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<p><a href="CESA IT August09.pdf" target="_blank" class="style24">Download PDF</a></p>
<p><a name="top" id="top"></a></p>
<p><a href="images/it_top.jpg"><img src="images/it_top.jpg" alt="Header" width="750" height="500" border="0" usemap="#Map" longdesc="images/top.jpg" /></a></p>
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<td><p align="center" class="style4"><a name="section1" id="section1"></a></p>
<p align="center" class="style4"><span class="style1"><img src="images/awards header.jpg" alt="section9" width="750" height="100" /></span></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"> </p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/CESA Awards Group Photo.jpg" alt="Awards Group" width="500" height="332" /></p>
<p class="style8">Consulting Engineers South Africa’s (CESA) prestigious <strong>CESA Glenrand MIB Engineering Excellence Awards</strong> ceremony was held at a gala banquet at Emperor’s Palace on the 12th August this year. The Awards is a celebration of innovation, quality, outstanding workmanship and professionalism. CESA is proud to host this annual event, sponsored by Glenrand MIB, as a platform to showcase the outstanding achievements of its member organisations. 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.</p>
<p class="style8">Awards were handed out for nominations in the following categories: Engineering Excellence for projects with a value of less than R10million; between R10million and R100million and for projects with a value of over R100million; Business Excellence; Young Company of the Year; International Business Developer of the Year; Visionary Client of the Year; Young Engineer of the Year; Publisher of the Year; Mentor of the Year and for the first time Mentoring Company of the Year.</p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-77.jpg" alt="77" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Winners: Aurecon, Iliso and KAYP</strong></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-74.jpg" alt="74" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Commendation: WSP Africa Coastal Engineers</strong></p>
<p class="style8">The category of <strong>Engineering Excellence with a value greater than R100 million</strong> was won by<strong> Aurecon, Iliso and KAYP </strong>for the Central Terminal Building at OR Tambo International Airport for Airports Company South Africa with <strong>WSP Africa Coastal Engineers</strong> receiving a commendation for the Dense Effluent Marine Outfall, Richards Bay for Mhlathuze Water. </p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-72.jpg" alt="72" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Winner: Knight Piesold Consulting</strong></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-68.jpg" alt="68" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"> <strong>Commendation: SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants</strong></p>
<p class="style8">The category of <strong>Engineering Excellence with a value between R10million and R100 million</strong> was won by <strong>Knight Piesold Consulting</strong> for the Ntimbale Dam for the Department of Water Affairs in Botswana. <strong>SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants</strong> received a Commendation for the Nereda Waste Water Treatment Works in Gansbaai for Overstrand Municipality.</p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-65.jpg" alt="65" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Winner: Bosch Projects</strong></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-62.jpg" alt="62" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Commendation: Kwezi V3 Engineers</strong></p>
<p class="style8">In the category of <strong>Engineering Excellence with a value less than R10 million</strong>, <strong>Bosch Projects</strong> won the award for the Durban Harbour Tunnel Trolley System for eThekweni Municipality. <strong>Kwezi V3 Engineers</strong> received a commendation for the George Garden Route Dam for George Municipality. </p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-86.jpg" alt="86" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Winner (Business Excellence): Goba</strong></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-94.jpg" alt="94" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Winner (International Business Developer of the Year): Bosch Projects</strong></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-89.jpg" alt="89" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Accolade (Young Company of the Year): AOS Consulting Engineers</strong></p>
<p class="style8"><strong>Goba</strong> won the <strong>Business Excellence</strong> category sponsored by Meissner, suppliers of Uninterruptible Power Supplies; <strong>Bosch Projects</strong> received the award for <strong>International Business Developer of the Year</strong> sponsored by the Built Environment Professionals Export Council (BEPEC); with <strong>AOS Consulting Engineers</strong> receiving an Accolade in the <strong>Young Company of the Year</strong> category. </p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-92.jpg" alt="92" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Winner (Visionary Client of the Year): Airports Company South Africa (ACSA)</strong></p>
