramokgopa, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)’s Head of Infrastructure Fund Dr Sean Phillips, Chief Investment Strategist at Investec Chris Holdsworth and the DBSA’s Product Development Specialist for Structured Products Johann Lübbe. Deliberation in this session are highly anticipated by delegates, especially after the discussions CESA has held with Dr Ramokgopa which were followed by an invitation to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Special Engagement on Infrastructure Development at Tuynhuys on the 18th February.
In the Public Sector Procurement in the Construction Sector session, Auditor-General Thembekile Kimi Makwetu joins South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma, Phiwengesihle Mashabane from the Chief Procurement Office and the Construction Industry Development Board (cidb)’s Ishmail Cassiem.
The third and final session of the first day will have Med-Tech Engineers Managing Director & CESA Gauteng Branch Chair, Gift Mphefu sharing the stage with Stellenbosch University ‘s Prof Coenrad Fourie, presenting on Engineering Innovation and Technology.
The second day of the Indaba will be kicked off with a Transformation – Gender and Business session which will see CESA Past President and Innovative Transport Solutions Director, Lynne Pretorius sharing the podium with Matleng Energy Solutions CEO, Corrie van der Wath and Gestión Engineering and Project Consultants’ Walter Scharf. This session will be facilitated by Refilwe Lesufi, a CESA Board Member and Director at Prana Consulting.
The session on Infrastructure Project Opportunities will be facilitated by PRDW Consulting Port and Coastal Engineers Director and CESA Western Cape Branch Chairperson, Sahil Patel. Speakers in this session will include the City of Cape Town’s Ben Peters and Airports Company South Africa’s Adéle Klingenberg.
The final speaker of the Indaba is Political Analyst Dr Ralph Mathekga who will unpack the political environment before the event is brought to a close after the presentation of resolutions by Programme Director, CESA CEO Chris Campbell.
Organizations and individuals interested in attending were encouraged to visit the CESA Infrastructure Indaba landing page on https://cesa.co.za/indaba/to register.