FACE TO FACE
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Manage professional entrepreneurial ambitions and
expectations.
Provide funding for undergraduate and
postgraduate studies to enhance knowledge and
innovation.
Engage with your learned society with a view to
keeping your profession cutting edge in technical
leadership initiatives and activities, thereby
maintaining the continuity of the profession and its
legacy, and restoring the pride of being an engineer.
We need to recognise that the power is in our hands,
and we therefore need to embrace Civilution and the
spirit of Ramaphosa’s call to ‘thuma mina’, to participate
in this call for engineers to regenerate ourselves. If
government wishes to transform anything radically,
it needs to transform the public sector delivery
mechanism — the administration — it needs to position
itself as the employer of choice for engineers, and
to create a professional and corporate environment
within their engineering and service delivery ranks.
Engineers once again need to start seeing career paths
in the government sector. Young engineers should start
shouldering greater responsibility at an earlier stage.
In solidarity we need to paint on the canvass of time
the socio-economic images we envisage for society
in the next 30–50 years. In the final analysis, we need
to insist on the need to professionalise the public
sector, and hold ourselves, the politicians, and the
administration to account if we want to achieve ethical
infrastructure engineering service delivery.
This is Civilution, the engineers’ revolution. ■
Pillay states that
engineers need to
once again, start
seeing career paths
in the government
sector.
for engineers, but that nevertheless, we rose to the
occasion and mended a society through a movement
called Civilution.
Civilution, then, encapsulates the tenets of a cause
or a mass movement, and it defines an era where
engineers resolutely reinstated technical, intellectual,
and strategic leadership.
In line with the ‘Credo of the African Engineer’,
every dedicated engineer should profess: “I am an
engineering practitioner, and, in my profession, I take
deep pride.”
The engineering professionals’ revolution is not
manifested in strike action, detention, politics, or
rhythmic dance to vent frustration. The engineers’
revolution is firstly an introspective conversion, where
we abandon pessimism and distrust, and regenerate
ourselves to become a creative and intelligent part of
the solution again, driven by the belief we held in our
hearts when we first became engineers: that we can
make a difference.
And because engineers are problem solvers,
philosophers, and strategists, our revolution cannot
find resonance in traditional, disruptive conduct. Our
revolution must find lodging in the intellectual and
ethical space. The engineers’ weapon is their pen —
their talent and skill. Let our intellect and our skill carry
the weight of our experience and our aspirations.
For this struggle to be successful, we must wrestle
for dominance in technical creativity, innovative and
cost-effective solutions, respect for time and delivery,
engagement with learned institution activities, and
fighting to bring clarity of truth to obtuse politicians.
It is time for us to bring back engineering excellence,
ethical business practice, accountability, and sustainable
solutions. This is what we are supposed to be doing
anyway, and by returning to this original authenticity, we
will also see the restoration of what rightfully belongs to
us: esteem, prestige, respect.
In everyday practical terms, the following actions
could contribute to Civilution gaining momentum and
becoming an unstoppable force:
• Partner with your client — raise the awareness
of funding and administrative requirements for
successful project completion.
• Do not tolerate corruption.
• Ensure that all projects are delivered on time,
within budget, and at world-class standards.
• Provide creative and innovative solutions to typical
and unique service delivery and engineering
problems.
• Train and mentor young engineers in a formal and
well-defined programme that will see them register
as engineering professionals.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Manglin Pillay is CEO of the South African Institution
of Civil Engineering (SAICE). Pillay is passionate
about the engineering sector and is a recognised
ambassador for transformation. He contributes
regularly to print and online media.
JUNE 2018
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