<p align="left" class="style8">In the <strong>Visionary Client of the Year</strong> category, CESA nominates candidates for the award, who must then consent to their nomination. Nominees in this category can be from the public, parastatal or private sectors, and are judged inter alia on their contribution to sustainable economic job creation in South Africa and or Africa. Creating sustainable development in communities through skills and knowledge transfer is an equally important factor. The judges also look at the opportunities provided for the growth and expression of professionals, including those from formerly disadvantaged communities. Projects should also have embraced innovative designs that highlight the ability of South Africans in the technological field. CESA this year gave recognition, in the category of<strong> Visionary Client of the Year</strong>, to <strong>Airports Company South Africa (ACSA)</strong> for transforming a fragmented parastatal into a focused, profitable and commercial enterprise that is market-driven and customer service-oriented. ACSA’s commitment to empowerment and its steadfast stance of affording opportunities to emerging organisations is clearly demonstrated. </p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-100.jpg" alt="100" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Winner (Young Engineer of the Year): Lucas-Jan Ebels from UWP Consulting</strong></p>
<p class="style8">In addition to this in order to promote the Consulting Engineering industry to young professionals, CESA recognises the contribution young engineers make to the industry and to the future of the profession. Naturally the winner must be available to receive the award and attend the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) convention which this year takes place in London, England. Furthermore, he or she must be available to serve on CESA’s Young Professional’s Forum for a 12-month period. Judges look for outstanding performance in areas including technical achievement on a project; educational achievement; recognition such as awards received; contributions to sustainable development – such as environmental initiatives, social responsibilities, and community involvement. And finally, the winner in this category must have leadership ability, and contribute to the image of the firm and the industry as a whole. This year the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) sponsored the Young Engineer of the Year Award, enabling the winner to attend the FIDIC convention to be held in London<strong>, England during September this year. </strong><br />
<strong>The winner in the category of Young Engineer of the Year is Lucas-Jan Ebels from UWP Consulting.</strong> </p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-105.jpg" alt="105" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Winner (Mentoring Company of the Year): SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants</strong></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-104.jpg" alt="104" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Accolade (Mentor of the Year): Frederik Joachim Smit from Kwezi V3 Engineers</strong></p>
<p class="style8"><strong>SSI Engineers and Environmental Consultants</strong> won the <strong>Mentoring Company of the Year</strong> category and an Accolade in the category of <strong>Mentor of the Year</strong> went to <strong>Frederik Joachim Smit</strong> from <strong>Kwezi V3 Engineers</strong>. In an effort to promote mentorship of young engineers CESA recognizes the contribution Mentors make to the industry and the future of the profession. </p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/ExAwards09-107.jpg" alt="107" width="350" height="233" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Winner (Publisher of the Year): Creamer Media</strong></p>
<p class="style8">In recognition of the role that the media plays in the industry, <strong>Creamer Media</strong> received the award for <strong>Publisher of the Year.</strong></p>
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<p class="style8">The construction industry, which has been considered by some as having a poor record of transformation and is plagued by fronting, is the first sector to have its charter become law. The construction industry charter that focuses on sustainable transformation through the seven elements of ownership, management control, employment equity, enterprise and skills development, corporate social development and procurement was gazetted on June 5 this year. This sector specific charter is the culmination of five years of negotiations of all the sector bodies within our industry.</p>
<p class="style8">The last five years of negotiations have been good for the industry. It has allowed all the different sectors within the construction industry to collaborate as a unified industry and draw up a roadmap of where the industry should be going. It also created a common understanding and I hope that the industry can create an ongoing vehicle to act as a caucus to respond to the needs of the charter council and debate industry issues.</p>
