5 July 2023: The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) is pleased to announce the appointment of Sekadi Phayane-Shakhane as its new CEO effective 1 July 2023.
With a seasoned professional career, including her roles as the Managing Director of Refilwe Engineering Solutions, and Non-Executive Director at Gateway Airports Authority Limited, she brings a wealth of experience, with a remarkable career in transportation planning and engineering, coupled with her impressive academic qualifications.
“I am honoured and excited to take on the role of CEO at SAICE,” Phayane-Shakhane remarks. “My vision for the institution is to foster collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity within the civil engineering community. Together, we can drive positive change, address societal challenges, and enhance the profession’s impact on South Africa’s development.”
From her early beginnings of growing up in the Free State province and studying engineering, Phayane-Shakhane obtained a BSc (Eng) Civil Engineering and Master of Engineering (MEng) in Transportation Studies from the University of Cape Town. Phayane-Shakhane’s leadership abilities shine through in her professional experience at organisations, including Ninham Shand, SMEC, WSP, GA Consulting Engineers and more. “I firmly believe in writing your own future,” Phayane-Shakhane asserts. “In the early journey of my professional career, one of the best pieces of advice I received from one of my managers who challenged me, was to ‘sink or swim’, and I chose to swim, taking on various opportunities to make a real difference as an engineer, and to prove my capabilities.”
Some highlights of her career include being recognized for her exceptional contribution, such as receiving the SMEC Young Professional of the Year award in 2013, highlighting her outstanding impact on the organisation.
Phayane-Shakhane believes that her resilience and determination allowed her to excel and undertake innovative work in areas such as transport planning and engineering. In fact, her dedication to research and transport policy development was acknowledged through the Charles V Wootan award at the 2020 Transport Research Board conference in Washington DC, USA.
With a career spanning over 20 years, Phayane-Shakhane has made significant contributions to the development of municipal infrastructure projects. Her early experience in Bloemfontein, where she worked on eradicating the bucket system and improving water infrastructure in small towns across the Free State, laid the foundation for her commitment and passion to provide essential services to communities. Her passion for sustainable transport solutions also allowed her to spearhead numerous projects advocating for safer streets for all, with an emphasis on
the provision of quality public transport and non-motorised transport within South Africa.
Empowering communities remains close to Phayane-Shakhane’s vision, particularly the young generation of our country.
“SAICE is doing amazing work to develop and provide opportunities for young professionals, and I hope that I can also enhance the work of the organisation in this regard. The power of creativity from our next generation of young engineers, technologists and technicians is immeasurable and we need to drive all efforts to
unlock it.
“Mentorship remains critical in enabling and fostering relationships between our seasoned and senior professional and young professionals – this is a priority to ensure continuity in terms of service delivery within our country,” adds the determined visionary.
Making a difference through the development of sustainable infrastructure is critical for South Africa, she explains. “I remain committed to making a difference in the lives of South Africans by working closely with members of SAICE’s executive leadership, branches, divisions, panels, student chapters and national office by listening to the voices of our members and staff,” concludes Phayane-Shakhane, who is also the first female CEO to lead SAICE in 120 years.
Steven Kaplan, 2023 President of SAICE said: “With her exceptional leadership skills, commitment to excellence, and visionary mindset, we believe that Sekadi is poised to lead SAICE into a new era of growth and innovation and wish her the very best.”