INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS and will continue to support this process going forward as there is much at stake . CESA member companies have the skills and are ready and willing to collaborate with government and all industry stakeholders .”
CONSULTING ENGINEERING ENVIRONMENT
“ As mentioned by the minister of Finance at our 2022 Indaba — the current supply chain processes simply do not work . We need to ensure that the value for money perspective does not get lost in the pursuit of least cost . Through industry collaboration we were directly involved in the compilation of the new Public Procurement Bill that is due to go before parliament in the near future . This bill promises to ensure that the procurement of infrastructure is treated differently from that of general goods and services . A fundamental shift in principle and in law that will ensure that value for money is equated to the quality
Some of the attendees at the CESA Presidential media event .
of services procured in the infrastructure delivery process .
“ In addition , Section 217 of our Constitution talks about ‘ Cost Effective ’ and not ‘ Least Cost ’. There is an important relationship between quality and cost . We believe that the correct approach should be to include the total cost of lifecycle ownership — cheap simply does not last and puts lives at stake . The impact of an inadequate design , that only equates to 2 % of the lifecycle cost of a project , can have a catastrophic cost impact on operations and maintenance costs , that equate to approximately 60 to 70 % of the total lifecycle cost , over the pursuant 30 years ,” said Soluade .
GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT “ With the shortage of experienced engineering capacity within the public sector , the partnership with the private sector is the easiest to implement . The private sector capacity is not fully utilised .”
FUNDERS AND DEVELOPMENT “ These parties will have higher levels of confidence that their money is being well spent if we achieve our goal of rooting out corruption , developing value for money infrastructure .”
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT “ We are aware of the popular rhetoric of the idea for the formation of a State Construction Company . Understandably such utterance will become commonplace with an election looming in 2024 , however , if there are capacity challenges in public sector currently , it is hard to see how this will be implemented with any speed or certainty .
“ As a Nation we are facing many challenges , but we are resilient . Our current water and energy challenges are stretching our resilience to the maximum . In addition we face added challenges with : Transport systems affecting logistics ; Healthcare systems ; and Educational institutions , to name a few ,” highlighted Soluade .
BEGIN AT HOME “ Most importantly we need to ‘ Begin At Home ’ and engineering firms are actively engaged in not only infrastructure development , but also in various corporate social responsibility programmes that seek to make a difference in the daily lives of ordinary citizens . To compete globally and develop locally South Africa needs engineers . Engineers are the designers and developers of infrastructure that results in economic growth and job creation . In 2020 we embarked on our very successful , and internationally acclaimed , Protecting
CESA CEO Chris Campbell attending the event .
Lives and Livelihoods campaign that is now entering its 4 th year . The aim of the campaign is to raise the profile of the industry and highlight the role that engineers play in protecting the lives and livelihoods of the citizens of our country , by showing the public what a Consulting Engineer is , and the value that we bring to society ,” said Soluade .
The industry ’ s focus going into 2023 is on skills development and growing the pipeline of engineers by highlighting the importance of STEM subjects . “ Through this campaign , we once again showcase why engineers need a seat at government ’ s decision-making table — and not be on the menu — when it comes to the development of value-formoney infrastructure ,” he emphasised . CLA
COLD LINK AFRICA • March / April 2023 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za 17