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<p align="justify" class="style1">I strongly believe that Consulting Engineers should be seen as a National asset responsible for underpinning the economy, for without Consulting Engineers nothing happens! Without infrastructure development including stadiums, transport systems, roads, harbours and airports there would not be a 2010 Soccer World Cup. This has informed my theme for the past year which is “Consulting Engineers, We Shape Your World”.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The past year has been very interesting and fulfilling in a number of ways. We have become more vocal as the consulting engineering industry and have provided comment and leadership on a number of industry related issues. In our quest to go beyond communicating with only ourselves, other built environment professionals, contractors and client bodies, we continue to push the boundaries and communicate with the society we serve, the opinion leaders, the legislators as well as the policy makers. I would like to extend a special thanks to the media who have been very supportive and assisted us in making sure that our voice is heard by the general public. We believe that this positive engagement will help us to claim back our rightful place in society as well as ensure that the vast majority of intelligent youngsters will aspire to be engineers and that the majority of those who choose to join our profession will be drawn into the consulting engineering industry.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The new brand identity was launched in August this year, having followed due process in terms of our constitution. The benefit of the new name, Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA), is that we eliminate the confusion which existed about our separate identity from the South African Institution of Civil Engineers (SAICE). More importantly, this has given us the opportunity to re-launch and reposition ourselves as the "Voice of Consulting Engineering" in South Africa. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">We continue to engage with policy makers and legislators on a number of issues relating to our industry. The one issue that is in the public arena is the proposed Amendments of the Statutory Regulatory Framework of the Built Environment Professions which seeks to replace the current councils such as ECSA with a single council called the South African Council for the Built Environment Professions. There has been an overwhelming industry response against this and we are hopeful that our inputs will be considered with the seriousness they deserve. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">We as Consulting Engineers are living in exciting times with our sector at the forefront of the most intense amount of infrastructure development to be seen in this country in the last 30 years but as we are all well aware sustainable growth is not without its challenges. The skills shortage is the single biggest issue facing the industry that may lead to a crisis affecting our ability to refurbish, maintain and develop infrastructure but it must be noted that the shortage of professional skills is an international problem, affecting not only South Africa.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">CESA continues to fully support the Government’s Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA) and Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Aquisition (JIPSA) initiatives and we have continued to pursue these with the relevant authorities to ensure that the activities of members are informed by and comply with their strategy. We at CESA also continue to believe, apart from specialist skills, that South Africa has the human capital available in our country and that we must allow our citizens to derive the benefit of increased job opportunities that are developing. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Our Young Professionals Forum has been very active during the past year and has gone a long way in implementing their business plan for 2008 and beyond. Through this, they have become an integral part of our strategy and are playing a pivotal role in attracting more young people to a career in engineering and into the practice of consulting engineering in particular. They have also been very active in promoting mentorship of our own young professionals through sharing of experiences and knowledge with one another and with member firms. This has resulted in us creating a new category of Mentor of the Year in our Annual Excellence Awards for 2008, which was very well received by members.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">CESA’s School of Consulting Engineering has implemented its 2008 CPD Accredited Training Programme which provides cost effective training designed to build a resource of holistic engineers and consulting engineers. As we are all aware the Construction Industry SETA (CETA) is not addressing Built Environment Professional needs at a critical time. We are in constant contact with the CETA as well as the Department of Labour in order to ensure that Built Environment Professions (BEP) funding is more effectively used to grow professional learnerships, bursaries and subvention for continual professional development. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Another initiative in the pipeline from the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) is the creation of a national Register of Professional Service Providers including consulting engineers. Public sector bodies will, once the register is gazetted, have to select a consultant from this register. This, in conjunction with the Engineering Council of South Africa’s move towards compulsory registration of professionals will ensure that only properly qualified engineers will be able to do engineering work. This will make it increasingly difficult for disreputable service providers to prey on uninformed clients. We continue to provide a supportive role to the CIBD in producing the register. We have communicated with them the reservations that our members have raised with certain aspects of the proposed register. It is encouraging to see the positive engagement from the CIDB and we believe they are engaging in a spirit of partnership with our sector. We understand that the CIDB is working towards rolling out a pilot phase of the register during the second quarter of 2009. However, this will be done in partnership with the stakeholders.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">I believe that consulting engineering procurement methodologies should be embedded in our country’s overall strategic innovation system. Best practice procurement methodologies recognizing VALUE enhance country competitiveness. It is a fact that a consulting industry grows fastest in countries displaying a progressive knowledge economy. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Despite the significant increase in workload, competition in tendering remains keen with many firms resorting to discounting of fees to obtain work which is damaging to long term business sustainability. In order to address this issue, CESA convened a Procurement Indaba earlier this year to critically examine the Consulting Engineers’ procurement model with a view to producing a set of guidelines for members and clients. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">In summary, there was general support for doing away with ECSA fee scales in their current form and to let market forces prevail in setting prices in a manner that is not detrimental to long term business sustainability. The general view was that consulting engineers need to learn how to price and package the quality element. The fact is that competition and price are here to stay and the task remains as to how to influence the process to ensure that we receive properly scoped bids, and that price plays a secondary role to quality. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The task for the CESA Council was later to decide as to what extent and how to re-organize the fee scales. This included creating a time frame in which fee scales might become vaguer. There is also a need to educate both members and clients on procurement principles. CESA is developing a Best Practice Guideline as well as a framework for the Scope of services, project definition and terms of reference. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">We are partnering with the CIDB and have created a Task Team and Reference Group for this process. The new Best Practice Guideline for Procurement is at fairly advanced stages of development by this grouping and will be taken on a road show to the branches where interaction with members and clients will be encouraged. Once there is buy in from members, we will then adopt this as our new procurement model.