IMESA
CONFERENCE 2021
MUNICIPAL ENGINEERS ARE CHANGE-MAKERS
O
Hosted in November 2021, the annual IMESA Conference was a resounding success. Held virtually for the first time in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, thought leaders from South Africa and around the world presented their insights on common infrastructure challenges, showcased projects and suggested solutions on various topics. By Alastair Currie
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IMIESA January 2022
pening the conference, Bhavna Soni, president, IMESA, acknowledged the unprecedented rate of change since the initial Covid-19 hard lockdown in March 2020. The overwhelming and positive response has been to rise to the challenge, embrace it, and find resilient solutions that are adaptable and implementable. That was a core focus throughout the conference, with its theme of ‘Synergy Through Engineering’. “As engineers, we need to think differently and find visionary ways by working collaboratively through our local and international partnership network,” said Soni. “In this respect, we celebrate our IMESA alliance with the International Association for Water, Environment, Energy and Society, commonly referred to as IAWEES, representing some 70 countries – including South Africa – which joint ventured for the first time on our 2021 conference.” Commented Professor Vijay Singh, president, IAWEES: “On behalf of IAWEES, we thank IMESA for the opportunity to participate and look forward to fruitful exchanges going forward. Like IMESA, our mission is to promote the advancement and exchange of knowledge for sustainable development. This is even more essential now within the context of
climate change and the economic reconstruction under way following Covid-19.” These views were supported by Jean de la Harpe, executive director: Municipal Infrastructure Services at the South African Local Government Association (Salga), which endorsed the conference. “Moving into the next five-year cycle, Salga’s key focus will be on supporting municipalities to become customer-centric in terms of service delivery, leveraging off smart technologies that include self-service apps to provide intelligent billing and refined service delivery,” she explained.
Keynote address When it comes to innovative, municipally engineered responses to unprecedented situations, the City of Cape Town’s management of its near ‘Day Zero’ drought crisis has set a new benchmark. This globally referenced case study underscores the adage that ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’. Conference keynote speaker, Michael Killick, director: Bulk Services – Water and Sanitation Department, City of Cape Town, showcased what resilience and adaptability really mean in practice. The City of Cape Town currently serves some 4.5 million people, with around 6 000 connections, and some 500 000 people in informal settlements. There are six large dams, 12 water treatment plants, 24 reservoirs, and some 10 700 km of