<p class="style8">It is good to see that the construction industry has made significant progress in terms of some of the targets that have been set by the charter and our management information survey indicates that we are on track towards meeting some of the targets. Currently we have an average of about 25% black ownership within member firms and on average 40% black staff across the industry. We have not tracked procurement and the other elements of the charter as an organisation, so it is difficult to establish how our industry is doing on those elements.</p>
<p class="style8">However, the built environment sector has placed significant emphasis on the skills development element of the charter. We are a knowledge-based industry and it is imperative that we grow the profession with home grown talent as we have one of the lowest engineer-to-population ratios in the world.<br />
Last year the construction industry invested over R100-million on training excluding CETA Contributions which was over and above what our industry paid for as part of our skills development levy. This demonstrates our industry’s commitment to ensuring that it we the right skills at the right level. </p>
<p class="style8">The charter’s seven elements go much broader than the previously narrow based black economic empowerment (BEE), that only dealt with ownership and this, we believe, will tackle the issue of fronting in the industry. The charter is quite prescriptive in terms of how transformation is to be carried out. Companies will now have seven areas in which to transform their business, which will effectively reduce the possibility of fronting. </p>
<p class="style8">The Construction Industry Development Board is currently constructing a register of professional service providers which will also eliminate the possibility of fronting. When a client entity appoints a professional, they will be required to appoint someone from the register. All companies registered will automatically have BEE certification. We expect the register to come into effect early in 2010.</p>
<p class="style8">As part of the 14 organisations, including labour and government, which drew up the charter, we are busy finalising the constitution for the Charter Council. The Charter Council will track the progress made in terms of the sector code. The sector code is a living document that will respond to industry’s needs and progress over time. The Council will track progress made on the four-year and seven year targets, and if necessary modify the targets of the score card.</p>
<p class="style8">Another important function of the Charter Council will be the development of a corporate social investment strategy that will determine which projects or initiatives could be supported by the construction industry as a collective. The challenge that lies ahead is as to how the Council will be funded. The construction industry is currently in discussions with government as to how the funding process should occur. The Council needs to be self-sustainable and self-funded in the long-term and we need to determine how that will take place. The procurement element of the code is also a challenge given that it will be difficult to implement, as a company’s suppliers’ accreditation scores will affect its own accreditation scores. </p>
<p class="style8">With the charter now gazetted, all sector employees are now required to use the charter as a measurement of the BEE component in procurement but harmonisation is still required between the BBBEE Act and the preferential procurement act and this amendment is expected shortly from National Treasury. This is advantageous as it will provide predictability, a greater sense of certainty and uniformity in the industry.</p>
<p class="style8">I believe that getting clients to understand this new legislation and that it must be implemented as part of their procurement process will also be a challenge. As a result, the construction industry will be shortly embarking on a road show to educate its members on the charter.</p>
<p class="style8"><strong>Despite these and other challenges facing the implementation of the score card, our sector has indicated that it is ready to abide by the codes of the charter for the good of the industry.</strong></p>
<p class="style8">Graham Pirie</p>
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<p class="style8">Felix Fongoqa, President of CESA is currently in the process of visiting all of the Organisation’s nationwide branches to present his message for the year.</p>
<p class="style8"><strong>KZN Presidential Visit</strong></p>
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<p><span class="style6">Guest speaker, Dr Michael Sutcliffe, eThkwini Municipality Municipal Manager</span></p>
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<p><span class="style6">Graham Pirie, Peter Viljoen and Bruno van Dyk (Head of the UKZN Foundation)</span></p>
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<p><span class="style6">Shiaan Saroop (KZN Branch Chairman of the YPF), Jeshika Ramchaund (YPF committee member), Sabelo Mabaso (OLD MUTUAL), Siya Mtshali (WSP)</span></p>
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<p class="style8"><strong>Border/Kei Presidential Visit</strong></p>
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<p class="style8"><strong>Southern Cape Presidential Visit</strong></p>
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<p class="style8"><strong>Free State Presidential Visit</strong></p>
