Civil Engineering August 2022 | Vol 30 No 7

Civil Engineering August 2022 3 3 August 2022 Civil Engineering Civil Engineering August 2022 3 T he June 2022 SAICE magazine features a lot of good stuff on what water engineers are doing. This of course is good and relevant to the annual issue of the magazine featuring water engineering. But where is an article on the massive water crisis facing the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) metro, culminating in it reaching its “Day Zero”? And what of its wider issues for our nation? Yes, there is an article on the possible effects of global warming, however not by a water engineer, but by the SAICE President who is a transport engineer. But that is not enough. NMB’s Day Zero is not the result of an unforeseen drought. It is the direct result of abysmal implementation of what should be routine engineering, with or without climate change impacts. The real issues are: Q Q Failure to address water leakage losses running to about 40% Q Q Failure to maintain existing infrastructure Q Q Failure to implement well-known and much-needed infrastructure Q Q Abysmal (criminally negligent) drought management, essentially waiting until the dams were all but empty before taking action. Behaving first like lethargic over-fed watchdogs sleeping for dec- ades, followed by rushing around like headless chickens when it is too late to avert the crisis. Based on past experience, the sleeping dog posture will be resumed as soon as the dams refill. These monumental failures are not just for lack of the excellent engineering projects that are rightly published in our magazine to il- lustrate our abilities. They are the direct result of failures on the part of inept and/or corrupt town councillors and municipal structures that have been hollowed out and bloated by cadre deployment. At first sight, talking about being hollowed out and bloated in the same breath might sound like a contradiction in terms. But it is not. Cadre deployment both systematically starves municipali- ties of competent engineers, scientists, managers, and decision makers while at the same time bloating administrations with cor- rupt incompetents. The former ensures functional collapse, aided and abetted by the latter which blocks rational decision making and bleeds away the necessary financial resources as surely as the potable water leakage soaks into the dry earth. What is the use of raising up excellent engineers if we place what they produce in the hands of underserving incompetents? We need to do something about that. We owe it to 60 million South Africans who depend on our expertise. Dr Chris Herold Pr Eng Managing Director Umfula Wempilo Consulting chris@herold7.co.za  |  +27 (0)82 459 5731 Beyond Day Zero AutoCAD ® World-Leading CAD Software WaterMate Water Reticulation Design SurfMate Survey & Digital Terrain Modelling AeroTURN Aircraft Movement & Space Analysis RebarMate Reinforced Concrete Detailing & Scheduling Autodesk Civil 3D ® Site Development & Transportation AutoTURN Vehicle Manoeuvre Simulation & Analysis DatumMate Datum Conversion of Drawings RoadMate Urban & Rural Road Design ParkCAD Automated Parking Area Layouts Architecture Engineering & Construction Collection PipeMate Sewer & Stormwater Design and Analysis Le t ter to the Ed i tor