Consulting Engineers South Africa’s (CESA) President, Neresh Pather, presented his presidential message and theme for the year at a function held in Midrand, Premier Hotel on 13 February. The guest speaker of the day was Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Dr Ismail Vadi.
Pather began his presentation by stating that, “All South Africans can be mobilized to participate and actively reshape our economy, our country, our projects, our government and ultimately our lives. It starts with us!” Pather’s 2019 theme is ‘Reshaping our Future Together’ focusing on changing social norms by ‘Doing what is Right!
In his opening remarks Pather said that, “President Ramaphosa’s renewed focus on the basic education sector specifically around maths and science and the development of skills will ready us for the 4th Industrial Revolution”. Over and above this the President’s call for further investment into Africa and latest statistics showing increased interest in South Africa as an investment destination are all positive indicators for the start of 2019.
Pather believes that taking advantage of the 4th industrial revolution will enhance the delivery of their services “The use of technology to speed up delivery and to properly satisfy demand will soon become a reality for all of us. We need to start future-proofing our teams and reinventing our service offering to embed technology going forward. All of these advances will be targeting faster design, more cost-effective solutions and more consistent delivery of infrastructure and construction projects from both a time and cost perspective,” said Pather
The South African transport system has its own challenges and Dr Vadi acknowledges that fact, “We are extremely concerned as government by the slow rollout of the BRT system and low ridership. There are serious questions being asked about the role of consulting engineers,” said Dr Vadi
“There is so much to do in the Gauteng road network. Our road infrastructure budget for the year is just under R2bn and we are engaging with funding agencies,” he adds.