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">CESA has developed a Section 21 Special Purpose Vehicle named the Project Development and Facilitation Alliance (PDFA) to assist with support to the Department of Provincial and Local Government and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. CESA is involved in a number of initiatives currently being implemented in an effort to assist local and provincial governments to enhance service delivery. The main challenge that the industry faces is dealing with an uninformed client, particularly at local authority level, as well as facilitating accelerated service delivery. Disaster management assistance to government in regard to flood damage in the Western Cape, fire damage in the Eastern Cape and tidal damage in KwaZulu Natal are other examples of projects undertaken.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">CESA is not only concerned with the development of South Africa alone but also in the development of the African continent. The International Business Development Section of CESA has been converted to a Section 21 Export Council, named Built Environment Professionals Export Council (BEPEC), embodying the Built Environment Professionals through the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) and The Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS), who are both currently on board. The purpose of BEPEC is that we get added support from the Department of Trade and Industry plus a 50% subvention in regard to operating costs which will allow them to service members more effectively increasing capacity with increased foreign missions and lobbying and liaison with governments both locally and abroad.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Construction Sector has deliberated and finally agreed a sector specific Charter, a process that has taken four years. I believe that the industry has made great strides in terms of transformation but is important to maintain continuity. The Construction Industry Charter gives measurable outcomes with targets ensuring greater certainty. The process leading to the gazetting of the charter under section 9, which makes it law, proved to be more challenging than was originally envisaged. However, the construction industry representative bodies finally reached agreement on all issues that were raised during the third party review process, resulting in Minister Thoko Didiza signing the charter for onward transmission and approval by the Department of Trade and Industry. We hope that their review will be completed before the end of this year.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The International Federation of Consulting Engineers or FIDIC to which CESA belongs, has produced a number of toolkits including their Business Integrity Management System (BIMS) and the Government Procurement Integrity Management System which was launched late last year at the bi-annual meeting of multilateral development banks in Washington. This system is part of the industry response to world wide concerns of corruption. The adoption of this system, which is an addendum to ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System, illustrates that firms are serious about eradicating corruption. FIDIC reports a particularly positive response from South African firms towards the adoption of the BIMS. We continue to appeal to all members to adopt BIMS in their companies and be part of the industry’s drive to eradicate the scourge of corruption in the construction sector.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">I believe that sustainable construction is globally moving to centre stage since 40% of energy related to green house gases are related to buildings. Many countries, including South Africa, have set up Green Building Councils to address these issues and create increased awareness. Graham Pirie, CEO of CESA has been appointed as a Director of the Green Council of South Africa and will seek to ensure that environmental issues are brought to centre stage in CESA itself and member firms as a whole. We, as the Built Environment industry, are being looked to for solutions to reduce further global warming as sustainability starts in the design phase and Consulting Engineers are innovators that can make a difference. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">We fully embrace ISO 9001:2000 with 2008 being the crunch year for members of CESA. By December of 2007 all CESA members must have adopted, implemented and maintained a Quality Management System in order to remain a member. This is an essential component of Risk Management which is so critical when the industry is working close to 100% capacity. Members cannot afford the negatives associated with project failure. CESA published a Risk Management Implementation Guide to assist in this process. 87% of members have complied thus for with this requirement and Council took a resolution to put the remaining members on notice. If they still fail to comply by the due dates, this will lead to suspension of membership.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers, members of Council and the Executive Committee that have worked tirelessly to contribute to the success of our organisation in ensuring a sustainable industry. A special thanks to Graham Pirie, CEO of CESA, for his knowledge, effort and leadership in the running of the day to day affairs of the organisation. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">In conclusion CESA through its member firms continues to build a strong and sustainable Consulting Engineering industry serving the interests and needs of society in an expanding economy. It must be noted that CESA is not an island and we continue to work closely with our partners in the Built Environment Professionals grouping governed by a Memorandum of Understanding to ensure a common approach to issues affecting the broader industry. Signatories of this MOU include bodies representing Architects; Quantity Surveyors; Project Managers; SABTACO and CESA.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The past year has been very interesting and it has indeed been a pleasure serving CESA as its President. I look forward to serving the interests of all our members during the coming year.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>Felix Fongoqa</strong><br />
President 2008/9</p>
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<p align="justify" class="style1">When reflecting on and reviewing the past year it becomes abundantly clear once again how dynamic and changeable everything is. The world is in a state of flux which impacts on our local environment that is also undergoing considerable and rapid change whether it is social, financial or economic. Looking at our local economy as reflected in a bi-annual Management Information Survey (MIS), and despite global economic turmoil, our members continued to do a roaring trade on the back of continued major infrastructure spend by the public sector at all levels. Gross fixed capital formation surged to 22% of GDP and was set to continue to 25% in the foreseeable future, this being the target of the Minister of Finance. There was major public sector spend in almost every arena including ports, power supply and distribution, logistics, road and rail infrastructure and the list appears endless. Although expenditure surrounding the 2010 soccer world cup was important this paled into insignificance compared to total infrastructure spend which is anticipated to be R582billion over the next 3 years. Unfortunately, private sector spend slowed slightly being negatively impacted by continued and increasing interest rates. Local political uncertainty began to impact somewhat with slower public sector decision making exacerbated by poor capacity and increasing tendency by the client base to become uninformed in relation to the procurement of services from our sector. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The number of member firms decreased from 470 to 456 but this was rather a reflection of increasing merger and acquisition activity and consolidation of the industry than loss of support to CESA. Total numbers of staff employed surged to in excess of 18 000 the highest since the mid 1990’s. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">In this volatile environment CESA decided to interrogate the Consultants procurement model since despite increased work opportunity, unreasonable discounts were still being offered to client entities often impacting on service quality. To this end a Procurement Indaba was constituted involving in excess of 100 delegates. As a consequence Council gave approval for the formation of a Procurement Indaba Task Team who fulfilled their brief by providing guidelines to members and clients as follows:-</p>
