The Institution of Certificated Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, South Africa

In accordance with Clause 4.03 of the Constitution, the Council has pleasure in presenting the Ninety-Fifth Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31 December 2005.
Another busy year for the Institution has drawn to a close and it would no doubt take volumes of documents to reflect the work that has been done. It is not possible to include the detail of this work in an annual report as much as we would like to. Therefore we have compiled an annual report which only outlines some of the committees and activities where the interests of the members of this Institution were represented. It has been an honour and a pleasure for me to serve this esteemed Institution as President for the past year and therefore my duty to report on some of the highlights and duties of the President.
As President I was invited to numerous annual general meetings and banquets hosted by other prestigious voluntary Institutions and Associations.
The AGM of SAIEE was hosted in the newly revamped war museum with a presentation on CPD given by Professor Bea Lacquet, (President of SAIEE). The SAIEE also hosted a banquet where Du Toit Grobler received the SAIEE 2005 Engineer of the Year Award sponsored by Alstom SA (Pty) Ltd for his contribution to the SAIEE and the Electrical Engineering Profession with particular reference to Continuing Professional Development and the Identification of Engineering Work. Well done Du Toit!
A Banquet of note was hosted by the SAIMM in the Sandton convention centre where a live demonstration of Lipizzaner horses was enjoyed by 1000 attendees.
Other official activities include the Presidents Forum hosted by ECSA, the Council for the Built Environment (CBE) sub committee, various South African National Standards (SANS) steering committees and the CM&EE forum hosted by the Chamber of mines.
A prestigious breakfast event hosted by EE Publishers, while very entertaining, also proved to be an eye opener and wakeup call for the engineering and manufacturing industry. Dr Michael Power presented his thoughts and observations on the potential influence of China on the rest of the world and suggested that China is the next USA.
As previously mentioned the year was extremely busy and subsequently, due to Institution and work commitments, I was not able to visit many of the branches during the year. It has been disappointing to hear that some of our branches did not host any activities for the year due to no interest being demonstrated by the members in these specific areas. The Mpumalanga branch which was established in 2002 has also been forced to close down due to no activity.
Further issues such as Continued Professional Development (CPD) have been the order of the day with all the voluntary associations trying to determine just how they should go about providing the necessary advice to members and what systems need to be put in place to best serve the needs of the members. This is also a priority on the council’s agenda for 2006.
The Institution applied for and was granted recognition as a voluntary association by ECSA. There has also been much debate about the targeted NQF level for the certificated engineer with as many opinions as there are members participating in the respective committees. Hopefully this issue which will be resolved in the coming year.
A list of committees where the members of this institute are represented is contained in this document. I wish to extend a word of thanks to each and everyone serving on these and many other committees as it takes up a tremendous amount of one’s time, and often the only remuneration is criticism rather than praise.
Referring to the finances of ICMEESA. The Institution is cash positive and going from strength to strength. The audited and certified annual financial report which is included in this annual report clearly shows that the financial expenditure is well controlled and a concerted effort has again gone into the recovery of annual subscriptions. Robbie Holmwood, treasurer and Fiona Revolta, secretary, have both contributed hugely to this success.
The “ICMEESA NEWS” bulletin has gone from strength to strength with regular publications being created by Robbie Holmwood. Robbie has also been instrumental in updating the web site on a continual basis. I would like to make a plea to all members to support Robbie in his requests for information and articles which can be published in either of these two formats.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank each and everyone that helped and supported me as President during this past year.
Thank you to Du Toit Grobler, Obed Letsholo and Gus Muller who occasionally stood in for me when the going got tough.
A special word of thanks to Fiona. Between giving birth and raising two sons, you are doing and excellent job in keeping the institutions’ administrative issues up to date. Your contribution and effort does not pass unnoticed.
Thank you to the newly elected Council and Exco as well as the Vice Presidents who are making themselves available for this coming year, it will undoubtedly be just as hectic as 2005.
We should not forget the Branch Chairpersons and their committees, who are also doing an excellent job out there by steering, counselling and guiding the Institution and its members to enrich themselves in the knowledge of life.
Lastly I want to thank the members. What we do, we do for you. Please continue communicating with us so that we can provide the service you require.
It is extremely important for the sustainability of the Institution as well as the Certificated Engineering fraternity that we understand your needs.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you.

