EDITOR’S COMMENT MANAGING EDITOR Alastair Currie SENIOR JOURNALIST Kirsten Kelly JOURNALIST Nombulelo Manyana HEAD OF DESIGN Beren Bauermeister CHIEF SUB-EDITOR Tristan Snijders CONTRIBUTORS Steph Bredenhann, Dominic Collett, Kyle Holmes, Richard Jones, Jamie Louw, Henrico Range, Graham Simpson, Bhavna Soni PRODUCTION & CLIENT LIAISON MANAGER Antois-Leigh Nepgen PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jacqueline Modise GROUP SALES MANAGER Chilomia Van Wijk BOOKKEEPER Tonya Hebenton DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Nomsa Masina DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Asha Pursotham SUBSCRIPTIONS subs@3smedia.co.za PRINTERS Novus Print Montague Gardens ___________________________________________________ ADVERTISING SALES KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER Joanne Lawrie Tel: +27 (0)11 233 2600 / +27 (0)82 346 5338 Email: joanne@3smedia.co.za ___________________________________________________
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Forging an equal society
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ebuilding and revitalising South Africa’s socio-economic capabilities is a shared objective that requires a new social compact built on trust. The July 2021 unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal underscores this because it was such a self-destructive action. The root causes and the way the crisis was managed are also complex. This viewpoint is supported by the Public Service Commission (PSC), which, although appalled by the events, expressed the view that it provides a unique opportunity to revisit what is expected from a capable state. “The incapacity of the state to communicate and create one source of truth is indicative of a state which lacks the capacity to respond appropriately in a time of crisis,” stated the PSC in a recent statement. To intentionally place a spanner in the works, as evidence suggests in the aftermath of the July riots, resulted in billions in losses for industry, and a ripple effect for society and government. It can never be allowed to happen again.
Career civil servants In future, a key measure of the response will be the way the state invests in developing career civil servants appointed to perform professional tasks, like engineering and finance. Within the context of the National Development Plan 2030, it’s also vital that national, provincial and local government are aligned when it comes to coordinated infrastructure delivery. In the past, sound strategic planning has become bogged down and impeded by opposing political parties, especially at local government level, where the real infrastructure implementation takes place.
Local elections and vaccinations One of the more immediate steps on the road to recovery is the upcoming local government elections. The outcomes will strongly influence future municipal operational models, where there’s a major new emphasis from national government on consequence management and performancebased outcomes. At this stage, the elections are still scheduled for 27 October 2021; however, the Constitutional Court will make the final call on whether it’s safe to proceed during a raging pandemic. If postponed, the plan is to reschedule for Q1 2022. If South Africa had started sooner and on a larger scale with its vaccination programmes, perhaps a potential election postponement would have been a non-issue. As I write this, fewer than 5 million South Africans have received their second vaccine shot. It’s just not good enough and we cannot go into 2022 with such a slow uptake. The immediate priority is for government and industry to make it clear that these vaccines are safe and for the public and private sector to work together to ensure that South Africa achieves herd immunity sooner rather than later. Then the real work of rebuilding the economy can begin in earnest, mobilising the billions in infrastructure investment already committed and in the pipeline.
Alastair To our avid readers, check out what we are talking about on our website, Facebook page or follow us on Twitter and have your say.
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The official magazine of the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa
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