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<li class="style1">Guideline on Scope of Works</li>
<li class="style1">Guideline on Pricing </li>
<li class="style1">Guideline on Quality/Value</li>
<li class="style1">Guideline on Monitoring of Consultants Performance</li>
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<p align="justify" class="style1">It was hoped that these guidelines would ultimately be embraced by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) to complement their Practice Notes which CESA is very supportive of and considers them as world best practice. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Construction Industry Charter made progress towards being gazetted in terms of Section 9 of the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (BBBEE). This is good for an industry seeking a more predictable and uniform approach to procurement when it comes to services provided by the construction industry. Unfortunately, the Preferential Procurement Framework Act (PPPFA) has not been amended to ensure a harmonized approach in terms of BBBEE but it is understood that interim arrangements are to be made by National Treasury to ensure that the Charters could be implemented in conformity with legislation.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The highlight of the year was the rebranding of the Organisation from SAACE to CESA, Consulting Engineers South Africa. The launch of the CESA brand took place at the annual CESA Glenrand MIB Engineering Excellence Awards and was widely acclaimed and well received. Just a little bit of history, the Organisation was born in 1952 with the propeller style logo serving it well for many years until 1996 when a similar rebranding exercise took place as the Organisation moved from membership by individual to membership by firm. The current rebranding was undertaken not as a cosmetic exercise but as a decision not only to differentiate itself more distinctly from other similar organisations, but also to re launch in the context of the prevailing environment in South Africa requiring a totally new set of responses. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">A new set of strategic interventions were formulated to ensure greater visibility and more aggressively enter the national debate on matters relating to infrastructure. One such example would be on the issue of corruption which seems to be becoming endemic, particularly at local government level. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">To assist Government CESA created a new Section 21 Special Purpose Vehicle entitled the Project Development & Facilitation Alliance (PDFA) specifically at the request of Government who required CESA to oversee in assisting with the accelerated service delivery through its member firms. The PDFA concluded an MOU with the DPLG as well as ABSA Bank in this context. It was also designated as an Implementation Agent by DWAF which in effect makes it an extension of Government adding to the latter’s capacity. The PDFA took steps to employ permanent support through its member firms to procure work more aggressively from the public sector thus ensuring that projects are developed and budgets are spent more effectively. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">CESA also converted its IBDS to a Section 21 Company entitled the Built Environment Professions Export Council (BEPEC) thus enabling it to be financially subverted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on a rand-for-rand basis. BEPEC also broadened its potential membership base by including members of the Association of SA Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS) and those of the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) who now also have representatives on the Board of Directors. This conversion will enable BEPEC to become a much more effective vehicle in servicing the needs of members when it comes to the export of professional services. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">CESA continued to serve as Secretariat to the Group of African Member Associations (GAMA), who had their AGM and Convention in Tunis this year. Although the convention was disappointing in terms of its organization, the African block had a very successful get together. The most important item was getting agreement on the manner in which GAMA could develop and employ a permanent Secretariat with the first steps been taken to achieve this objective. GAMA continues to grow having successfully made inroads into francophone Africa and now includes 26 member countries as listed on the FIDIC website. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">On the local front, I as Chief Executive Officer was appointed a Director on the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA), the objective being for me to link their activities with ours to ensure that our members are kept up to date on environmental matters and sustainable design and construction trends and requirements. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Of major concern to CESA was the continued poor performance of the Construction Education Training Authority (CETA) as well as Government’s intention to create the South African Council for the Built Environment Professions (SACBEP) and in the process reduce the status of individual councils operating in the built environment to mere chambers operating within the super council. Established industry organisations were <em>at idem</em> in their condemnation and took steps to respond proactively by expressing their concerns on the perceived negative impacts of CETA non delivery and the creation of the new SACBEP might have on construction industry. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Another concern was that some 13% of members, mainly the smaller firms did not comply with our constitutional requirement that member firms should implement and maintain a Quality Management System as a condition of membership. The Council having considered this carefully, took a decision at a meeting on the 6 August 2008 that having offered every manner of support, would more proactively engage with those firms in terms of suspending membership and ultimately removing them from the member list. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">CESA also relocated offices during April 2008 at the request of the managing agents and we took advantage to spruce up the offices and upgrade our IT platform. We were also very pleased to retain our ISO9001:2000 accreditation having being audited during March of this year. New members of staff included Godfrey Ramalisa who was employed as Manager, Liaison, to assist us with a more effective approach to engaging public sector and other client bodies, as well as provide increased support to Branch Chairmen. The rebranding of the Organisation required a higher level of marketing and communication skills and Kuvashnee Govender was employed in August 2008 to ensure the new CESA banner occupies top of mind awareness amongst all stakeholders. All future events will be used as a platform to elevate the new CESA brand and in addition we are cooperating with IMESA as partners in their annual convention as well as SAFCEC for the third year in our own annual convention. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The School of Consulting Engineering (SCE) is surging ahead and is now offering some 40 courses to members and their clients mainly in the business and management arena. Working smarter using the IT platform more effectively has made the SCE more productive. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Contractual Affairs continues to challenge poor procurement policies among client entities and has now begun monitoring the effectiveness of these interventions. The recently appointed contractual advisory service is proving to be an increasingly sought after service from members and others. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">I am pleased to report that the YPF is surging ahead with sub-branches of the national committee being formed in most of the provinces. In addition, they assisted the Directorate in managing Job Shadow Day and in adjudicating the newly created awards category of Mentor of the Year as well as the established category of Young Engineer of the Year. They continue to interact with schools and universities to popularize engineering, and particularly Consulting Engineering as a career of choice amongst learners and university students. This intervention was initiated to improve the supply of skills to an industry suffering acute shortage of capacity in a rapidly expanding economy. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">On the financial side, CESA was able to significantly reduce its anticipated deficit by working smarter and shifting to the use of electronic communications rather than hard copy publications. The Financial Manager position became vacant and it became necessary to seek a replacement. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Traffic congestion compelled the Directorate to move to a system of Flexitime and began developing a system of performance bonuses for management staff to recognize those who make a difference beyond their call of duty. <br />