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<p><img src="images/Cesa Aug 2009 001.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></p>
<p><span class="style8"><strong>Left to Right: Pienaar Rossouw, Dihlase; Felix Fongoqa, President ,CESA; Lee Finch, Leads2Business; Graham Pirie, CEO, CESA; Ofan Motlhakane, BKS </strong></span></p>
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<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/line.jpg" alt="line" width="750" height="17" /></p>
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<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/DSCN1179.jpg" alt="Impact Group" width="500" height="375" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><strong>Dr. Gustav Rohde, Iraj Abedian, Rudolf Gouws </strong></p>
<p class="style8">CESA was host to an economic workshop held recently in Johannesburg at which 3 leading experts in their fields gave expert opinion on the Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on the Consulting Engineering Industry. In his welcoming address Felix Fongoqa, President of CESA stated that the workshop was important in order for consultants to look at strategies for a sustainable future for business in South Africa and the African continent. He posed the question as to whether we were heading for a cliff or just going to experience slight turbulence. The Government’s plans to spend in the region of R800 billion on infrastructure development over the next 3 years and their commitment to expediting service delivery can be seen by the expanded cabinet. Fongoqa stated that CESA had a duty to empower members to improve their businesses through workshops like these.</p>
<p class="style8"> </p>
<p class="style8"><strong>Impact on Construction Industry and the Consulting Engineering Sector – Iraj Abedian</strong></p>
<p class="style8">Dr. Iraj Abedian, Chief Executive Officer of Pan African Investment and Research Services and Chairperson of Bigen Africa, presented a paper of the impact of the Economic Crisis on the Construction Industry and the Consulting Engineering Sector. Abedian stated that over the past 14 years that the ratio of the construction sector as a contributor to GDP has been rising and therefore the relative growth in this sector of the economy has been above average. This is a reflection of what has been happening globally. He stated that not only was construction booming in South Africa but also China, Dubai and Sydney in fact worldwide leading to a shortage of skills and capacity issues. Although the financial crisis began with the US in some sectors of the Construction industry there are serious over supplies. The construction sector was one of the leading drivers of the boom with the bulk of it coming from residential and mining. At the same time that the global economy was booming all of the economies were running out of infrastructure, energy, water supplies and roads this lead to the shift from residential and mining construction to urban and national construction. Abedian stated that in order to get our urban infrastructure right we are short of over R390billion. The international crisis has lead to a refocus on urban infrastructure. He stated that there are 2 factors that will support this sector in the short term over the next 3 years, these being firstly, Public Sector infrastructure projects in particular local government projects and secondly, falling interest rates. As far as public sector infrastructure development is concerned job creation is important and we need to get our cities right as far as health and safety is concerned. There has been a relative decline in the effectiveness of public sector as during the boom the best people moved into the private sector. As far as interest rates are concerned South Africans are massively under saving and this is why there is such a difference compared to the rest of the world but Abedian feels that interest rates can still be reduced by another 200 basis points by the end of the year.</p>
<p class="style8">He concluded by stating that South Africa has been hit hard by the global meltdown but not that badly, our negative one percent growth is way below the rest of the world. Abedian claims that in the next decade the South African economy relative to the global economy will grow by 1,5% to 1,8%. State capacity remains a critical factor as it is the weakest link as it takes time to build – Australia took 12 years to reconfigure its public sector after acknowledging that they had a problem. The private sector strength is the country’s most important contributor. Abedian stated that currently Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are as clear as mud in that they are half hearted and dysfunctional with both parties failing to make it work or take it seriously. He sees this as a window of opportunity to make a positive contribution as we cannot wait for the public sector. Government will channel a great deal of resources to improve urban infrastructure. South Africa’s construction sector is unlikely to be hit as hard as some other countries. He concluded with “Times are tough but opportunities have not dried up and cost consciousness is bound to rise rapidly”.</p>
<p class="style8"> </p>
