At the forefront of transformation and positive change in the industry
Cesa’s decision to create a charter back in 2000 has helped to ensure equitable growth, writes ANDREW GILLINGHAM
CONSULTING Engineers SA (Cesa) was born in 1952 as a collection of individuals who wanted a mechanism through which they could collaborate, network and also foster an environment that was conducive to successful business.
Graham Pirie, CEO of Cesa, says this focus was later emphasised still further when it evolved from a group of individuals to one whose membership was made up of consulting engineering firms.
“Becoming a business organisation in which the firms are the members was a decisive move in the right direction and allowed us to concentrate more on the business component of our industry,” says Pirie.
He says Cesa has a proud history of always being at the forefront of driving positive change in the industry, and in 2009 it went through a renaming exercise as it evolved from the South African Association of Consulting Engineers to Cesa.
“Having been founded in 1952, we are celebrating our diamond jubilee, highlighting 60 years of service to the industry.”
The strength of Cesa’s representation is demonstrated by its membership of about 590 firms which between them account for 80% to 90% of the market in the country.
“Today, nearly all of the large firms and most of the smaller organisations are members,” says Pirie.
Cesa initially focused strongly on advocacy, being the industry’s voice with its private and public sector clients.
At the same time, SA was facing major challenges, particularly between 1994 and 1995, which presented the industry with a change in client bodies as well as a different business climate.
“Although the industry was never a supporter of apartheid, we had to face up to the challenge of having been historically a white male dominated organisation that now wished to communicate with a new set of decision makers,” says Pirie.
Cesa has been at the forefront of transformation and it created a charter long before other industries had recognised the need to take this step.
“Our charter was approved and sent out to members in 2000. We were ahead of the game as it was only thereafter that other industry players became ‘charter conscious’ and industry transformation charters became the topic of the day.
“Closer co-operation was initiated with kindred associations in the built environment, including the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, the South African Black Technical and Allied Careers Association, the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors and the South African Institute of Architects.
“This group of organisations provided a platform for discussion around a specific industry charter and began more than six years of intensive lobbying and negotiations with organised labour and the government. The culmination was promulgation under Section 9 of the BBBEE Act of the Construction Sector Codes of Good Practice and Scorecard, providing at last a realistic and relevant measure of broad-based black economic empowerment in engineering and construction.
“The signing of the charter bound all involved in construction activities to meet specified transformation targets and to ensure equitable growth and democratisation of the industry. In the management of Cesa itself, more than half the staff are black, and two-thirds of the staff positions are occupied by women,” he says.
In response to the new environment, challenges and opportunities, in 2002 Cesa established its school of consulting engineering which focuses on developing the business skills that engineers need to be successful.
The launch was modest with a number of one-day courses offered in Johannesburg on topics relevant to the consulting engineer. However, the school’s programme soon grew to more than 50 courses countrywide, and by the end of last year it was generating a turnover of R5m a year.
“We launched the Business of Consulting Engineering Certificate Programme this year and the programme is designed to equip future leaders in the business and management of consulting engineering companies.
“We will be following up with the more advanced Certificate in the Management of Consulting Engineering next year.
“In a country short on skills and with an ageing engineer population, these courses will go a long way to ensuring skills development and the retention of skills within the consulting industry,” says Pirie.
The school also trains personnel from the industry’s clients. Cesa also set up the International Business Development Platform, which later evolved into Built Environment Professions Export Council (Bepec), a crossprofession body that includes all the disciplines such as architects, quantity surveyors and engineers who are involved in the built environment.
“Bepec focuses mainly on opportunities in the rest of Africa, with a particular emphasis on work done by Nepad and the African Union in terms of Africa’s future development,” says Pirie.