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<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/CESA Team.jpg" alt="CESA Team" width="500" height="333" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style5">Standing L to R: Gillian Wands; Godfrey Ramalisa; Roelof van Tonder; Glenda Tshabalala; Quentin Koen; Patience Tsotsetsie; James Reid; Kuvashnee Govender; Nomsa Khumalo - Seated L to R: Jean Stanford; Graham Pirie; Brenda Lacey-Smith</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><br />
Finally, I would like to thank all staff for their dedication, support and team spirit which certainly makes my job easier. It is very pleasing to get the many compliments I do in regard to individual staff members and their service to members and their clients. In addition, I am very grateful to the office bearers, chairmen of committees and council for their support to both myself and the staff often under difficult circumstances. A particular thanks to our President, Felix Fongoqa, for his selfless dedication and service to CESA and its members. The incumbent President now has a 2 year term which will ensure improved continuity of office into the future to the benefit of the Organisation.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>Graham Pirie</strong><br />
Chief Executive Officer</p>
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<p align="center" class="style1"><strong><em>‘The client is the centre of the consultant’s universe’</em></strong></p>
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<p align="justify" class="style1">One of CESA’s strategic goals for 2007/2008 was to improve client liaison and the performance of liaison committees, at both national and regional levels. To this end CESA appointed a new manager, Godfrey Ramalisa, on a full-time basis, to manage these processes and also to be an anchor for client liaison and to support the organisation’s regional structures. Chris Robinson, was nominated to lead this portfolio.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The main purpose of liaison is to provide a platform where the consulting industry as a collective can inform, and also learn from, their clients with procurement being one of the main issues.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Overall there have been positive developments with regard to liaison with client bodies by both our member firms and staff at the directorate. This improvement can also be seen by visiting the liaison and branch sections of our website. It is nevertheless true to say that there is still much room for improvement as there are various client bodies that we have not yet met with. It is important that we should meet with these clients to offer our support, particularly at this juncture when many, if not most, of them are faced with challenges of skills shortage and lack of capacity. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Lastly let me thank all the volunteers for their liaison support and remind them to sell the benefits of CESA when meeting with clients and lobbying on behalf of their firms. After all “It is the right thing to do”.</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
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<td width="356" class="style5"><strong>Godfrey Ramalisa</strong></td>
<td width="378" class="style5"><strong><strong>Chris Robinson </strong></strong></td>
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<td><span class="style1">Manager : Client Liaison</span></td>
<td><span class="style1">Chairperson</span></td>
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<p align="center" class="style1"><strong><em>Commencement of the Built Environment Professions Export Council (BEPEC)</em></strong></p>
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<p align="justify" class="style1">From an international business development perspective, the year 2007/8 saw the establishment of the Built Environment Professions Export Council (BEPEC), which effectively replaced the IBDS, as well as the impact that the domestic slow down in the South African economy had on the business strategies of consulting engineering practices in relation to international business development were also felt. Although we are still experiencing the impact of high interest rates and volatile fuel prices we have seen evidence of increased interest in international work from members.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Successful visits to the World Bank and the African Development Bank were undertaken in 2008. One noteworthy change with these visits was they were actively made part of a strategy to secure access to projects in Africa by focusing on development corridors. In this regard, close collaboration with the Nepad Business Foundation continued with the creation of a Project Management Office. This office will assist in facilitating access to projects in four pre-selected development corridors within Africa.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>Built Environment Professions Export Council (BEPEC)</strong><br />
The amount of work involved in establishing a Section 21 Company that necessitates the involvement of three separate Voluntary Associations (VA’s) should not be under estimated. I am pleased to report that in this regard a representative board has been created comprising representatives from Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA), the South African Institution of Architects (SAIA) and the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS). The board has already met twice and BEPEC is now set to play an important role in the marketplace. A mini launch that involved the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and other stakeholders was held in August, with a more high profile launch expected early in the new year once the expected matching grants have been secured from the DTI. <br />
</p>
<p align="left" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/IBD Group.jpg" alt="IBD Group" width="500" height="299" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style5">L to R: Roelof van Tonder, CEO BEPEC; Felix Fongoqa, President CESA; Graham Pirie, CEO CESA;<br />
and Jonathan Horn, Chairman BEPEC</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><br />
BEPEC is not just another Section 21 company. It is a unique platform for professional service providers in the South African built environment industry to harness their collective talents and resources and to make a difference in the way projects are accessed. Africa in particular has become a focal point in global economics mainly due to its unsurpassed wealth of natural resources and minerals, which of late has become patently attractive to the emerging superpowers in the Eastern Hemisphere who need these natural resources to feed into their rapidly growing industrial economies. The African economy itself is also growing at an unprecedented rate of 5% despite a downturn in the growth of first world countries, with levels of conflict reducing and an increasing number of African states evolving into stable and sustainable democratic economies. These positive trends have given rise to a surge of spending on infrastructural development on the continent, which in itself is designed to trigger further sustained growth, create improved enabling environments for investment and also to create better transportation systems that will stimulate faster and more efficient inter-regional and international trade. