Civil Engineering March 2021 | Vol 29 No 2

CEO’ s Corner The South African government must drive the professionalisation of a public service that is effective, efficient and prioritises economic growth. Similarly, the private sector has its own work set out to recip- rocate professionalism that contributes to a resilient and sustainable economy in providing much-needed infrastructure. Only a collective effort within a supportive political, beureacratic, technical, and leadership context will assist such a large-scale behavioural change, analogous to the successful social adaption of wearing masks and sanitising, for example. Our successful appreciation of the fact that we needed to change behaviours to mitigate infection risks suggests that we can similarly adapt behaviours to mitigate economic risks. If there is the willingness to do so, it can be achieved. PROFESSIONALISATION DRIVE Professionalising South Africa’s public service will go a long way in enhancing South Africa’s economic growth, particularly concerning the development and delivery of infrastructure. The draft National Implementation Framework towards the Professionalisation of the Public Service aims to develop a state run by a “capable” public service that is “adequately skilled” and “fully equipped” to perform jobs with diligence, all underpinned by a high standard of professional ethics. One could be forgiven for assuming that the concept of professionalism should be obvious and common knowledge; however, over the last decade, such professionalism has waned in a general sense in South Africa. Lack of an acceptable level of professionalism in not unique to South Africa, with some countries implementing targeted initiatives to improve the professionalism of the state where it has seen a steady decline. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as it applies to several central and eastern European countries, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Norway, and South Africa, to name a few, has made professionalism a high priority. In South Africa, a lack of professionalism has undermined the state’s ability to exercise its legislated corporate mandate to deliver goods and services to the society it is meant to serve. This motivates the need for a focussed initiative, which resides with the Public Service Commission (PSC), to lead the professionalisation of the public service. Government employs individuals from a broad range of disciplines, including engineering, legal, health, finance and ICT, to name a few. It will be difficult for the government to professionalise each profession individually, and a broad approach to profes- sionalism is therefore proposed. This initiative will support proposed structural reforms, the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP), and the social compacting currently on the go – all of which are critical to growing our economy in the short to medium term. The concept of professionalism is often misunderstood and has perhaps evolved. SAICE supports the notion that professionalism should apply to everyone in the performance of their daily tasks, particularly within the construction sector. The NDP identifies the importance of professionalising South Africa’s public sector with a capable, professional, and accountable public service, and appointing the right people in the right jobs to help eradicate inefficiencies that impact the government’s vision of reducing inequality, poverty, and unemployment. President Cyril Ramaphosa has stated that the government is committed to building a capable and professional civil service that delivers on its mandate and is accountable to the South African people. While this is comforting, we should acknowledge that professionalisation of the public service will be challenging, and the key to its success will be strong partnerships, such as that of social compacts. COLLABORATION IS CRUCIAL It is vital that all stakeholders, including government, the private sector, academia, and professional services, work together to enable the successful implementation of this initiative. It requires the co- operation of the public service to commit to change and transition towards prioritising growth and development. Getting this right is imperative. A recent National Planning Commission report highlights that, since 2017, public-sector infrastructure spend has declined by R303 billion over the five-year period. The paper, entitled Public infrastruc- ture delivery and construction sector dynamism in the South African economy , underscores that public infrastructure is fundamental to achieving the objectives of the NDP. Professional input is essential for infrastructure procurement to mitigate risks. As such, the NDP calls for procurement management positions to require professional expertise, such that appointees have sufficient technical knowledge, along with relevant management experience, to understand the challenges facing technical specialists and to secure regard of all involved in infrastructure provision to have a shared lived vision for development. Corruption, a lack of adequate skills and procure- ment processes, and high political influence in the public sector are some of the factors contributing to inefficiencies that hinder the successful roll-out of in- frastructure projects. The relationship between public and private sectors has been strained for many years and there remains a trust deficit. It seems opportunistic to expect that social compacting will work seamlessly when many forces are working to make the relationship between the public and private sectors unstable. The report pointed to the latest industry data suggesting that the private sector, due to the faltering growth in the public sector, has Professionalising the public service 8 March 2021 Civil Engineering