The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) emphatically denounces the occurrence of corruption, called by another name in this case, collusion, anti-competitive behaviour and any unethical behaviour. The 15 construction firms that reached a settlement for collusive tendering may be called firms/companies, but a company consists of people. A company cannot collude, only its…
The Contract Price Adjustment Schedule indices published in GCC 2010 are unfortunately subject to changes at any time by Statistics South Africa. Such changes can be in the base year for the index, the basket for a particular index, deleting old indices and/or adding new indices. SAICE has no control over such changes. Such a…
AQUALIBRIUM, the SAICE-WRC Schools Water Competition regional competition 2013 for the Johannesburg Branch was held at SAICE House last week. DRA sponsored the competition where eight schools from Ivory Park and Tembisa participated for a spot in the finals of this worthwhile competition. The winning team was Eqinisweni Secondary School, Ivory Park in MIdrand. They…
The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) is perturbed to see that National Treasury has set up a task team which consists of financial services only “to find new ways to improve the funding and efficiencies of government’s ambitious fiscal and state-enterprise three-year R827bn infrastructure rollout”. According to Nicky Prins, director of capital projects…
German-based manufacturers Kann and NightTec have collaborated to develop glow in the dark concrete pavers called NightTec Leuchsteine. Designed for industrial use, the pavers use sunlight to power their lighting, reducing the need for artificial light in dark environments, making them an eco-friendly energy source. Phosphorescent crystals are embedded into the concrete surface that captures…
Human Rights Day has come and gone, and it was interesting to learn that over the past two years, 144 complaints concerning water, water quality and related problems, were lodged with the Human Rights Commission – thus directly linked to service delivery or the lack thereof. The increasing restlessness of communities resulting in toy-toying and…
Business, like water, is lazy and cowardly. Both gravitate via paths of least resistance, finding gaps and loopholes, weaknesses and fissures, to achieve their ends. But one to acquire its moksha, and the other to acquire socio-economic benefit – economic nirvana. However, like water, despite its lazy and cowardly status, if business is not closely…
SAICE is delighted to welcome our new COO, Steven Kaplan, to our national office. He brings with him more than 30 years of consulting engineering experience. He has taken office as of 2 April 2013. Steven is a graduate of the University of Cape Town, holding a BSc (Hons) in civil engineering. His experience includes…
It’s a grand affair talking to a Minister – all suited up, hands clasped in front, nodding more than usual and creasing the forehead every so often to appreciate the depth of the conversation. I recently had a conversation with a Minister from one of our leading infrastructure ministries. He said to me, “.…so you…
In my 50 years in electrical engineering I have never heard of engineers collectively striking. I have also not experienced engineers marketing themselves by educating the community about how engineering impacts on their everyday lives. Engineers never charge for consulting on telephones in answer to queries or requests for advice, and generally underrate themselves to…
