ECSA undeterred by court litigation proceedings

The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) on Tuesday said that it was undeterred by the allegations made by civil engineering voluntary association, the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice), over the legitimacy of ECSA’s fifth term council, which was appointed by Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi in July 2016.

Saice, along with other voluntary associations, has applied to the High Court to have the current ECSA council members suspended.

In response to the allegations, ECSA stated that the council nomination procedure was done in accordance with the requirements of Section 4 of the Engineering Profession Act.

“As a statutory council that regulates and registers engineering practitioners, ECSA’s mandate is subdued to the Department of Public Works (DPW), which upholds the legislative authority for the built environment in its entirety. ECSA is the second respondent in this matter,” the industry body said in a statement.

Saice CEO Manglin Pillay told Engineering News Online that several voluntary associations within the engineering fraternity have expressed concern over the legitimacy of the new council.

In December, nine such associations, all ECSA members, submitted their concerns to both ECSA and the Minister.

The DPW said in a statement that it had received “the grievance of disgruntled ECSA members of which are those who were not reappointed into the [council]”.

“The Minister and Deputy Minister Deon Viljoen have considered the matter and the outcome of the investigation will be made known to the affected parties in due [course]”, the statement read.

ECSA stated that it reserves the right not to make any further comments until the court rules on this matter.

“We remain focused and committed to the achievement of our legislative mandate.”