President’s comment

Final countdown to the 85TH ANNUAL IMESA CONFERENCE

We are now weeks away from our 85th IMESA Conference, an annual event that brings together industry experts from across South Africa and the globe.

This year’s conference, themed ’Adapting to our Changing World’, takes place in Boksburg at the Birchwood Hotel and O.R. Tambo Conference Centre (Birchwood) between 2 and 4 November – and for those that haven’t registered, there’s still time.

With this being our first in-person conference since 2019, it is a pleasure at last to be able to offer our traditional format where delegates can look forward to an excellent range of presentations, networking opportunities, as well as engagement with a diverse array of exhibitors fielding innovative products and solutions. There will also be a knowledge bar where delegates can listen to short presentations during the breaks and speak directly to the presenters.

Good spread of municipalities attending

Based on confirmed registrations so far, it’s very encouraging to see the growing number of delegates representing local and district municipalities, many of whom will be attending for the first time. The conference is endorsed by the South African Local Government Association (Salga), and we value their involvement as a strategic alliance partner in expanding IMESA’s membership base, as well as our mandate of promoting excellence in municipal engineering.

In addition to Salga, representation from Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA), National Treasury and the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) will enable proactive debate on key issues. These include the importance of professional registration, addressing gaps in engineering skills within municipalities, as well as the best ways to alleviate procurement and tender bottlenecks.

International perspective

Adding an international perspective, David Jenkins, CEO of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA), is our keynote speaker and will share his insights on infrastructure asset management – a top priority in any municipal environment worldwide.

Along with IMESA, and allied associations globally, IPWEA is a member of the International Federation of Municipal Engineering (IFME). The latter will be sending a delegation to the conference, headed by Sanne Hieltjes, president of IFME, from the Netherlands.

Water reclamation and reuse workshop

Ahead of the 85th IMESA Conference, we’ll be hosting a separate one-day workshop at Birchwood on 1 November 2022. This workshop will explore the best practice application of the recently released document entitled, A Water Reclamation and Reuse Guide for South African Municipal Engineers.

This guide was officially launched by the Water Research Commission (WRC) on 1 September 2022 and is a collaborative effort led by the WRC in conjunction with IMESA, as well as stakeholders represented by the Water Institute of Southern Africa. Given South Africa’s increased frequency of devastating droughts, plus surging population growth, it’s clear that water security is a pressing concern going forward in what is already a water-scarce country. Wastewater reuse is a widely accepted practice in both developed and developing nations that include Singapore and Namibia.

For this reason, reuse has been identified as one of the most viable strategies in South Africa to augment drinking water supply. So far, however, there’s been limited success in implementing reuse projects within the local municipal environment, hence the need for a series of capacitybuilding workshops. For further information on the 1 November workshop at Birchwood, email technical@imesa.org.za or visit www.imesa.org.za.

In the meantime, I would like to extend my thanks to the organising committee, our sponsors, exhibitors and delegates for their participation in what is certain to be a rewarding and memorable 85th IMESA Conference. I’ll see you there!

Bhavna Soni, president, IMESA