Office Bearers Elected for 2006

President: V C Townsend
Immediate Past President Dr G A Müller
Vice Presidents:
Jack Cunnington – Senior Vice
Obed Letsholo – Vice
Chris Schnehage - Vice

Honorary Treasurer - Robbie Holmwood

Branch Chairpersons:
Klerksdorp District - A Havenga
Rustenburg District - J Kruger
Western Cape - C W Schnehage
KwaZulu-Natal - B Chapman
Free State - I D Buchanan – liaison
Eastern Cape – Rory McLoughlin
Central – Piet Nieman

Elected members
Du Toit Grobler
Andre Du Plessis
Rob Higgo

Engineering Council Of South Africa (ECSA)

On 24 November 2005 the 2001-2005 ECSA Council met for the last time and the 2005-2009 Council was inducted. At that meeting two of the council members representing Professional Certificated Engineers, Andre du Plessis and du Toit Grobler were acknowledge for their service to the profession with Merit Awards. The Institution took part in the nominations for the appointment of Professional Certificated Engineers to serve on the 2005-2009 ECSA Council. AD du Plessis, du Toit Grobler and Vaughn Townsend were nominated and the former two were appointed to serve on the Council by the Minister of Public Works. During 2005 Professional Certificated Engineers continued to play a significant role in the various activities of ECSA.

Various issues which have a direct impact on the Institution and Professional Certificated Engineers were addressed during the year, included:

Recognition as a Voluntary Association (VA): On 24 November 2005 ICMEESA was recognised by ESCA as a Voluntary Association. The two major implications of this recognition are:
- Institution Members qualify for a reduction in the annual ECSA registration fees, and;
- the Institution is authorised to validated developmental activities which would allow attendees to earning CPD credits for the purpose of renewal of Professional Registration with ECSA.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD): On 26 May 2005 ECSA Council approved the Policy on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and the Renewal of Registration (RoR). With effect from 1 January 2006 all registered Professional Certificated Engineers have to earn prescribed credits as a prerequisite for the compulsory 5-yearly renewal of registration which will be phased in with effect from 1 January 2007.
Identification of Engineering Work (IDoEW): ECSA established an Identification of Engineering Work Steering Committee (IDoEW-SC) which met for the first time on 14 February 2005. The Committee has drawn up a framework for the Identification of Engineering Work, which is to be reserved for registered professionals. The framework will be developed further before it is submitted to the Council for the Built Environment (CBE) for ratification. The presentations and deliberations of the Joint SAIEE/ICMEESA Workshops, which took place in Johannesburg on 13 October 2004, 27 January 2005 in Durban and 3 March 2005 played a significant role to form a basis for the framework.

Department of Labour (DoL)

The following sets of draft regulations in the engineering field that were published during 2004 have not been finalized-

Draft Electrical Machinery Regulations;
Draft Lifts, Escalators and Passenger Conveyor Regulations; and
Draft Amendment: Pressure Equipment Regulations

On recommendation from the Advisory Council for Occupational Health and Safety (ACOHS), a revised draft of the Electrical Installation Regulations was published on 9 December 2005 for general comment, which must be submitted by 9 March 2006. Two ICMEESA Council Members served on the Technical Committee that redrafted these regulations.
Cabinet has approved that all sections in government administering occupational health and safety functions must be grouped together in one statutory body.

