Construction World June 2021

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The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) believes that a professional, and accountable, public service will help to eradicate inefficiencies that impact government’s vision as set out in the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030. IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONALISING THE PUBLIC SERVICE

insights, who said, “I think of civil engineering services in the public sector, on a foundational level, as creating the possibility of a dignified life. Without this, we are not offering a dignified life to our citizens.” This was the lens through which he discussed public service in South Africa, which he said suffers from a poor institutional culture.” He highlighted that working in the public service is difficult, with a higher demand for accountability. “We need a public sector that is continually striving to provide the best service possible. Following this, Dr Molokwane highlighted what it means

“O nly a collective effort within a supportive political, bureaucratic, technical, and leadership context will assist this change,” comments SAICE CEO, Vishaal Lutchman. Emphasising this point, the institution hosted a webinar on the Professionalisation of the Public Service last night, with a focus on how it relates to infrastructure development. Over 1 100 people registered for the webinar, demonstrating the importance of the topic. Chaired by Nthabeleng Lentsoane, SAICE Head of Marketing & PR, panellists gathered to share their thoughts on the road ahead, which is guided by the draft National Implementation Framework towards the Professionalisation of the Public Service. The framework aims to develop capable public service underpinned by a high standard of professional ethics from an adequately skilled and fully equipped workforce. Panellists agreed that this is an ambitious plan indeed. This webinar featured a variety of thoughts and insights from government, corporate and academia, with a highly experienced panel of professionals, including: • Dr Pulane Molokwane: Nuclear Physicist, Water and Environmental Engineering Specialist • Professor Yunus Ballim: Professor, WITS School of Civil and Environmental Engineering • Dr Somadoda Fikeni: Commissioner, Public Service Commission • Marcia Maidi: Civil Structures Asset Manager, Rand Water • Vishaal Lutchman: SAICE Chief Executive Officer Lutchman, who was moderating the dialogue began by saying that professionalisation is crucial for meeting key strategic infrastructure development objectives. “We can’t afford to wait any longer. We are living in crisis mode and when you live in crisis mode, time is a problem. This has a prominent impact on how the civil engineering industry operates, and how infrastructure is planned and executed.” He called on Prof. Ballim to provide his

to be an ethical professional, emphasising the importance of attitude and behaviour. “We need to go back to the basics of our constitution, and serve our people with empathy. This applies to the entire infrastructure sector, because the mistakes that we make impact both the public and private sectors.” She said that an ethical professional is one who knows what they are doing and is fully equipped to do their duties – “the right people, with the right skills, where they need to be”. Dr Fikeni highlighted the role of all infrastructure stakeholders in creating a culture of professionalisation: “Our problems have become so complex that government alone will not do. It will take the public sector, private sector, and civil society – and every other player – to be professional and ethical. We have left the task of nation-building largely to the political and business elite, but we have not invested in the capacitation of citizens who become a pool from which we extract the very people who we want to be ethical.” He recommended a multidisciplinary approach to appointing public services where, for example, it is not sufficient to be technically competent – one must also show capacity for ethics, accountability, and professional conduct. Maidi spoke from the perspective of being in the public service. “Resourcing is a problem for us – for the few civil engineers who are employed in the public sector. The skills and competence required is a great challenge, so how are we able to drive the goals laid out in the NDP? It’s lack of resources which prevent us from properly planning, implementing, and maintaining our infrastructure.” She emphasised the importance of training young engineers and developing talent who can help drive the objectives of the NDP. The webinar discussions followed themes around the importance of values and ethics in caring for our people through public administration. Audience participation spurred continued engagement on this important topic, and various stakeholders took the opportunity to have their say. ▄

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