Capacity and Capability in Civil Capacity and Capability in Civil EngineeringEngineering

RPF 22 November 2005RPF 22 November 2005

Sam Amod Sam Amod Pr Eng

SAICE President-elect

Tel: 011 – 530 9700 email: sam@decjhb.co.za

Construction spend – breakthrough the predicted high road ….???

How many more graduates do we need ?

How many more graduates do we need ?

Engineer to population ratiosCountry Population

Per engineerCountry Population

per engineer

Norway 122 Australia 455

China 130 * Hong Kong 463

Finland 136 Malaysia 543

India 157 * Chile 681

Greece 172 Poland 748 *

Denmark 179 Singapore 1 341

Canada 179 Korea 2 135 *

Sweden 209 Hungary 2 214

Germany 217 Romania 2 909

Brazil 227 South Africa 3 166

Iceland 266 Sri Lanka 5 595

France 276 Tanzania 5 930

Ireland 280 Namibia 6 346

Japan 303 * Zimbabwe 6 373

UK 311 Zambia 12 783

Argentina 453 Ghana 12 792

USA 389 Swaziland 12 238

There are ~ 15 000 civil engineers, technologists and technicians Shown below is the % employed per sector

Some 6000 educated and trained in SA have left the industry

mostly over the past 25 years. Why have they gone? Low salariesLow salaries

Restructuring and lack of recognition of the need for technical skills Restructuring and lack of recognition of the need for technical skills

Lack of career developmentLack of career development

Early retirementEarly retirement‘…by getting rid of older people an organisation’s KNOWLEDGE is being lost, not just its

people…’ - Kevin Thomson

Employment equityEmployment equity

In addition reduced graduations in the eighties and ninetiesIn addition reduced graduations in the eighties and nineties

South Africa must use all its skillsSouth Africa must use all its skills‘…engineers are trained to work systematically, solve problems and get things

done…’ – Cyril Ramaphosa

South Africa needs more engineers….South Africa needs more engineers….

The local government crisisThe local government crisis

No civil professionals79 of the 231 local councils have no

civil engineers, technologists or technicians

4 of the 47 district councils have no civil engineers, technologists or

technicians

Only one civil technician42 local councils have only one civil

technician4 district councils have only one civil

technician

Only young staff38 local councils employ only

technologists and technicians under the age of 35

6 district councils employ only technologists and technicians under

the age of 35

0

12

3

4

5-10

11-20

21-100 >100

Local Municipalities

Civil Engineering GraduationsUniversitiesUniversities TechnikonsTechnikons

Passed Higher Grade - Black with A,B or C symbol (5378)Passed Higher Grade - Total (24179)Passed Standard GradeWrote maths but failed

Matric MathsMatric Maths

20042004

0

50

100

150

200

250

19

86

19

87

19

88

19

89

19

90

19

91

19

92

19

93

19

94

19

95

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

African Male African FemaleIndian Male Indian FemaleColoured Male Coloured FemaleWhite Male White Female

0

100

200

300

400

500

19

86

19

87

19

88

19

89

19

90

19

91

19

92

19

93

19

94

19

95

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

African Male African FemaleIndian Male Indian FemaleColoured Male Coloured FemaleWhite Male White Female

Career guidance at all Career guidance at all schools with schools with

potential candidatespotential candidates

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

Total Engineering

Total Architecture

Enrolments at all Tertiary Enrolments at all Tertiary InstitutionsInstitutions

Graduations at all Tertiary Graduations at all Tertiary InstitutionsInstitutions

Bottlenecks Bottlenecks

• Matric maths

• Bursaries

• Foundation / orientation

• Size of classes

• Experiential training

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

Total Engineering

Total Architecture

Enrolments vs Graduations

The status quo

0 25 50 75 100

65

61

57

53

49

45

41

37

33

29

25

White Black

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

65

61

57

53

49

45

41

37

33

29

25

White Black0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

65

61

57

53

49

45

41

37

33

29

25

White Black

Engineer Technologist

Technician All combined

Ag

eA

ge

0 50 100 150 200 250

6361595755535149474543413937353331292725

White Black

Is there a hole in the bucket ?

No Intervention:

What do we do to increase capacity?What do we do to increase capacity?What do we do to increase capacity?What do we do to increase capacity?

Nurture the skills we have Nurture the skills we have

Reduce the lossesReduce the losses

Improve the pipeline of new skills:Improve the pipeline of new skills:

Encourage maths and science at higher gradeEncourage maths and science at higher grade

Increase uptake at universitiesIncrease uptake at universities

Increase graduationsIncrease graduations

Prioritise coaching and mentoringPrioritise coaching and mentoring

Push back retirement, bring back those who have left and access Push back retirement, bring back those who have left and access

global resourcesglobal resources

Best case – keep existing, entice registration, attract all we can

How do we work smarter?How do we work smarter?How do we work smarter?How do we work smarter?

Stretch our resourcesStretch our resources

Recognise these skills as scarceRecognise these skills as scarce

Clients must lead change boldlyClients must lead change boldly

Create relationships between public and private sectorsCreate relationships between public and private sectors

Sensible procurementSensible procurement

Align industry towards national goalsAlign industry towards national goals

Umaluleki InitiativePlace at least 500 more civil professionals in

local government

Build teams Build teams Retired or senior engineerRetired or senior engineer2 students needing experiential training2 students needing experiential training2 graduates to be trained towards 2 graduates to be trained towards

professional registrationprofessional registrationSelect at least one of the young people to Select at least one of the young people to

carry on with a BTechcarry on with a BTech

‘Civil engineers are the Leonardo Da Vinci’s of the 21st century…’

President Thabo Mbeki, 2003

Thank YouThank You