The Institution of Certificated Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, South Africa

ICMEESA News: July 2008

Download the PDF version of the July 2008 newsletter

1. Bring back the Past - Certificate No 1 Issued 1912 to Mr W.E. John
2. Presidents Inaugural address 1939 (Summary) - W. E. John.
3. Welcome to new Members
4. Obituary
5. New Built Environment Professions Bill - Brief Summary

Bring Back the Past

ICMEESA is in possession of a piece of history in the form of the very first Mechanical Engineers Certificate of Competency, Certificate No1, which was issued to Mr Wesley Ernest John, and is dated 2nd February 1912. This was the first GCoC issued by examination after enactment of the original S.A. Mines and Works Act of 1911.
The late W.E. John (1885-1966) was a life member of the Institution of Certificated Engineers, and President in 1939. It required a short search in our archives to locate the “Journal of the Institution of Certificated Engineers, South Africa” Vol.XII; 1939. Here we located a photograph of W.E. John and his Presidential Inaugural Address. I found the Presidential address interesting and decided to share it with you. The address is lengthy in that it would occupy the content of the remaining newsletters for the year if published verbatim. I have abbreviated the content to maintain the theme of his address which is about the value of, and the role of the engineer in the future South Africa.
I have extracted whole paragraphs which are repeated as printed. With the present skills shortage the address is of interest.
 

Presidents Inaugural address 1939 (Summary) - W. E. John.

My address deals with the economics or the study of the value of things. In particular it concerns the value of the engineer, or, more bluntly, of yourselves.In a community, what is the real value of the engineer? To the ordinary citizen even the necessity of an engineer is only discovered by the trouble he is called upon to put right. The less frequent the trouble the more the engineer is forgotten, while the more frequent the trouble the quicker the engineer loses his reputation. Light and power are taken for granted. They are obtained by the perfect functioning of finely balanced apparatus moving with a precision impossible for anyone except an engineer to appreciate. But where does the engineer come in? Are you, as engineers, of any value? Is the engineering profession of any value? Do you value it? Has the engineer or the engineering profession any value in and to South Africa.
If the contention is right, that the wealth of a nation is in the minerals and deposits in the earth belonging to the nation then, then South Africa should stand condemned, for, as a nation it is disposing of its wealth as fast as it can. In other words, if our exports are our wealth then in a few generations we should be bankrupt. But, if the wealth of the nation lies in the health, happiness and culture of its people; and if the products of the country are being sold in order that people may procure a better and healthier life, then it is justified in doing so. Accepting that the real riches lie in the people we need to consider the relationship of the engineer and what, in the future the position of the engineer will be. And so to bring the matter nearer home we find that as a body of engineers we are rich in the experience of running and maintaining machinery and plant, but we are not rich in the art of producing machines, nor in manufacturing articles by the use of machinery. Why do these particular conditions exist in our land? To a large extent we are a primitive people living a primitive way. It is not sufficient to simply manufacture something to meet the local want. We must teach in our universities and our trade schools the principle of scientific control, of economic management and industrial economics generally.
The engineer has always been sympathetically disposed to safety first precautions. Whilst sometimes he may be inclined to criticise the precautionary measures suggested by amateurs, he, nevertheless, is always sympathetic to the essential requirements of making for safety.
This Institution to which you and I have the honour to belong was originally started as an association of men, engineers, who had been granted by the Government a certificate of competency to show that they are competent to take charge of machinery and, therefore, mitigate the risk to the lives of men using, or in the vicinity of, such machinery. This provision in the early days concerned only mining operations. Today we are slaves to the “prime mover” and other enterprises and other industrial undertakings of ever growing importance. I have heard it argued that this nation can never be an industrial nation as it requires generations of people who have been taught the trades to make good workmen. In other words it requires a breeding that cannot be acquired! This I do not believe. Experience shows that men born and bred in this country can take their place, often with distinction, with those who have been born in industrial countries. Some of our greatest men have been born in South Africa.
The engineer, who invariably must be very closely connected to industry, is of such importance in the life of South Africa that he should have more influence. In the future there will be an increasing demand for men with engineering training to handle the production of commodities.
To equip engineers for this task, a broader technique must be developed. When manufacturing a commodity where there is competition from every corner of the compass, the engineer will have to become very conscious of the resources, their cost, and the quality, which is required to make up an industrial business.
For this nation to catch up to the positions it should hold compared to other industrial nations, it shall require, among other numerous things, a supply of young engineers with brains, imagination and pluck. The engineer will be required to unite with his practical experience a theoretical training which will be wider and more intense than hitherto demanded. It will have to embrace economic aspects to an ever increasing degree. Change has come over this country which will only reach its peak within the next 15 years. Urban industries are being built up. The tremendous influence they are having on national life is already apparent. Whatever development has taken place in the past is, I believe, only a drop in the ocean of what can be expected during the next 15 to 25 years.
Are we as engineers of any value to the nation?
If so, then we have no need for an excuse to plead a justification for our status, or, for the existence and the continued progress of the Institution of Certificated Engineers.
 