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The relevance of these trends to BEPEC lies in the challenges presented by the economic demands of this rapidly growing continent. The private sectors of the first world economies will most certainly take full advantage of these positive and lucrative opportunities in Africa, unless we as Africans do not compete with them in a structured and coordinated fashion by offering better African solutions. We have to do so by offering world class professional services; outstanding quality; engineering solutions that are adapted to the African environment; utilising more reliable and trustworthy team leaders and professional expertise than our global competitors. In short, we need to be visionary and globally competitive to be relevant on our own African continent in the future. This is why the ability for BEPEC to achieve its very ambitious business objectives on behalf of members of the Built Environment Professions in South Africa over the next five years can and should be a significant factor in South Africa taking the lead role in the development of Africa’s infrastructure, rather than the usual suspects from the developed world dominating in this arena. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The future success of BEPEC in this regard will not only transform the relevance of the South African Built Environment Professions in Africa but it will also set the stage for a healthy market share and essentially challenge the current dominance by the first world countries in the growing infrastructure development market in Africa. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">BEPEC continued to be involved in the restructuring of the Group of Africa Member Associations (GAMA). Work in this regard centered around the drafting and issuing of a Terms of Reference that facilitated the appointment of a service provider responsible for the establishment of a permanent Secretariat to GAMA. The establishment of a Secretariat for GAMA is of critical importance as it gives South African firms the opportunity to interact with credible counterparts in Africa as the increase in infrastructure spending in Africa continues.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">In conclusion it can be said that BEPEC is a key initiative for a workable ‘public-private-partnership’ styled delivery mechanism for infrastructure growth. It is fully intended to cooperate and work closely with the NEPAD Business Foundation in this regard as well as with South African Government Departments, including the DTI and Foreign Affairs, which share the objective of exporting South African professional services into the international market and influencing the content and outcomes of large infrastructural projects to the advantage of South Africa.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<table width="750">
<tr>
<td width="356" class="style5"><strong>Roelof van Tonder</strong></td>
<td width="378" class="style5"><strong><strong>Jonathan Horn </strong></strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="style1">CEO: BEPEC </span></td>
<td><span class="style1">Chairperson</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/line.jpg" alt="line" width="750" height="17" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><a href="#top"><img src="images/btn_top.gif" alt="back" width="104" height="20" border="0" /></a></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p align="center" class="style4"><a name="section5" id="section5"></a></p>
<p align="center" class="style4"><img src="images/section5.jpg" alt="section5" width="750" height="100" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>School of Consulting Engineering</strong></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The past year saw the School of Consulting Engineering (SCE) go from strength to strength. Several new management courses were introduced, including Construction Procurement; Soliciting and Evaluating Tenders; Management with Intent; MS Projects; Presentation Skills; and Project Management Foundation. Existing courses including Introduction to Finance; Construction Adjudication; Contract Law; and FIDIC Workshop continued to be in demand. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">A series of Administration and Secretarial Courses were introduced for the first time and proved to be extremely popular. These courses included Accounts Assistance, Key Administrative and Business Skills for Secretaries and PAs, HR Management, and PowerPoint for Secretaries. The School plans to introduce additional courses to complement these in the coming year. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Engineers in Practice DVD subscriptions remained a stable offering, covering diverse subject matter.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>CETA</strong></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">As an organization the past year saw CESA facing huge challenges with regard to the CETA failing to meet the training and education needs for our industry. In collaboration with the majority of Built Environment Professions Groups, CESA worked hard at highlighting these concerns with the National Skills Authority (NSA) and Government. While every effort was made to ensure progress, no breakthrough in this regard has been made to date.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>HR FORUM </strong></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Chairperson of the HR Forum, DeWet Bender resigned during the year and has been replaced by Heather Kinghorn of WSP. Many topics were covered during the past year, including Higher Education Qualification Framework (HEQF) and New Engineering Technology Education Qualifications, Mentorship, Continuing Professional Development (CPD), Unethical Personnel Agents, Poaching of Staff and a number of additional HR related subjects.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<table width="750">
<tr>
<td width="358"><strong class="style5">Brenda Lacey-Smith</strong></td>
<td width="380"><strong class="style5"><strong>Andrew Mather </strong></strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="style1">Manager: School of Consulting Engineering</span></td>
<td><span class="style1">Chairperson</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/line.jpg" alt="line" width="750" height="17" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><a href="#top"><img src="images/btn_top.gif" alt="back" width="104" height="20" border="0" /></a></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p align="center" class="style4"><a name="section6" id="section6"></a></p>
<p align="center" class="style4"><img src="images/section6.jpg" alt="section6" width="750" height="100" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">During the past year CESA added value to member firms by assuring the representation of consulting engineers on the Department of Labour’s technical task team, tasked with amending the Construction Regulations. CESA and Glenrand MIB provided representatives in this regard. The concerns of the Organisation including the role and liability of the Agent and Designer were addressed satisfactorily. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Risk Management Implementation Guideline was completed and published with the assistance of Glenrand MIB who sponsored the printing. Joint presentations on the implementation of the Guideline have commenced in collaboration with the Glenrand MIB Legal Risk Management Division at CESA Branch meetings. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">According to Glenrand MIB the market was in a soft cycle, however, consulting engineering firms would have to become aware of the trend experienced by PI insurers in that claims tend to increase in a booming construction industry. CESA negotiated a fifteen percent saving on the PI insurance deductible, as an incentive for member firms belonging to the Scheme, to implement and maintain a quality management system based on ISO 9001: 2000. The CESA website currently identifies member firms having a quality management system in place. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<table width="750">
<tr>
<td width="358"><strong class="style5">Quentin Koen</strong></td>
<td width="380" class="style5"><strong><strong>Rob Fraser </strong></strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="style1">Manager: Contractual Affairs</span></td>
<td><span class="style1">Chairperson</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/line.jpg" alt="line" width="750" height="17" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><a href="#top"><img src="images/btn_top.gif" alt="back" width="104" height="20" border="0" /></a></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p align="center" class="style4"><a name="section7" id="section7"></a></p>
