SOUTHERN CAPE BUSINESS NEWS - Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) President Abe Thela stressed the necessity of an unhindered roll-out of Government's National Development Plan (NDP) for the sake of the country's economy and its people, of whom almost a quarter are unemployed and 48% are living below the poverty line.

Unemployment and inequality are the biggest drivers of instability and the country is sitting on a time bomb, he warned.
Referring to the NDP's objective of reducing unemployment to 6% and growing the economy to triple its current size by 2030, Thela said the NDP has all the requisite ingredients to succeed, but only implementation will differentiate it from the other plans that came before it. An estimated 2,4 million job opportunities could be created in the next three years if the whole infrastructure budget for this period - R827-billion - is spent.

However, 'cyclical and inconsistent' spending and underspending of the budget "robs the nation of the much needed infrastructure and will, in the long-term, impact negatively on the objectives of the NDP". Government will have to speedily address poor planning and the lack of capacity and engineering skills in the public sector in order to correct this expenditure pattern, he said.

Another factor that needs urgent attention is the procurement process of consulting engineering services by Government, which is based on price and BBBEE, with functionality and quality only used as a minimum pre-qualification threshold. "In fierce competition, as is currently experienced, the tendered prices are below input costs, which compromises the ability of the industry to innovate, train staff and attract young engineers to the industry."

He explained that costs are usually highest in the planning phase of a project and that decisions made during this phase can have a far-reaching impact on the project construction, operation and maintenance costs as well as the reliability of the service provided by the constructed infrastructure.

Thela also pointed out that poor, and lack of, maintenance of existing infrastructure is causing premature failure of infrastructure, putting pressure on an already strained Government budget. "Costs associated with maintenance are a fraction of reconstruction costs once the infrastructure has collapsed. It also disrupts service delivery, which contributes to rampant service delivery strikes and a decline in investor confidence."

Other factors that impact on the industry and country as a whole include 'rampant' corruption, which has led to wasted infrastructure funds running into billions, as well as the poor quality of education.


At the Cesa annual general meeting last Thursday night at George Lodge, from left: Cesa President Abe Thela, Southern Cape Chairman Francois van Eck, CEO Lefadi Makibinyane and Jacques van der Merwe from Aura Holdings. Photo: Alida de Beer

ARTICLE: ALIDA DE BEER, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST

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