Highlights from the CEO

ISO 9001: 2015 Audit – on 9 May 2019 CESA successfully underwent our re-accreditation audit and we are pleased to announce that we will retain our ISO accreditation.
 
FIDIC-GAMA Conference 2019 – CESA has agreed to take over the hosting of the GAMA Secretariat, following the termination of the agreement between GAMA and the Association of Consulting Engineers Kenya (ACEK). As part of this responsibility we have been actively assisting the current hosts of the FIDIC-GAMA 2019 Conference which is being hosted by the Uganda Association of Consulting Engineers (UACE) from 10 -12 May 2019 in Kampala. Members planning to explore business opportunities beyond the borders of South Africa wishing to network with Engineers from as many as 16 other African countries can confidently book their seats at the Conference by visiting https://fidicgama2019.com
 
Presidential Visit to North West Branch – On 11 April 2019, the CESA President travelled to Mahikeng to host the annual Presidential visit to the region. The evening function was well attended particularly as it took place after the YPF Lekgotla held earlier in the day. During the day’s activities the Branch elected a new Committee and Chairperson who were warmly congratulated at the evening’s function.
 
Presidential Visit to Mpumalanga Branch – On 29 April 2019, the CESA President travelled to Nelspruit to host the annual Presidential visit to the region. The evening function was attended by a few members and representatives from client bodies such as the Mpumalanga Department of Roads, Works and Transport. This was followed by a YPF Lekgotla the following morning to canvas more YP’s to get involved in the local YPF Chapter. Further work will have to be done to ensure continuity of the Branch as there are challenges with getting more involvement among local firms in the Committee. The closing down of various regional offices by member firms has unfortunately also affected the effective functioning of the Branch.
 
State of lawlessness in the construction sector – While CESA has had no acknowledgement from the President’s Office of our petition signed by at least 30 industry associations and voluntary associations across the construction sector value chain to demonstrate the full impact of this lawlessness, it is pleasing to note that the initial SAFCEC letter to the President and a follow-up letter, resulted  in the SAFCEC CEO having a cordial meeting on 23 April 2019 with Minister Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Economic Development. Feedback is that Government is seriously concerned about the challenges of lawlessness facing the construction sector (and other industries) and that the President intends getting involved immediately after the elections. The meeting with Minister Patel was simply to convey the message from the President and no specific discussions took place. It was, however, confirmed that CESA will be part of the invitees to discussions with the President when these do take place.
 
Discussing ‘fee basket’ with CBE – I am currently in discussion with member firms who volunteered their services to compile a list of recommendations to resolve the unsustainable discrepancies existing between the built environment professions wrt the ‘fee basket’ in multi-disciplinary projects (predominantly in building projects). This is in preparation for the meeting CESA intends having with the CBE.

Contractual Affairs, Procurement & Membership

Classic case studies in risk management – There is a worthwhile article on Infrastructure Intelligence (16 April 2019) consisting of ten cases every consulting engineer should know. Case studies are a vital tool for learning and risk management experts at specialist insurance broker Griffiths & Armour have picked out and explained ten classic legal cases that every consulting engineer should know and be aware of. Read more

Counting the cost of infrastructure delays - A new report on infrastructure delivery across the globe has uncovered the huge direct cost to economies of poor delivery. Read more

Writing to Clients on members’ behalf – Members are reminded that a primary benefit of CESA membership is that CESA will actively take up matters with clients on behalf of members who can then remain anonymous.  Most often, such cases involve procurement irregularities pertaining to public sector clients. Kindly bring these matters to the attention of Wally Mayne at wally@cesa.co.za if you would like CESA assistance.

CESA Contractual Affairs Helpdesk – Member are also reminded that CESA is willing to assist members with their Contractual Affairs queries involving topics such as fees, ethics, contractual arrangements, procurement legislation, QMS, Sustainability Management Systems, etc. It should be borne in mind that CESA does not offer professional legal advice, however CESA has access to a vast pool of expertise amongst our members from whence we source advice when necessary.  You are welcome to address queries to Wally Mayne at wally@cesa.co.za if you would like CESA assistance/comment.

CESA Practice Notes – CESA is pushing ahead with the updating and re-organisation of these useful Practice Notes reflecting ‘best practice’ in the consulting engineering sector. It will take some time as there are currently over 90 Practice Notes to be revised.
Members are reminded to make use of these practice notes that are reserved for their use only. They can be found in the Members Section of the CESA website at http://www.cesa.co.za/node/19 A username and password can be obtained by phoning CESA’s Ms Gillian Wands at 011 463 2022 during office hours.
 