<p align="center" class="style4"><img src="images/section7.jpg" alt="section7" width="750" height="100" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT </strong> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Members of the supply chain management (SCM) committee represent CESA on the Fees Committee of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). The structure of the guideline fee scales are currently being investigated and representations will be made to the ECSA in this regard.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The National Treasury is currently in the process of amending the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act and Regulations promulgated in terms thereof. Preliminary CESA input was forwarded to National Treasury motivating that quality and functionality should be included in both the Act and Regulations.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">CESA in association with other Built Environment Professional (BEP) bodies is in the process of creating a section 21 company that will manage all matters regarding the Professional Consultants Services Agreement (PROCSA), on their behalf. The Joint Building Contracts Committee (JBCC) will, in addition to its own suite of documents, also publish the PROCSA document. Negotiations with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) are currently underway in order to have the PROCSA agreement classified as a CIDB best practice document.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Liaison between CESA, the CIDB and other BEP’s, regarding the creation of a Register of Consultants, is ongoing. The CIDB has a mandate in terms of the CIDB Act to create such a register. One of the aims of the register is to prevent unqualified people from performing engineering work.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Member firms reported a number of deviations, by public sector clients, from procurement prescripts contained in legislation of the National Treasury or prescripts of the CIDB. The most common problem experienced related to the very limited time afforded to tenderers to prepare and submit their tender offers. According to National Treasury, a minimum period of 30 days must be afforded to tenderers to submit their tender offers for transactions over R10 million, and 14 days in other cases. The period of time starts from the date of the placement of a procurement advertisement to the date of submission of the tender. The Accounting Officer may determine a shorter period if it can be justified on the grounds of urgency or an emergency or in an exceptional case where it is impractical or impossible to follow the official procurement process. A note is, however, added that “a lack of or bad planning does not constitute an urgency or emergency”. Other reported deviations included the practice of cancelling and re-issuing calls for tenders within a period of six months, insufficient information given to tenderers in order to prepare their bids and the practice of declaring tender offers as non-responsive where the score obtained, in relation to Black Economic Empowerment, was less than a certain threshold. Letters were written to the clients involved and copied to National Treasury and CIDB where applicable. The results were mostly positive.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Portfolio Committee on Public Works invited stakeholders and interested parties to submit written submissions regarding the proposed Built Environment Professions Bill (B53-2008). The purpose of the Bill was to establish the SA Council for the Built Environment Professions, which would replace the current councils in the Built Environment, including ECSA, reducing those councils to boards with no statutory powers. CESA in its written submission concluded that the proposed Bill did not promote or protect the Engineering Profession or the public, as was the case in the Engineering Professions Act, and therefore could not support the changes to the regulatory environment as proposed by the Bill.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<table width="750">
<tr>
<td width="358"><strong class="style5">Quentin Koen</strong></td>
<td width="380" class="style5"><strong><strong>Arthur Taute </strong></strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="style1">Manager: Contractual Affairs</span></td>
<td><span class="style1">Chairperson</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/line.jpg" alt="line" width="750" height="17" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><a href="#top"><img src="images/btn_top.gif" alt="back" width="104" height="20" border="0" /></a></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p align="center" class="style1"><a name="section8" id="section8"></a></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/section8.jpg" alt="section8" width="750" height="100" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Two new cases were reported of which one has been concluded. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Seven cases previously reported to the disciplinary committee, were concluded. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">One member firm chose to resign from CESA instead of submitting to a disciplinary process. A complaint relating to an alleged contravention of the CESA Code of Conduct was brought against the firm by a public sector client. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">One member firm was expelled from CESA following a decision by CESA Council, in terms of clause 9.2 of its Constitution, to expel the firm from membership due to it being, in the opinion of CESA, guilty of such conduct as to render it unfit to belong to the Organisation. The conduct related to the fact that it had not responded to numerous calls from CESA to submit an explanation, in writing, relating to a disciplinary complaint lodged against it.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Disciplinary Committee reviewed its disciplinary procedure following recommendations contained in CESA’s Strategic Plan. The aim was to make the process more effective and any disciplinary action taken by the Organisation more visible.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Members of the Disciplinary Committee have wide experience in the consulting engineering and legal fields and some of them are included in the President’s list of Mediators, Arbitrators and Adjudicators.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<table width="750">
<tr>
<td width="358" class="style5"><strong>Quentin Koen</strong></td>
<td width="380" class="style5"><strong>Zulch Lötter</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="style1">Manager: Contractual Affairs</span></td>
<td><span class="style1">Chairperson</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/line.jpg" alt="line" width="750" height="17" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><a href="#top"><img src="images/btn_top.gif" alt="back" width="104" height="20" border="0" /></a></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p align="center" class="style4"><a name="section9" id="section9"></a></p>
<p align="center" class="style4"><img src="images/section9.jpg" alt="section9" width="750" height="100" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style4"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Communication and Marketing Committee for 2007 was chaired by Richard Vries (Arcus Gibb), committee members included Graham Pirie, Roelof van Tonder and Jean Stanford all from CESA as well as Dr. Michele Kruger from CESA’s YPF and Sandy Wardle from SW Marketing. CESA’s Manager of Marketing and Communications, Siphokazi Momoti resigned earlier in the year and the position was filled by Kuvashnee Govender who joined the organization in July.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>Engineering Excellence Awards</strong></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/Glenrand MIB Awards.jpg" alt="MIB Awards" width="500" height="334" /></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The annual CESA Glenrand MIB Engineering Excellence Awards was held at a gala banquet at the Sandton Sun on the 6th August this year attended by over 500 people. The Awards with the theme of ‘Engineers Make it Happen’ is a celebration of innovation, quality, outstanding workmanship and professionalism. CESA was once again proud to host this annual event, sponsored by Glenrand MIB, as a platform to showcase the outstanding achievements of its members. The event is the highlight of the year in the Organisation’s calendar and is a spectacular networking opportunity for leaders in industry as they celebrate the cream of South Africa’s Consulting Engineers. This year the Built Environment Professionals Medical Scheme (BEPMEDS) sponsored the Young Engineer of the Year Award, enabling the winner to attend the FIDIC convention that was held in Quebec, Canada during September this year. In addition to this a generous contribution was received from Kwezi V3 enabling Kieren Brown, chairperson of the Gauteng South branch of the YPF to also attend the FIDIC convention.