WISA

Investing in the future

Water professionals determine and contribute to the quality of the economy and public health, and provide dignity to communities. It is vital that we invest in our young professionals and equip them with the skills needed to drive the sector forward in a sustainable manner.

By Dr Lester Goldman

Dr Lester Goldman, CEO, WISA

Speaking during the opening panel discussion at the WISA 2020 Conference, Dr Allyson Lawless showed the significant growth in the number of young people employed in the public sector, including the water sector.

While this has, in some instances, meant a loss of technical and capacity and skills, it is also encouraging to see so many young professionals eager to take up the challenge of delivering water and sanitation services.

Skills development According to the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority’s (EWSETA’s) 2019/20 Sector Skills Plan, about 14% of the workforce in the energy and water sector is older than 55. As these individuals retire, the potential exists for a future gap of difficult-to-fill vacancies in a sector that is heavily dependent on high-level professionals and technicians.

In addition, there are not enough people studying engineering and graduates often do not have the prerequisite practical skills or experience. EWSETA further found that the standard of graduates from TVET colleges is perceived as being of low quality and not meeting industry needs.

It is vital that we place a renewed emphasis on our training authorities to ensure that they provide quality education and that we extend training opportunities to more people, particularly under-represented groups. However, training alone is not enough; we also need to ensure that the sector is able to employ graduates and provide mentorship opportunities. Mentorship has a key role to play and we must ensure that our older professionals pass on their knowledge and skills to the future generations.

Leadership It is widely acknowledged that the development of leadership contributes greatly to the positive development of young people. The spiral impact of this greatly benefits our youth, their communities, and our country from an economic, social and education perspective, at the very least.

Leadership skills, such as goalsetting, problem-solving and sound decision-making, are not just necessary for leaders – these skills are needed for general success in today’s world. They are necessary for us to achieve individual, organisational and sectoral goals. We must achieve our sustainability goals, and the only way to do this, as leaders, is through ensuring that we can institutionalise succession and continuity. Hence, we must start building mechanisms to transfer knowledge and skills, through programmes like mentorship.

Transformation As we work to develop our young professionals, we must continue to focus on transformation objectives. EWSETA found that of 14 800 registered professional engineers in the sector, females constitute only 3%, while black individuals make up less than 12%. Approximately 2.4% of the workforce is disabled.

It is vital to ensure that more women and previously disadvantaged, as well as disabled, individuals are given the educational and mentorship opportunities to enter and remain in the sector.

Towards a sustainable future The future of the water sector, and the country, lies in the hands of our youth. It is only through investing in them that we will create a resilient and sustainable sector moving forward. As we enter 2021, I challenge the sector to place a renewed emphasis on skills development, mentorship and leadership training.

I wish you all a prosperous new year as we work towards our goals of achieving a transformed and sustainable sector in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.