Civil Engineering March 2022 | Vol 30 No 2

Civil Engineering March 2022 1 A lthough not physically, the State of the Nation Address (SONA) is one of the main events in which ‘government meets civil engineering’. During his 2022 SONA, President Cyril Ramaphosa touched on the most impor- tant issues preventing this great nation from flourishing. He recognised the unhappiness of citizens, particularly in what led to the July 2021 civil unrest, and highlighted the need to rebuild and reform to address the current crisis, while providing long-term solutions. With regards to civil engineering, Ramaphosa noted the need to upgrade ports, provide water and sanitation, build more dams, schools, student residences and homes, refurbish/rebuild some 10 rail corridors, add 95 bridges, and upgrade rural roads. Of course, the energy crisis and the need to build power-related infra- structure was also mentioned. On the surface, all seems to be moving in the right direction, providing many opportunities for our industry. THE ENERGY CRISIS At the recent COP 26, South Africa was awarded funding that has the potential to change the industry. However, we must ask what happened between now and 2015, when South Africa signed the Paris Agreement. Renewable energy should already be produced in high volumes. Ramaphosa indicated that the decarbonisation of the transport sector should happen through the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and hydrogen – technologies identified by many countries as positive contributors to clean air and reduced global warming. But have we properly investigated what this means in the South African context? The obvious challenge in relation to EVs is the current energy crisis. What happens if charging needs to happen during loadshed- ding, or if the sheer volume of EVs requiring power must compete with industry and household electricity supply? Secondly, a shift to EVs is only practical with renewable electricity. If coal is used, the net changes to climate change will be negative. Hydrogen also has its potential drawbacks: “Hydrogen may be clean in its emissions, but its production can generate huge amounts of greenhouse gases, which need to be factored in to get a true understanding of its sustainability”. 1 Finally, are we going to invest in both systems? Surely investing in multiple energy systems cannot be financially efficient. RURAL ROAD UPGRADES As a transport engineer I feel compelled to reflect on the President’s announcement that block paving will be used for rural road upgrades. I recognise the various advantages of this paving technique, such as the fact that instalment is labour intensive, and refurbishment is affordable. However, in a country where rail assets are not protected, the risk of block pavers being reallocated for private use is significant. The risk of floods due to climate change is another threat to block paved infrastructure. This and the country’s trend of poor maintenance could result in infrastructure becoming unusable shortly after installation. We need to invest in the identification of new codes and standards for durable infra- structure. I have seen examples of sidewalks in Cameroon that were built in the 1960s and still look new today, despite heavy rains in the corridor. MAINTENANCE AND HUMAN CAPACITY The word I was hoping to hear from the President was “maintenance”. Unfortunately, I only heard it referenced once. With crumbling infrastructure undermining service delivery to citizens, maintenance should be at the top of the agenda. It is not wise to invest in new infrastructure if we are not able to maintain what we have. On 8 February 2022 the Daily Maverick published a very inter- esting read by Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala who mentioned: “because of this lack of maintenance, the water pipe burst, and water has been gushing out for more than a year”. His article provides an inter- esting view on how more infrastructure was counterproductive for our citizens. 2 Ramaphosa noted that infrastructure provision (and main- tenance) requires capacity in municipalities. To date, a lack of capacity has paralysed many municipalities, leaving inhabitants without services. While government builds capacity, we need interim measures that monitor/audit civil infrastructure projects. How about identifying infrastructure auditors to assist munici- palities while they build capacity? President Ramaphosa, SAICE can help! GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE My final reflection on SONA relates to gender-based violence (GBV). From a civil engineering perspective, we need to remember that the environments we create, the roads that our people walk, the location of taps and lack of accessible sanitation in rural areas, as well as the designs of public transport stops, ranks and stations are often at the core of GBV. I call on all of you working in this space to review not only the civil engineering requirements, but also the social impacts that follow. Please CARE, while I repeat the call for 67 minutes of your time each month, as described in my inauguration speech. Together, we can make a huge difference. REFERENCES 1 https://ysjournal.com/hydrogen-vs-electric-which-is-the- future-for-transportation/ 2 For want of an engineer. 2022. Daily Maverick . From the Pres ident ’ s desk Unpacking Ramaphosa’s infrastructure ambitions Prof. Marianne Vanderschuren SAICE President 2022 marianne.vanderschuren@uct.ac.za