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>Rebranding</strong></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">During August the Organisation took advantage of the prestigious Glenrand MIB Engineering Excellence Awards to launch our transformation from the South African Association of Consulting Engineers (SAACE) to Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA). As CESA, the Organisation has been repositioned to better address the challenges and opportunities of the future as the ‘Voice of Consulting Engineering’ adding continued value and enhancing the business interests of consulting engineering firms. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">In line with this we have embarked on a process of updating all of our marketing collateral including eNews, Inside Track, the Directory of Firms, the website, business cards, outdoor banners and all other promotional material in order to conform to our new brand identity. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>National Construction Week </strong></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/Winning photo.jpg" alt="wining photo" width="500" height="375" /></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">CESA’s Young Professional’s Forum (YPF) fully supports the initiative of the Department of Public Works in promoting the image and profile of the construction sector by giving young learners the opportunity to experience a wide range of exciting opportunities available in today’s built environment. The aim of the YPF Job Shadow Day initiative held during CESA’s National Construction Week was to attract the attention of the learners and encourage them to consider engineering as a career of choice. Firms were encouraged to choose a school in their local community and invite pupils to spend a day with them during National Construction week experiencing “A Day in the Life of a Consulting Engineer”. The YPF was inundated with entries from firms with the winning entry coming from Ninham Shand, entitling a representative to attend the CESA/SAFCEC Conference at no charge. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>SAACE Golf Day </strong></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/Golf Day.jpg" alt="Golf Day" width="492" height="325" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><span class="style5">L to R: Joey Rasdien, Master of ceremonies; Gary Chapman, Roschcon;Adriaan Grobelaar, GOBA; Richard Warner, GOBA; </span><span class="style5">James McMillan, Roschcon and Felix Fongoqa, President CESA</span></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The CESA Presidential Golf Challenge was held at Blue Valley Golf Club in Midrand during August this year. A field of approximately 140 members and clients enjoyed a wonderful day of golf with the opportunity of networking with colleagues from the industry. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>The Consultants Relay</strong></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/MG_3964.jpg" alt="Run" width="500" height="330" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/MG_4003.jpg" alt="Walk" width="500" height="308" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/MG_4069.jpg" alt="Cycle" width="500" height="331" /></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Consultant’s Relay, held at Fountains Valley Resort in Pretoria at the end of August, is an annual event and is a great opportunity for member firms to engage in some physical exercise, meet and mingle with other firms and enjoy a fun family day. Once again a record number of teams entered the relay and CESA would like to take this opportunity to applaud our member firms for their enthusiasm and participation in this great event. CESA would like to extend its thanks to SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants once again, for an excellent job in hosting and organizing the event for the second year running. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>CESA/SAFCEC Conference</strong></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">For the third time CESA and SAFCEC partnered in hosting this year’s Construction Industry conference that takes place at Fancourt, George in the Eastern Cape. The aim of the Conference is for both organisations to iron out issues they experience in the Construction Industry. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<table width="750">
<tr>
<td width="358"><strong class="style5">Kuvashnee Govender</strong></td>
<td width="380"><strong class="style5">Richard Vries</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="style1">Manager: Marketing and Communications</span></td>
<td><span class="style1">Chairperson</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/line.jpg" alt="line" width="750" height="17" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><a href="#top"><img src="images/btn_top.gif" alt="back" width="104" height="20" border="0" /></a></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p align="center" class="style4"><a name="section10" id="section10"></a></p>
<p align="center" class="style4"><img src="images/section10.jpg" alt="section10" width="750" height="100" /></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The members of the Membership and CESA Constitutional Affairs Committee for 2007/8 period were Gerhard du Plessis (THM Engineers E L cc), Chairman, Roger Roberts-Wray, Jimmy Reid (CESA Financial Manager) and Gillian Wands (Administrative Officer). The name of Khelane Ndwandwe (Asakheni Consulting Engineers (Pty) Ltd) was added to the Committee in January 2008. During June 2008 two new members joined the Committee, being Brian Lewis (Soderlund and Schutte), and Abe Thela (Nyeleti Consulting (Pty) Ltd).</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">A total of 9 meetings were scheduled for the period. 9 Meetings took place during the year.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Although 13 new members have been elected to date, total membership of CESA currently stands at 454 firms, 17 down from the previous review. This is largely due to the enormous quantity of mergers of member firms that are taking place.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<table width="750">
<tr>
<td width="358" class="style5"><strong>Gillian Wands </strong></td>
<td width="380" class="style5"><strong>Gerhard du Plessis </strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="style1">Membership Secretary </span></td>
<td><span class="style1">Chairperson</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/line.jpg" alt="line" width="750" height="17" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style1"><a href="#top"><img src="images/btn_top.gif" alt="back" width="104" height="20" border="0" /></a></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><p align="center" class="style4"><a name="section11" id="section11"></a></p>
<p align="center" class="style4"><img src="images/section11.jpg" alt="section11" width="750" height="100" /></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Young Professionals Forum (YPF) had a fantastic year starting off with four active provinces (Western Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Gauteng North and South) with very limited funding they have grown to seven active provinces with the addition of East London, Port Elizabeth and Mpumalanga. Funding has improved dramatically with sponsorship from SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants, Bigen Africa, Jeffares & Green, Arcus Gibb, Iliso Consulting, BKS, Kwezi V3, WSP, Leads2Business, PDNA, PRDW, Vela VKE, Goba and ARUP. This has enabled the YPF to achieve many of its objectives as set out in the business plan.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The year in review has seen some fantastic developments with the foremost being the format in which meetings are held. Each meeting is hosted by a different consulting company and in return that company is given the opportunity to inform the YPs about their exciting projects. Another development is the monthly YPF competition with winners receiving a course of their choice sponsored by the School of Consulting Engineering. Winning entries are also published in the national YPF PACE newsletter.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Two of the new branches situated in East London and Port Elizabeth were visited by Michele Kruger and Kieren Brown, respectively, to assist with set up and guidance of their new committees. The chairperson for East London, Likhaya Nkonki is from Carifro Consulting Engineers; the interim chairperson for Port Elizabeth is Gary Hughes from Stemele Bosch Africa; and the Mpumalanga chairperson is Justin Coetzee from WSP.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>CESA Construction Week</strong></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">East London Chairperson, Likhaya Nkonki took a group of learners on a tour of various East London sites including IDZ and Daimler Chrysler SA. Justin Coetzee, Chairperson of Mpumalanga Branch took a group of students from Cyril Clarke Secondary School on a tour of the Mbombela 2010 stadium construction site. This school was relocated from where the stadium is currently being built to a temporary structure. Mongamo Jantjies (Nyeleti Consulting), Dr Michele Kruger (Bigen), Kuvashnee Govender (CESA), and Godfrey Ramalisa (CESA) adjudicated the entries received for the Job Shadow Day competition. </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"> </p>