Contract documents – CESA is in the process of exploring the options of granting the rights for the sale of the CESA Forms of Agreement (Model Professional Services, Short Form of Agreement, Sub-consultancy Agreement, JV Agreement * Pre-Bid (JV) Agreement) both on-line and hard copy to reputable external service providers in order to expand the market for these documents.
In addition, members are encouraged to purchase the standard contract documents they require from the CESA Bookshop and to respect the copyright of these documents, especially the CESA Forms of Agreement. The full range of hard copy documents stocked by CESA as well as the online documents (CESA, PROCSA & JBCC), and can be accessed via the CESA website bookshop link http://www.cesa.co.za/bookshop.
To order a hard copy or make enquiries, kindly contact CESA’s Ms Patience Tsotetsi at 011463 2022 during office hours.

School of Consulting Engineering

HR Forum held 17th April 2019 - CESA hosted a very successful HR Forum meeting filled with information sharing and networking, which 26-member firm’s HR practitioners attended.  CESA would like to thank all the companies that attended.  The agenda was packed full of HR industry related topics, such as, a presentation by Sue Botha (PE Corporate Services) on the CESA Annual Salary Survey. Chris Campbell (CESA CEO) introduced attendees to CESA and gave feedback on the Construction Sector Charter and its Council as well as promoting the CESA/ISFAP (Thuthuka) Bursary Scheme. Wally Mayne, CESA’s Contractual Affairs Manager, gave an update on the status of the CESA sustainability and reporting process. Mevashnee Naidoo (Chairperson of the CESA HR Forum) gave interesting feedback on various labour relation changes, such as, paternity leave, changes to the CCMA rules and National Minimum Wage. Make sure not to miss our next HR Forum meeting happening in July 2019.

SCE Training Course Calendar - All engineering practitioners registered in a professional or specified category with ECSA should submit their CPD credits annually. In every 5-year cycle, a total of at least 5 validated credits (50 hours) must have been accumulated in ECSA’s Category 1: Developmental Activities. A maximum of 4 credits can be accumulated annually.  Why not, in the month of May, get your CPD training under your belt, so that you don’t fall behind and then struggle when it comes to re-registering with ECSA.

You might want to consider attending one the following courses:

To access our comprehensive list of courses and to book online please visit: http://www.cesa.co.za/scecalendar

Marketing and Communications

2019 CESA Aon Engineering Excellence Awards - The deadline date for full submissions is Thursday the 23rd May. The winners of the Awards will be announced at a formal banquet being held at the Vodacom Dome in Midrand on Wednesday the 14th August 2019. 

Social Media – We have seen a steady increase on our social media platforms with our LinkedIn page becoming the 2nd most followed CESA social media platform.

Join the conversation by connecting with us on Social Media:
Facebook: 8,101 followers
Twitter: 3,095 followers
LinkedIn: 3,576 followers

AVE (Advertising Value Equivalent) Report - The CESA Blue Book provides a record of the coverage that CESA has received in the news in addressing and highlighting industry issues over the past month.  A schedule of the AVE (Advertising Value Equivalent) is to give you an indication of the value that these articles hold for CESA and the Engineering Sector. 
Click on the link below to gain full access to the Report and articles:
https://www.redbook.co.za/share/book/d5abedb904af4188223229da205a7204

Communications – Below is a selection of some of the coverage that CESA has received during April:
 
Engineering News – Education Important for the Future of Industry - https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/education-important-for-future-of-industry-cesa-2019-03-14/searchString:CESA
 
Mining Weekly - Improvement in Mining will Manifest only in Time -https://m.miningweekly.com/article/improvement-in-mining-industry-will-manifest-only-in-time-2019-04-26/searchString:CESA
 
IMIESA Magazine – Ensuring Professional Ethical Infrastructure Services
 
Construction World – CESA Responds to 2019 Budget - http://crown.co.za/latest-news/construction-world-latest-news/8999-cesa-responds-to-2019-budget-speech
 
Financial Mail Business Essentials – CESA has been featured in articles:
-       Infrastructure and the Constitution
-       Fostering Partnerships http://businessessentials.co.za/digital_publications/fmce2019/

Member News

Annual Declarations and subscriptions – Thank you to the majority of firms who have updated their 2019 Annual Declaration and paid subscriptions for the current financial year.  A final reminder was sent to the balance of members on 15 April 2019 and steps will be taken to suspend their membership in due course. 