Department of Minerals and Energy

Regulations continue to be promulgated under the Mine Health and Safety Act and, simultaneously, regulations that were in effect under the Minerals Act (and in force in terms of Schedule 4 of the Mine Health and Safety Act) are being repealed as they become obsolete. It is hoped that this process will be completed in 2006.
During the year 18 Mechanical and 8 Electrical Certificates of Competency were issued to successful candidates. This represents a pass rate for Plant and Legal Knowledge of 8,7% and 18,25%, respectively.
Of the 326 candidates who enrolled for the Plant Examination, 286 wrote the examination. The highest mark attained was 64%.
Of the 245 candidates who enrolled for the Legal Knowledge Examination, 229 wrote the examination. The highest mark attained was 79%.
The Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate continues to strive towards improvement of conditions and practices at mines and thereby reduce the exposure of mine employees to unacceptable levels of risk to their health and safety.
Accidents at mines:
The recorded number of persons employed at mines in South Africa increased by 4 943, from 441 612 in 2004 to 446 555.
The number of persons who were fatally injured at mines decreased from 246 in 2004 to 202 in 2005 (provisional figures for 2005) – an improvement in the Fatality Rate of 0,11 per 1000 persons at work (down from 0,56 in 2004 to 0,45 in 2005).
The number of persons who were reportedly injured at mines decreased from 4268 in 2004 to 3966 in 2005 (provisional figures for 2005) – an improvement in the Injury Rate of 0,78 per 1000 persons at work (down from 9,66 in 2004 to 8,88 in 2005).
The challenges for the DME remain continued improvement in health and safety at mines, participation on statutory tri-partite bodies, the fight against occupational diseases and HIV/Aids (the DME is committed to the eradication of silicosis and noise induced hearing loss in the mining sector by 2013, in line with international milestones) and the continued development of the small mining sector.
The DME is committed to the continuous improvement of the quality of life for mine employees. This is only possible with the ongoing co-operation and participation of all persons associated with the mining industry.
The Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate Branch of the DME, in a bid to achieve its goals, is undergoing a restructuring process.

ICMEESA Finances as of end 2005

The financial year of 2005 ended the year with a surplus remaining after expenditure for the normal running of the institution is deducted from subscription income received. Subscription income is the main source of income with interest from investments and the WP Jones Trust Fund being the other. The financial statements were submitted to the auditors for presentation at the Annual General Meeting.
Bursary expenditure was R37000 and exceeded the bursary income from the WP Jones trust fund by 2%. This is the first year that the bursary fund has been fully allocated. Accumulated bursary funds from previous years are still available for this purpose.
Although subscription income was below budget, the good control of expenses resulted in a surplus for the year. Expenditure included a total of R28500 paid to branches as a proportion of the membership subscription received from that branch. This is to assist the branches with the expenditure incurred in running branch activities.
Subscription increases for 2006 have been restricted to 4%.

Membership Trends

Although there has been a positive trend in the new membership figures for the previous 5 years, we only recruited 40 new members for 2005. Ultimately we continue to increase our total membership base year on year. New applications for student members and associate members were in the majority. Numerous members who move around between work opportunities fail to forward their new addresses to the Institution which creates a list referred to as the “Lost Members” list. Mail is returned “address unknown” and follow up via telephone.
With a concerted effort from the secretary, the list of lost members is continually being reduced. The Institution would like to keep in contact with all it’s members, subsequently we appeal to all members to remember to keep their personal details up to date. This can be done online at www.icmeesa.com or with a phone call to the secretary.

Bursary Awards

Both the bursars that were being sponsored by the Institution during 2005 have delivered acceptable results and subsequently the council agreed to continue supporting them in 2006. Bursaries covered the costs of tuition and books. Total cost for 2005 amounted to R34 858
The bursary holders are:

Jasoda Naidoo from Chatswarth in Durban. Jasoda is registered as a third year student at the Universtity of KZN studying electrical engineering.
Ernest De La Hunt from Rustenburg in the North West. Ernest is registered as a second year student at Potchefstroom University studying mechanical engineering.

Both bursars are children of members of ICMEESA.
Council regretfully has to report that no prize was awarded for a technical paper presented by a member of the Institution this year due to a lack of nominations. This initiative was revitalized in 2004 and a concerted effort will be put in to find nominations for 2006.