<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>Branch Activities</strong></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Mpumalanga Branch held their first YPF meeting in August where they appointed their committee members. To assist YPs in the area they held a workshop on the ECSA registration process. The branch also visited secondary schools in the Mpumalanga area, to address learners and promote engineering as the career of choice.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Western Cape branch, as always, has been very active under Chairperson Justin Cross from PRDW. Activities enjoyed by the YPs in this province included a site visit to Green Point Stadium attended by 30 YPs. The branch held an ECSA Professional Registration Workshop presented by Rod Harker from ECSA. The presentation focused on the registration requirements for engineers, technicians and technologists and was attended by over 100 YPs. The branch also held a Mentoring Workshop where presentations were made by Jeffares & Green, Ninham Shand, PDNA, KV3 and PRDW. The presentations focused on the mentorship programmes that these companies run. Emphasis was placed on the role of the YP in the mentorship programme. The workshop was well attended with directors from some of the local firms attending. In addition to this the branch carried out a Mentoring Survey which was sent out to YPs. The results of the survey is currently in the process of being compiled.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">During 2008 the KwaZulu Natal Branch elected a new committee and a new Chairperson: Shian Saroop from SSI. Shian is also the editor of the national YPF Newsletter called PACE. The KwaZulu Natal YPF also hosted ECSA who gave a presentation on Professional Registration. This meeting was attended by 60 YPs and was sponsored by Kaytech. The branch also enjoyed another talk by Kaytech on “Designing using geosynthetics” and what they offer the Engineering industry.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Branch had a stand at the Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference at CAMALOT and enjoyed publicity in the ILANGA paper and SAICE newsletter. In addition to this they put together a Mentor’s Guideline document and held a Mentorship social event with Johan Pienaar from ECSA. The YPF has just appointed two new Chairpersons: Sipho Sondiyazi in Bloemfontein and Marvick Janse van Rensburg in the North West. <br />
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In order to accommodate the large number of consulting engineering firms in the province, Gauteng has two Chairpersons: Kieren Brown from MPA Consulting for Gauteng South and Dr. Michele Kruger from Bigen Africa for Gauteng North. The province enjoyed a number of well-attended branch meetings hosted at CESA, BKS, PDNA, SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants and Bigen Africa. Topics included a talk on Professional Registration by ECSA; CEO’s presenting company projects and a talk by a professional image consultant. The last meeting held at Bigen Africa also included the launch of the new name: Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA). Graham Pirie, the CEO of CESA gave a presentation to the YPs giving details of what the new name means and represents. The YPs were also informed of the proposed changes within ECSA and what this means for their professional registration. Life Long Learning Solutions also gave a presentation on professional registration. In addition to this the Gauteng YPF distributes its own branch newsletter every 3 months, launched their YPF Monthly Competition, attended the National Youth Summit, assisted with creation of the “Mentor of the Year” Award, adjudicated the “Young Engineer of the Year” Award, all entries for CESA’s Construction Week and the Pneu-Drive Challenge in which all the top universities of South Africa competed. The branch visited TRAC at their premises in Observatory in order to create a partnership in order to reach learners. Gauteng YPF Branch hosted YPs at the CESA Golf Day dinner and presented a paper at the FIDIC Conference in Singapore. Dr. Michele Kruger was also chosen to represent South Africa as well as the African continent on the FIDIC YPF Steering Committee. In collaboration with SSI engineers and Environmental Consultants, the Gauteng YPF raised money for Nkosi’s Haven at the CESA Relay held in Pretoria. The founding Director from Nkosi’s Haven, Gail Johnson attended the relay to personally receive the monies. Gauteng Branch also carried out the Mentoring Survey initiated by the Western Cape YPF. As adjudicators of the “Mentor of the Year” Award, they were able to collate a document detailing the best tips by those nominated for this category. This, together with the results from the Survey will be distributed to all affiliated with CESA.</p>
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<p align="justify" class="style1"><strong>CESA Glenrand MIB Engineering Excellence Awards</strong></p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">All the YPF National Chairpersons attended the prestigious CESA Glenrand MIB Engineering Excellence Awards held in Johannesburg showcasing the best Consulting Engineering companies and projects in the industry, as well as celebrating the Young Engineer and Mentor of the Year.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">It has been a great year for the YPF with the busiest time yet to come! The second half of the year is the time that the YPF reaches out to schools and universities in order to promote engineering as a career of choice. To everyone involved with the YPF or who have assisted us and touched us with their enthusiasm and love of Engineering – THANK YOU!</p>
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<p class="style1"><strong>Richard Dlamini</strong><br />
CESA YPF Chairperson</p>
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<p align="justify" class="style1">The audited financial statements for the year to 29 February 2008 were approved by Council and issued together with the Agenda for the Annual General Meeting for ratification.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">The Balance Sheet reflects total net reserves of R3, 517 million, of which R2, 999 million is in cash or cash equivalent.<br />
The revised budget for the year to 28 February 2009 and the budget for the year to 28 February 2010 will be tabled at the Annual General Meeting for approval.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">Council proposed that subscriptions be increased for the year commencing 1 March 2009 by 12% (2008 10%). This is to be tabled for approval at the Annual General Meeting.</p>
<p align="justify" class="style1">During the past year Cynthia Kwatcha retired after 27 years service, and Siphokazi Momoti resigned. Patience Tsotetsi, Godfrey Ramalisa and Kuvashnee Govender were appointed as new members of staff. The staff of the Directorate currently cosists of 12 full time employees.</p>
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<td width="358" class="style5"><strong>James Reid </strong></td>
<td width="380" class="style5"><strong>Zulch Lötter</strong></td>
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<td><span class="style1">Manager: Finance </span></td>
<td><span class="style1">Chairperson</span></td>
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