New member – CESA welcomes MNE OAK (Pty) Ltd.

International Arup expert speaks on building fire safety at Johannesburg conference - Arup’s global fire engineering skills leader responsible for technical quality and investment in innovation and research and development, Dr Susan Lamont, spoke on ‘Safeguarding the fire strategy for the life of a building’ at the IFE Fire Safety Professional Development Seminar 2019 on 4 April 2019 in Sandton. Dr Lamont who is currently based in Dubai, has worked in the fire protection industry for 19 years in the UK, USA, Middle East and most recently South Africa. Read more
 
SMEC supervises major road upgrade project launched in Tanzania – This member firm is supervising the construction of the Mbinga – Mbamba Bay Road Project launched by President of Tanzania, Dr John Joseph Magufuli,  on 7 April 2019. The project in the Southern part of Tanzania, involves upgrading 67km of road to bitumen standard. It will link the Indian Ocean with Lake Nyasa. Read more.
 
Bosch Projects engineer wins award - Ms Jeshika Ramchund, Lead Engineer – Developments, for Bosch Projects, was presented with the 2019 South African Professional Services Awards (SAPSA) Engineering Young Professional of the Year Award, at a function held in Johannesburg recently. Read more

SRK on safeguarding the environment as Brulpadda gas find excites SA – Although news of the large Brulpadda gas find off South Africa’s southern coast has raised hopes that the local oil and gas sector may hold considerable economic treasure, experts emphasise however, that all environment risks need to be properly mitigated in the process of exploiting these resources. It is positive to note that the country has access to considerable environmental expertise and experience in this specialised field. One such expert is SRK Consulting principal environmental consultant Sue Reuther who warns that a discovery like Brulpadda could, if viable, still take a decade to bring into production. Read more

Arup court project opened by President Ramaphosa – The President together with acting Gauteng premier and basic education MEC Panyaza Lesufi officially opened the Booysens Magistrates’ Court, for which Arup provided transport, civil and structural engineering services, in Oakdene, Johannesburg on 28 March 2019. Read more

Official hand-over of Botswana community water supply scheme – on 20 March 2019 the Habu Community Water Supply project was formally handed over to the Government of Botswana. JG Afrika designed and developed the scheme that has been successfully managed by the Habu Community for two years to provide a reliable supply of water to the remote settlement even in prevailing drought conditions. Read more.

Sector News

Changes announced to water dept’s procurement processes - Water and Sanitation Minister Gugile Nkwinti on Tuesday announced a revamp of the procurement and project management processes or infrastructure projects within the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), in an effort to tackle corruption within the department. Read more

Work to start on LHWP Phase II diversion tunnels this month - The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) recently announced the awarding of the contract for the construction of the Polihali diversion tunnels to SCLC Polihali Diversion Tunnel Joint Venture (JV). Phase II will increase the current supply rate of 780 million m3/annum incrementally to more than 1 270 million m³/annum. At the same time, it will increase the quantity of electricity generated in Lesotho and is a further step in the process of securing an independent electricity source to meet Lesotho’s domestic requirements.

NSTF Bursary Service - As a member of the NSTF, CESA has noted that NSTF lists a number of the available bursaries in the science, engineering &technology (SET) sector. Read more

SA’s $8 billion Megacity development dead in the water - Six years ago Chinese development group Zendai Developments announced its intention to build an $8 billion city (around R84 billion at the time) in Modderfontein in the east of Johannesburg. Read more

Upcoming Industry Events

FIDIC GAMA 2019 Conference - Uganda (Kampala) from 12-15 May 2019

FIDIC 2019 Conference -Mexico City from 8-10 September 2019

IMESA 2019 Conference -Durban ICC, from 2 - 4 October 2019, visit www.imesa.org.za

CE-news Contributions: 
• Email or phone Bonolo Nkgodi at bonolo@cesa.co.za or 011 463 2022 to contribute news, comment etc.
• Email Wally Mayne at wallym@cesa.co.za if you work for a member firm and would like to receive a copy of this newsletter direct.
• News of member firms is usually provided by the firms themselves or copied from their newsletters or the media.

Copyright © CESA 2019