<p class="style8"><strong>Mergers and Acquisitions: Global Trends – Dr. Gustav Rohde</strong></p>
<p class="style8">Dr. Gustav Rohde gave a presentation on the Global Trends in Mergers and Acquisitions started by stating that there is a consolidation of the industry and that this is a trend that cannot be ignored. This trend has already been experienced in many other industries including the banks who merged a long time ago; auditing firms –there are only 4 large firms today; and contractors who started consolidating around 4 years ago. He believes that CESA members are lagging behind.</p>
<p class="style8">Rohde stated that the fees of the top 200 international design firms grew by 22% in one year but that in Africa firms are fragmented to the point that we are unable to compete even in our own African space. Globally there have been huge amalgamations and currently 20% of revenues are taken by these corporations to the point that the big firms are just getting bigger and bigger. Rohde believes that growth can be achieved even in a recession through mergers and acquisitions. Even CESA’s MIS report states that large firms continue to play a more dominant role. Rohde went on to list a number of reasons for further consolidation; the various models that need to be considered; how to value a Consultancy; as well as the biggest hurdles.<br />
Rohde stated that consultants are becoming increasingly less equipped to defend their territory (South Africa and Africa) and are becoming more fragmented. He believes that consolidation should reduce competition, open global opportunities and increase global competitiveness.</p>
<p class="style8">In his presentation Rudolf Gouws, Chief Economist at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) discussed the global imbalances and their effect on South Africa; the impact of the crisis on South Africa; the crisis and the macroeconomic response as well as the domestic economic outlook.</p>
<p class="style8">The presentations were followed by a very interactive discussion with interesting questions and viewpoints being discussed. The programme concluded with CESA’s Deputy President, Zulch Lotter stating that the speakers had highlighted the challenges that the industry faced in light of the economic meltdown. He also re-iterated Gustav Rohde’s comments that the industry needed to guard against the belief that ‘local is lekker’ and that they need to consider that ‘big is more beautiful’ but that the process of getting there takes time, patience and dedication.</p>
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<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>
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<td><p align="center" class="style4"><a name="section5" id="section5"></a></p>
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<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/DSCN1185 resize.jpg" alt="school" width="500" height="375" /></p>
<p align="left" class="style8">April this year saw the first School of Consulting Engineering (SCE) courses being held at their new premises that are located adjacent to CESA’s offices in Bryanston. Prior to this date the SCE had been operating as a virtual school with no fixed premises utilising external venues in order to accommodate courses. Brenda Lacey-Smith, SCE Manager believes that, “Investing in our own venue has proved to be far more cost effective and has also allowed us to considerably expand the number of courses offered by the school.”<br />
The new premises include 2 flat floored training rooms each seating 20 delegates in school room style, with its own dedicated kitchen and refreshment area. Both training rooms are fully kitted with audio visual and computer equipment. When not in use by the SCE the room is available for hire.<br />
Currently the SCE offers a suite of over 30 courses ranging from CPD accredited training courses aimed specifically at Consulting Engineers to Administrative and Financial Support courses. Lacey-Smith states that they have had a huge demand for the soft skills courses run by the school as there was a definite gap in the market for these type of courses aimed specifically at engineers. The School offers a great variety of courses and are constantly introducing new courses based on industry demand. <br />
In addition to this CESA through it’s training school is working together with other Associations including the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC); the Water Institute of South Africa (WISA); and the Institution of Municipal Engineers of South Africa (IMESA) that do not have training facilities and who can benefit from the SCE’s comprehensive list of training courses.<br />
There is also a large demand for training courses coming from our neighbouring African countries and candidates travel from countries including, Tanzania, Nigeria and Botswana to attend courses.<br />
Some exciting new courses being offered in the near future are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li class="style8">Occupational Health and Safety regulations for Consulting Engineers</li>
<li class="style8">Project Handling</li>
<li class="style8">PROCSA</li>
<li class="style8">Professional Registration</li>
</ul>
