Consulting engineers to address transformation challenges
LOW LEVELS of black ownership in the consulting engineering profession have resulted in Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) deciding to embark on a number of initiatives over the next few years to address transformation challenges facing the profession.
Cesa president Lynne Pretorius said yesterday these would entail clearly defined goals, projects and programmes to enable successful implementation.
“It is our mission to set the building blocks in place today that will enable sound sustainable growth and transformation of our profession and consulting engineering sector,” Pretorius said.
“Cesa will in the next few months develop a transformation action plan that will enable it to actively pursue and participate in transformation.”
Pretorius said the organisation’s biannual economic and capacity survey results released in June last year indicated Cesa membership comprised 53 percent white staff but increased to 84 percent when only professional engineers were considered.
She said their breakdown indicated that black people were typically employed lower down the professional hierarchy as technicians, technical assistants and laboratory/survey assistants.
Findings Pretorius added the overall breakdown by race indicated the percentage of black employment had since 2007 varied between 40 percent and 50 percent, but notably there had not been any obvious increasing trend for black staff (Cesa members) observed over the past four years.
She said findings of studies indicated significant changes had occurred in the public sector since 2005, with the number of black municipal engineering staff increasing significantly in the period from 2005 to 2015.
However, Pretorius said the age profile also reflected the number of senior engineers, who were primarily white, had reduced significantly and in almost 50 percent of municipalities the most senior civil person was 41 years of age or younger and 17 percent 34 years of age or younger.
“In view of the need for mentoring, it is quite alarming that the number of senior engineers are dwindling. It further emphasised the need for mentoring to ensure that competent engineering professionals are being developed in the public sector.
“The concern is not so much the achievement of transformation goals, but the overall sustainable development of all young engineering staff towards professional registration,” she said.
It’s our mission to put the building blocks in place for sound growth and transformation.
But Pretorius said that when it came to transformation of the consulting engineering profession, Cesa had to acknowledge the numbers.
Among other things, a limited number of pupils with sufficient competence in mathematics left the school system and the engineering profession had to compete with others sectors to attract these pupils to the engineering degree programme, she said.
Pretorius added it currently appeared the credibility of the consulting engineering business sector was being questioned, with typical statements made referring to “engineers being old white males” and that “consulting engineering firms are only interested in making money”.
She said the critical role the engineering industry, particularly the consulting engineering profession, had in the development and functioning of South Africa’s economy could not be underestimated.
Pretorius said Cesa aimed to participate in broader transformation within the construction sector and ultimately within society and sensitise its membership to the ethical approach to transformation – and that an ethical approach to transformation made good business sense.
“Through this process, it (Cesa) can assist its members in transforming their companies and their approach to transformation,” she said.
Pretorius said Cesa’s transformation objectives were the increased participation of black male and female engineering professionals at various levels of member firms; the transformation of Cesa’s membership profile and ultimately the consulting engineering profession; and sustainable growth and development of consulting engineering staff.
Strategies identified by Cesa as a starting point for a transformation action plan included the professional registration of young engineering staff, support to small- and medium-sized businesses, mentoring, acknowledging the “glass ceiling” to advancement in the profession and addressing barriers to entering the engineering profession, she said.