| SAICE Professional Development and Projects (SAICE-PDP), a non-profit company (NPC) was established by the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) and has been involved in capacity development since its inception in 2004. The company focuses on supporting the development of engineering and built environment professionals. The founding statement captures the objectives of the company ‘… to implement Outreach and Capacity Building initiatives and activities in South Africa and further afield that require external funding; and all projects …. shall primarily focus on developing … engineering skills and expertise through education and training; creating civil society awareness; and supporting service delivery.’ Services include research, technical advice, student and graduate development, training programmes for in-house staff, mentoring and supervision to achieve professional registration and developing and delivering training courses largely aimed at graduates and technical officials in local government. Some interesting research projects relating to the SADC Numbers & Needs appointment include: |
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Numbers & Needs : Addressing imbalances in the civil engineering profession (2005) A comprehensive study of the civil engineering capacity in South Africa, published in 2005, which warned that an additional 3000 to 6000 civil engineering practitioners would be required to cope with the planned increase in infrastructure development for the 2010 Soccer World Cup and other major developments at the time.Considering the skills pipeline and blockages that existed many recommendations were made from schooling through tertiary education, graduate training and the use of retired engineers to act as mentors and offer specialist input. The document has been widely published and the recommendations have formed the basis for many major national and international initiatives. |
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Numbers & Needs in Local Government : Addressing civil engineering – the critical profession for service delivery (2007) A sequel, published in 2007, which highlighted the urgent need to rebuild civil engineering capacity in local government to ensure effective service delivery. |
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Skills for and through SIPs (2014) A document, published by the Department of Higher Education and Training in 2014, detailing the scarce the skills that needed to be developed to deliver the Strategic Integrated Projects identified as part of the South African National Development Plan.It was determined that 76 occupations were in short supply including built environment professionals, managers, trades, operators, and elementary occupations. Projections and detailed recommendations were published to ensure that everyone involved in training and development worked towards addressing the national shortages. |
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