<p class="style8">The SCE will also shortly be offering a number of technical courses that are being developed in conjunction with the Water Institute of South Africa (WISA).</p>
<p class="style8">The most popular courses that the SCE offers include:</p>
<ul>
<li class="style8">Project Management Foundation</li>
<li class="style8">Advanced Excel</li>
<li class="style8">MS Projects</li>
<li class="style8">Administrative Support courses that provide key skills to secretaries and personal assistants</li>
</ul>
<p class="style8">The SCE also remains very involved with Life Long Learning Solutions (LLLS) and the Engineers in Practise series of programmes. Upcoming Webcasting and CDs include:</p>
<ul>
<li class="style8">Project Management Foundation overview</li>
<li class="style8">Contract Law Strengths and Weaknesses and Legal Risk associated</li>
<li class="style8">CESA addresses the Impact of the Economic Crisis on our Industry</li>
</ul>
<p class="style8">A comprehensive list of training courses is available at <a href="http://www.cesa.co.za">www.cesa.co.za</a></p>
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<p class="style8">In March 2009 the Built Environment for Professional Consultants and Councils Committee (BEPCC) representing Consulting Engineers (CESA), the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS), Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), S A Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession (SACQSP), SA Council for the Property Valuers Profession (SACPVP), South African Black Technical & Allied Careers Organisation (SABTACO ), South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP), South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP), South African Institute of Architects (SAIA), South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE), South African Council for the Landscape Architectural Profession (SACLAP), and the South African Geomatics Institute (SAGI), identified that a large portion of funding was available from the CETA and in view of this submitted a proposal to access funds.</p>
<p class="style8">The amount of funds available was in the region of R183 million and the BEPCC submitted a proposal to access R104million of this amount but subsequently have reduced this to R80 million. Brenda Lacey-Smith from CESA stated that, “The CETA normally does not accept proposals from a grouping of organisations but have accepted our proposal which is currently in its 3rd version”. The CETA has allocated dedicated staff to ensure that the project proposal will be accepted and this will be the first time that the BEPs as an industry will get funding from the CETA for training.</p>
<p class="style8">The R80million proposal is broken down into finance for BEP Bursaries for employees in stakeholder companies; internships for employed and unemployed BEP students; workplace training under mentorship for BEP graduates to ensure they gain sufficient experience to register with the appropriate council; and research to determine numbers and qualifications most required. This will ensure that South Africa has enough professionally registered engineers to address the skills shortage.</p>
<p class="style8">Phil Gallie, a member of CESA is the BEPCC Chairman and a CETA council member with Brenda Lacey-Smith acting as his alternate on the CETA Council. Brenda is also a member of the CETA’s Bursary Committee, Project Evaluation Committee and the BEPCC committee. Both Phil and Brenda are determined to pursue and fight for the needs of training in the industry.</p>
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<p class="style8">The Built Environment Professions Export Council was created as a Section 21 Company in 2008 to, among other things, ensure that not only Consulting Engineers, but also Architects and Quantity Surveyors are drawn into the PPP that the Council has with the Department of Trade and Industry for the promotion of services exports. Over the past three months the Export Council has focused on promoting its services among the Quantity Surveying and Architectural fraternity. This has been very successful and they are pleased to inform that the following firms have recently joined:</p>
<p class="style6">Quantity Surveying Architects</p>
<p class="style8">Turner Townsend Boogertman and Partners<br />
De Leeuw and Partners Paragon Architects<br />
Crane Quantity Surveyors Bild Architects<br />
Davis Langdon Stauch Vorster Architects<br />
Holm Jordaan Architects</p>
<p class="style8">They are also pleased to announce a number of new members from the Consulting Engineering fraternity as well. These include TWP, HBS Africa, Arup, Read, Swatman & Voigt and Nyeleti Consulting.</p>
<p class="style8">New members were attracted by the fact that BEPEC has aligned its strategies to penetrate the African market together with the Nepad Policies of the South African Government, the African Union and the African Development Bank. The centerpiece of this alignment of strategy is the Development Corridors that have been adopted by these institutions as a key component of their strategy for the socio-economic regeneration of Africa. </p>
<p class="style8">In this regard BEPEC arranged a well attended briefing on the recently established North South Corridor. Similar to the Maputo Development Corridor, this project aims to not only reduce the time and cost of traveling along the corridor, but also to secure foreign and South African investments in the corridor.</p>
