In an effort to accommodate the demands of population growth, climate change and urbanisation, industry body for civil engineering professionals the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) is seeking to advance the development of civil engineering professionals, including by promoting collaboration among veteran and less-experienced engineers.

SAICE’s Professional Development and Projects (PDP) programme and Future Leaders Panel (FLP) were established to help address technical capacity deficits, says SAICE CEO Sekadi Phayane-Shakhane.

“The construction sector is an ecosystem that depends on the seamless collaboration between design, execution, supervision and maintenance. A well-mentored and technically empowered engineering workforce enhances every stage of this process. The result is improved infrastructure reliability, reduced lifecycle costs, higher construction quality and greater public confidence in infrastructure systems,” says Phayane-Shakhane.

She points to the PDP programme, noting that it ensures that engineers acquire the necessary experience in their respective engineering disciplines, and formally register for construction programmes that are aligned with industry demands and regulations. It provides a framework that guides young professionals from graduation through to professionally-verified registration, which includes mentorship, workplace integration, formalised performance monitoring and project exposure.

The FLP, meanwhile, facilitates technical knowledge transfer and skills development training programmes for emerging professionals, while providing insight into ethical leadership, policy literacy, stakeholder engagement skills and systems thinking.

Phayane-Shakhane notes that the PDP programme and FLP will help to address fragmentation by promoting collaboration between young academics, industry experts and local and national government stakeholders. This will help to ensure the engineering field is inclusive, intentional and future-ready.

Additionally, the promotion of collaboration between expert and intermediate engineering professionals aligns with SAICE’s plans to participate in upcoming infrastructure projects in South Africa, including the R46.7-billion worth of projects outlined in the 2025 National Budget.

These infrastructure projects will include water and sanitation systems, and energy infrastructure that will enable the realisation of a just energy transition.

“The deployment of these projects offers an opportunity to embed sustainability, climate adaptation and smart technology, ensuring that South Africa’s infrastructure is not only fit-for-purpose today, but resilient to the challenges of tomorrow,” she posits.

In the future, SAICE will continue to deploy its expertise and skills inventory to promote further collaboration between academia, industry and government, and expand its mentorship and training initiatives, ensuring that the construction sector adopts modern innovations for economic and infrastructure development.