Only registered engineers for infrastructure work, SAICE asks gov

Business Day reports that delegates to the Public-Private Infrastructure Forum in Johannesburg - attended by key players from both the public and private sectors, including top Transnet and Eskom representatives - heard that there are no mandatory requirements for contractors in South Africa to employ registered engineers for infrastructure projects. This, engineering bodies say, allows a wide scope for graft, with ill-informed public servants giving work to people who cannot do the job properly and cannot assume risk.

According to the Business Day report, South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) CEO Manglin Pillay said that the organisation's view is that government should only appoint professionally registered individuals for infrastructure work. While the engineering profession needed to engage in joint ventures with emerging entrepreneurs, Pillay said, the state could also consider financial models such as "build-operate-transfer" used in other countries to create sustainable infrastructure.

Read the full article on www.businessday.co.za.