<p class="style8">The North South Corridor, covering 8 countries runs from South Africa (Durban) to the Katanga Province in the Southern DRC, and also links up with the Dar es Salaam Corridor in Tanzania with spurs running into Mozambique (Beira, Nacala) and Angola. DIFID funded a large portion of the preparatory work in mapping the status of the entire road, rail and border infrastructure. Mr. John Donavan, a Senior Project Manager for the Regional Trade Facilitation Programme gave a presentation on project opportunities that will flow from this initiative. Also in attendance were some of the commercial banks and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Donors have pledged US$ 1.2 billion to fund projects along the Corridor. The DBSA will be responsible for the management of this fund, and officials from the Bank gave a short update on progress in this regard. </p>
<p class="style8">A query that was raised a number of times during discussion, related to the effect that the international financial crises will have on Africa and how this will impact the execution of the Corridor Strategy. While the international financial crisis has affected most countries in the World, there is evidence that the business environment for Built Environment Professionals in Africa will remain attractive over a broad range of sectors. In agriculture, for example, Illovo recently announced that it would seek to raise R3-billion in a rights offer on the JSE to fund expansion. The company is consolidating its business in South Africa and will pursue “major investments” in Malawi, Zambia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Mozambique, all countries aligned with the BEPEC Corridor strategy. In Tourism the East African Business Week reported that the Kempinski Hotel group has launched a five-star lodge in Serengeti National Park with a promise of more to come. </p>
<p class="style8">Evidence that China and India will continue to drive economic activity in Africa abound. For example the Zambian government has signed an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) with Zhonghui Mining Group of China that has committed to invest US$3.6 billion in mining projects in this African nation's Copper Belt and North-Western provinces. More than 80 Indian companies now own land in Africa. India is acquiring vast tracts of land across Africa to farm a range of food crops for local consumption, import back home and export. These initiatives are backed by federal government loans, cheap credit and preferential import tariffs.</p>
<p class="style8">Indian agricultural experts said that, unlike in the past when governments and conglomerates colonised and acquired land for profit, the 21st century drive was prompted by escalating shortages in emerging economies like India and neighbouring China where rising incomes were generating higher demands for food.</p>
<p class="style8">According to African Business Magazine the construction industry in Africa has enjoyed a relative boom period and will continue to see opportunities with the development of football stadiums, shopping malls, schools, clinics, airports and social housing schemes. According to the article the construction and real estate markets are often the first to feel the effects of an economic slowdown, as well as the last to emerge from recession, yet there are few signs of a collapse in investment in most parts of the continent. Property prices have tumbled in many Gulf states over the past year and so a range of investors from the region are looking to Africa and even further afield for alternative investment targets.</p>
<p class="style8">Some other factors also support economic activity in Africa, in particular, the World Bank’s new Infrastructure Recovery and Assets (INFRA) fund and the Infrastructure Crisis Facility (ICF) have been allocated billions of dollars to promote infrastructural projects in developing countries. Both are to be managed by the International Finance Corporation. The INFRA budget is US$45 billion and the ICF expect to distribute US$10billion in low cost housing, power, water and transport projects. Robert Zoellick, the President of the World Bank, commented: “As developing countries are facing the trials of the global economic crisis, it is vitally important that economic stimulus packages in the developed world are accompanied by support to those that cannot afford multibillion bail-outs.” Indeed, while the poor state of infrastructure has often been blamed for the economic frailty of many African states, housing and other buildings have rarely topped the list of construction priorities. However, there is growing pressure to put more effort into turning the informal settlements that have built up on the outskirts of African cities into more formal housing suburbs.</p>
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<p><span class="style6">Dr. Bane Malete (DBSA) with Paul Runge (Africa Projects Access)</span></p>
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<p><span class="style6">Delegates attending the North South Corridor briefing</span></p>
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<p align="center" class="style1"><img src="images/attachment.gif" alt="homecoming" width="581" height="240" /></p>