Welcome to New Members

Obituary

New Built Environment Professions Bill - Brief Summary

Just when you thought you had learnt life’s answers, someone seems to change the questions. This certainly applies with the BEP Bill.
In 2000, seven pieces of legislation were approved by Parliament in order to regulate the built environment; six of them regulating the various professions and the seventh establishing the Council for the Built Environment. Eight years into the regulatory model established by the 2000 legislation, both the Department and the regulated professions have grappled with issues of access to the professions, transformation, the lack of a macro-strategy for the built environment professions and other shortcomings in the present regulatory model. It is these challenges that necessitate a revision of the present regulatory model.
The Council for the Built Environment (CBE) in the old structure was supposed to play an overarching role over the professional councils, which it has not managed to do effectively. Specific provisions in the BEP Bill supposedly address these shortcomings particularly by means of a stronger South African Council for the Built Environment (SACBE).
The BEP Bill, once promulgated, will repeal:
1. The Council for the Built Environment Act, 2000 (Act No. 43 of 2000),
2. The Architectural Profession Act, 2000 (Act No. 44 of 2000),
3. The Landscape Architectural Profession Act, 2000 (Act No. 45 of 2000),
4. The Engineering Profession Act, 2000 (Act No. 46 of 2000),
5. The Property Valuers Profession Act,2000 (Act No. 47 of 2000),
6. The Project and Construction Management Professions Act, 2000 (Act No. 48 of 2000)
7. The Quantity Surveying Profession Act, 2000 (Act No. 49 of 2000).
Under the transitional arrangements, from the date of the first meeting of the Council constituted under this BEP Bill, all rights, obligations, assets and liabilities acquired or incurred by the existing professional councils shall immediately vest in the Council and the Council shall be deemed to have acquired or incurred those rights, obligations, assets and liabilities under this Bill.
The shortcomings have been identified as the lack of accountability by the various Councils, governance failures and a lack of accountability to the CBE. Also, the existing legislation is perceived to be one of the barriers to access to the professions by previously disadvantage individuals.
The objects of the BEP Bill are to:
1. Establish the South African Council for the Built Environment and professional boards;
2. Regulate the built environment professions to promote growth and transformation:
3. Provide for registration of persons within the built environment profession;
4. Provide for the protection of the public against unprofessional conduct by registered persons;
5. Provide for dissolution of the present councils and provide for transitional matters in regard thereto; and promote and maintain the standards of education and training in the built environment profession.
Professional Boards will replace the existing Councils and retain the responsibility for regulating their specific professions. The implication is that if there is no major change in the administration of the engineering professions, with ECSA being replaced with a Board, and existing initiatives continuing with the anticipated improvement in efficiency and effectiveness then there is little to be apprehensive about.
One of the areas that has been subject to implementation complications, is that of compulsory registration, with specific reference to the Engineering profession.
However, one fails to see how stripping the existing Professional Councils of their autonomy will improve the management of the concerning issues. There is no indication of how the proposed structural change from Councils to Boards will eliminate the problems identified with existing legislation.
When considering the diversity of the presently existing independent Professional Councils it is not clear how the proposed coordinating body in the CBE will provide the necessary leadership and guidance.
The new Bill requires Board representation to consist of 20% “community representative”, which is a person appointed by the minister and NOT registered with that Board. Non professional persons making decisions for professionals!! Is there a hidden agenda?