3 minute read
President’s comment
For each of us, life is a journey and marked by key milestones in our personal life and career development. A case in point is my longstanding relationship with IMESA.
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When I joined the Institute as a graduate member in 2007, I was in the initial stages of my career in municipal engineering, a field that I’m especially passionate about. Subsequently, I became an IMESA corporate member following my registration as a professional engineering technologist with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA).
From there, my involvement in IMESA activities increased in parallel with the practical knowledge and experience I gained on a host of smaller- and larger-scale infrastructure projects. This growing capability, as well as my passion for mentoring young technicians and technologists, led to my appointment on IMESA’s Exco. My most recent position was vice-president: Technical Division prior to being elected as the incoming president for the 2022-2024 term. It’s truly a great honour.
Growing the network
First and foremost, IMESA’s mandate is to promote excellence in the engineering profession for the benefit of municipalities and their communities. To achieve this, one of my main objectives as president is to encourage all engineering personnel working at South Africa’s 257 municipalities to join IMESA, as either corporate (ECSA registered) or non-corporate members. The latter category encompasses graduate, student and associate members (such as financial officers and municipal managers who don’t hold a recognised ECSA qualification but have direct involvement in infrastructure project implementation.)
Benefits of becoming a member include IMESA training workshops and seminars at branch events hosted nationally, access to technical guidelines and design manuals, as well as bursary opportunities to study civil engineering. Then, of course, there’s the annual IMESA conference, which takes place next year, again during October, in Gqeberha.
Road to registration
Another of my objectives is to ensure that mentorship programmes are in place at municipalities for all graduate engineers, technologists and technicians so they can become professionally registered. This is also a priority for ECSA, which has noted with concern the high number of graduates in the public and private sector who are not registered or working towards registration.
Registration is one of the milestones that all built environment professionals should achieve, and attaining this distinction is far more than just a tick-box exercise. It means that registered persons must take responsibility for the work they’ve approved. And that level of competency and accountability is essential for sound execution according to plan and budget.
Going forward, we must ensure the highest standards of municipal engineering excellence and being an IMESA member unites us in this common goal.
BIOGRAPHY
Sibusiso Mjwara, PrTechEng, MIMESA, MSAICE, MWISA, MIPET
Sibusiso completed his civil engineering studies from Mangosuthu University of Technology and professionally registered with ECSA in 2015. In addition, he completed a Global Executive Development Programme with Gordon Institute of Business Science – University of Pretoria. This programme is aimed at building future-fit, responsible leaders who can take their organisations to higher levels of growth and success in a globalised economy. He has some 24 years’ combined experience, of which six were spent in the consulting engineering environment and the balance in the public sector in key roles that include senior manager: Water Construction at eThekwini Water and Sanitation, and head: Infrastructure Planning and Development, Water and Sanitation at uMgungundlovu District Municipality. He is currently GM: Special Projects at Umgeni Water after close to four years leading the utility’s Infrastructure Development Division, which is responsible for water and sanitation infrastructure planning, water resources management, design, design review, project management, contracts management, health and safety, and environmental management. Personal achievements include winning a SAICE 2018 Regional Technologist of the Year Award. Sibusiso is also a keen martial artist and currently graded as a third dan in karate. He has represented South Africa in international karate competitions and shares his passion for the sport as an instructor, particularly in the township environment.
