The Civil Engineering Contractor July 2019 | Page 3

COMMENT The end of the road Eamonn Ryan - editor [email protected] T he publishers of Civil Engineering Contractor, Interact Media Defined, announced in May that the publication would be shelved effective from this July issue, and until further notice. “Civil Engineering Contractor (CEC) in its printed format will be suspended from July 2019. This decision is based on the fact that currently the industry is a troubled one and is not necessarily supported by a clear strategy from government at any level. Nonetheless, we will continue to maintain the circulation list so that we could re-launch CEC in future. The title, as with all titles, remains the property of IMD,” according to the statement. This is a sad day indeed for CEC which has a 50-year pedigree and has survived many earlier tough economic cycles. Any number of interviewees in the pages of recent issues have noted that the current era is the worst they have seen in their lifetimes. Others claim they believe the times we are www.civilsonline.co.za suffering through in civil engineering have been actively orchestrated by government as a means to transform the industry in its pursuit of Radical Economic Transformation — a policy one heard little of during the election, but which continues to affect society. CEC therefore becomes the latest casualty in a growing list of business closures in the civil engineering industry over the past year. All those working for the publication hope it may see the light of day again, and without a future voice we wholeheartedly endorse the efforts of our original publisher (of 50 years ago) — the South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC) — to both transform the industry intelligently and to end the cycle of violence from community forums. As Webster Mfebe, the CEO of SAFCEC, notes in an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa: “… these companies (which are the targets of the gangs) are on the brink of bankruptcy as some have already entered the redline of business rescue and are shedding jobs. It is evident that the South African economy and the livelihood of workers are the main casualties and money is lost to the fiscus as no taxes can be collected due to no economic activity taking place.” CEC can only emphasise that this situation is so cataclysmic that there will only be resolution if the entire construction industry addresses it. SAFCEC has held meetings with the then Minister of Economic Development, and we hope that the intervening election and change of government does not unduly delay decisions necessary to end a state of affairs which cannot be allowed to continue a minute longer. Mfebe stated in his letter that “… the government is indeed empathetic and seriously concerned about the dire state of our industry. To this end, there are serious plans being developed to prioritise the construction industry beyond just the issues of violent disruption on construction sites, and these will be shared with the industry at the government’s earliest convenience.” That ‘earliest convenience’ has not yet occurred, but we’re prepared to cut the government a little slack in that it is internally focused at the moment. This period of introspection by government presents an opportunity for it to accomplish what SAICE President Brian Downie calls for in the latest issue of that organisation’s magazine, Civil Engineering: “The disgrace of corruption must be rooted out and the billions of rands which have been stolen must be seized and returned to be used for the legitimate purpose for which they were intended. The recent spate of mafia-style co-ordinated gang activity on project sites across the country must be confronted by determined action to halt this scourge.” We hope this is not the end of the road for Civil Engineering Contractor, but a brief swerving off the road till we can right the wheel. CEC July 2019 | 1