The Water Wheel July-August 2015

Abstract

Fluid Thoughts Beware – the Cubans are coming! That’s the clarion call from some of the most important umbrella engineering organisations in South Africa. One has to wonder if the response would be the same if the US Army Corps of Engineers made a similar offer of partnership or would we have rolled out the red carpet with lightning speed. Manglin Pillay, CEO of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) pulls no punches – he wants the “Cubans to go home” . One of the principle reasons he cites is echoed by the president of CESA (Consulting engineers of South Africa), Abe Thela, namely that South Africa’s engineering registration body ECSA (Engineering council of South Africa) does not recognise Cuban engineering skills and qualifications as Cuba is not a signatory of the Washington, Sydney or Dublin Accords. While this is true, it is also true that there are protocols to examine and accredit professionals from beyond the Accord signatories. The reality is that we sometimes forget how deeply entrenched the well propagandised Apartheid era biases continue to be.

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