<p align="center" class="style26">CESA PARTNERS WITH HOMECOMING REVOLUTION</p>
<p align="center" class="style6"> </p>
<p align="center" class="style6">The Homecoming Revolution is offering substantially discounted rates for CESA members.</p>
<p class="style8"><strong>CESA is delighted to announce its partnership with The Homecoming Revolution</strong>, the non-profit organisation which encourages and assists skilled South Africans to return home. Founded in 2003, The Homecoming Revolution has been active for 6 years in communicating the positive aspects and opportunities available to South Africans and non-South Africans interested in returning or moving to SA.</p>
<p class="style8">The skills shortage in South Africa is one of the major stumbling points for the development of a sustainable economy and it is widely recognized that there is a significant shortage of engineers and technicians in the country. One of the main contributing factors is that each year scores of qualified engineers leave South Africa and head abroad. The current downturn in the global economy has resulted in thousands of job losses and affords South Africa a good opportunity to try and get some of their skills back. It is also a chance to find foreign critical skills who would be interested in working in South Africa.</p>
<p class="style8">By partnering with The Homecoming Revolution we aim to promote the career opportunities in South Africa and to ensure a smooth transition for returning engineering practitioners.</p>
<p class="style8"><strong>The Homecoming Revolution is offering substantially discounted rates for CESA members</strong> to promote the opportunities in their organisations and to attract the right skills back to South Africa. The various channels for CESA members to engage with engineers abroad or those who have recently returned home include:</p>
<p class="style8">• Opportunities for members to post job advertisements on the HCR careers portal</p>
<p class="style8">• Opportunities for members to list themselves on the HCR business directory</p>
<p class="style8">• Banner advertising opportunities for CESA members on the HCR website and careers portal</p>
<p class="style8">• Specific targeted mailers can be compiled and sent out to HCR subscribers highlighting the opportunities and progress of engineering projects in SA<br />
</p>
<p class="style8">Don’t miss this unique opportunity.</p>
<p align="center" class="style8">For more information and discounted rates click here or contact <a href="mailto:brigitte@homecomingrevolution.co.za">brigitte@homecomingrevolution.co.za</a> / 011 327 3668</p>
<p class="style8"><a href="http://www.homecomingrevolution.co.za">www.homecomingrevolution.co.za</a> </p>
<p class="style8"> </p>
<p align="center" class="style8"><img src="images/section Kieren.jpg" alt="Kieren section" width="750" height="100" /></p>
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<p class="style8">After spending close to 4 years working in London with no intention of returning to South Africa, current Chairperson of CESA’s Young Professionals Forum, Kieren Brown came across an advert for The Homecoming Revolution (HRC) in a South African newspaper. Kieren felt that South Africa had so much potential and wanted to be involved in rebuilding the country and not come back when it was all done. At the time when she was in the process of making the decision whether to stay in London for good or return to South Africa she accessed the HRC’s website and this created the push to make up her mind to return to SA at the end of 2003. Up until this point Kieren had been working in London as Traffic Engineer for the London Borough of Islington, she loved London and enjoyed a job that provided her with wonderful opportunities to learn and enhance her career. She enjoyed flexible working conditions and the opportunity to travel. Working in London also allowed her to save enough money to enable her to pay to complete her studies on her return to SA. Kieren comments, “While overseas you hear about all the bad stuff happening in SA but the HRC website tells you about the positive things happening in the country including some great job opportunities and allays some of the fears.”</p>
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<p><span class="style6">CESA stand</span></p>
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<p><span class="style6">Shian Saroop, Kwa-Zulu Natal Young Professionals Forum, Chairperson</span></p>
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<p><span class="style6">Godfrey Ramalisa</span></p>
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<p align="left" class="style8">CESA is pleased to welcome Portia Mabunda who has joined the organisation as the assistant to the manager of the CESA Scool of Consulting Engineering and Solly Mamaila, who has joined CESA as Office Assistant/Driver.</p>
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<p><img src="images/IMG_0916 Portia.jpg" alt="Portia" width="350" height="269" /></p>
<p><span class="style6">Portia Mabunda</span></p>
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<p><span class="style6">Solly Mamaila</span></p>
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