Saice parts ways with CEO following controversial opinion piece
The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) has decided to part ways with its CEO Manglin Pillay, after he penned a controversial opinion piece on women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) careers.
Following outraged reactions to the article, titled ‘Out on a Rib’, by various industry members, including Aurecon and Women in Engineering, the Saice board handled the matter internally and accepted an apology from Pillay, initially confirming that he would remain Saice CEO.
However, Saice has now considered all feedback, both critical and supportive, with regarding to Pillay’s role within Saice and concluded that Pillay’s tenure should be terminated with immediate effect.
Pillay came under fire last month for the article in which he said women in the fields of Stem choose to have the flexibility to dedicate themselves to enterprises such as family and the raising of children, rather than be at the beck and call of shareholders.
“The fact that more men occupy high profile executive posts is tremendous, not because of gender, but because of an appetite for work load,” he remarked in the opinion piece, which has been circulated on social media and which was published in Saice's Civil Engineering magazine's July edition.
He also stated that it is owing to maternal instinct that women are more amenable than men – “to avoid conflict in managing babies” – and are therefore less likely to negotiate higher salaries.
Pillay questioned whether the industry should be investing so heavily in attracting women into Stem careers, or whether there should be investment into creating more gender-equal societies.
Comments
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
We supply customers with practical affordable solutions for their testing needs. Our products include benchtop, portable, in-line process control...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Immersive Technologies is the world's largest, proven and tested supplier of simulator training solutions to the global resources industry.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
