Civil Engineering January-February 2022 | Vol 30 No 1

Civil Engineering January/February 2022 11 THE SAICE 2022 PRESIDENTIAL TEAM Josh Padayachee Vice-President Director: Bridges and Buildings Naidu Consulting josh.padayachee@naiduconsulting.com Prof. Chris Roth Vice-President Department of Civil Engineering University of Pretoria chris.roth@up.ac.za AndrewClothier Vice-President Railway Engineering Consultant aclothier@mweb.co.za Prof. Marianne Vanderschuren President Civil Engineering Department University of Cape Town marianne.vanderschuren@uct.ac.za Prof. Lize Theron President-Elect Department of Civil Engineering Central University of Technology etheron@cut.ac.za Marianne showcased that transport plan- ning and implementation is failing 75% of our citizens. “My heart lies in getting that message out and finding ways to improve designs and education to make things better for people,” she says. Marianne believes that working in academia, where technical engineering is often paired with various social sciences, has broadened her view on how engi- neering can serve society. “Something as simple as signs at a bus station to indicate when the next bus is arriving requires a lot of thought. Should it be ‘the bus is arriving in three minutes’ or should it be ‘the bus is arriving at 12:05’? When does a child learn to tell time? These are not things you learn as an engineer and serve as examples of the many small aspects that need to be built into engineering,” she explains. SAICE FOCUS FOR 2022 During her time as President of SAICE, Marianne hopes to be able to liaise with government to strengthen the message that urgent action is needed to address South Africa’s aging infrastructure as well as the under-investment in infrastructure. “This is a huge risk to the country. Without civil infrastructure like water, roads and structures, we won’t have an economy to speak of. Everything we do and the happiness of people depends on proper services, and we need to get that message out there,” she stresses. Her motto since the start of the pandemic has been ‘dare to care’ and she places a big emphasis on ‘CARE’: Q Q C ivil society Q Q A ppraisal Q Q R esponsiveness Q Q E ducation In her presidential address Marianne challenged the members of SAICE to dedicate 67 minutes of their time every month in service to others in need. This collective 200 000 hours of skills, experi- ence, and wisdom in service of the people of South Africa has the potential to make a huge difference. “During my time as President I will keep encouraging all our colleagues to do that little bit extra, without making money, by giving their time and expertise to help rebuild this beautiful country.”  Marianne’s lockdown project: mosaicking a concrete bench in her backyard Emeritus Prof. Yunus Ballim Vice-President School of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of the Witwatersrand yunus.ballim@wits.ac.za