The annual Consulting Engineers of South Africa conference came to a close in Cape Town yesterday and was the scene of some of incredibly challenging debate.

With the conference opening on Monday, the diverse programme began with then incumbent CESA President, Naren Bhojaram, leading the way by wresting the conference theme: ‘Leadership – key to sustainability’ and digging deep into what this actually means for the industry. Unapologetic, Bhojoram placed the living of values in all matters above any talk, promises or agreements. In this way, Bhojoram is a man of action, and whilst mindful of how he phrased his message, he pulled no punches: sustainability means making tough calls in an environment where only the strong and principled can be tolerated.

Bhojoram was followed Deputy Mayor of Cape Town, Ian Neilson, who picked up the topic and ran with it, citing the development of Cape Town as clearly based on leadership and tough measures.

Jason Drew was guest speaker on the opening day, and he brought with him a truly innovative story of sustainability. Unashamedly a capitalist,

When gold comes swarming

Drew left the corporate world and found a completely new way of forging a sustainable career. Drew has turned to Mother Nature to find his direction, and calls himself an eco-capitalist. Taking recycling to a whole new level, Drew looks to natural waste in sewage, manure and abattoir blood to find his pot of gold. Noting the immense volumes of nutrient rich waste being discarded each and every hour in each and every corner of our planet, Drew wondered if another man’s junk was another man’s riches. Taking the natural life-cycles as his road map, he wondered if he couldn’t capitalise on it, and took his first steps towards industrialising fly farming. He has succeeded wonderfully, and this eco-industrialist has a lot to teach us all. Look out of for the full the story in the January 2014. To endure you receive you free digital edition click here and subscribe.

The panel discussions

The panel discussions were a welcome format, and it was refreshing to see CESA choose this effective format instead of simply relying on the presentation of papers. There three panel discussions in total: Enterprise Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability and the National Development Plan and Special Infrastructure Projects (SIPS).  Comprehensive insights on each will be included in the January edition as well.

Trueman Goba

Trueman Goba cuts an impressive figure in the world of consulting engineering and business in South Africa general. His overview of the National Development Plan was an important feature of the conference and made the distinct impression that South Africa could, given the right impetus, be on the threshold of taking itself to the next level as a nation and as a leader on the African continent. More will be revealed.

Farewell to Naren Bhojaram, Welcome to Abe Thela, CESA President 2014

This year’s conference saw the end of Naren Bhojaram’s term as President of CESA. Bhojaram took up his presidency in 2011, just a year after those heady days of the World Cup. From day one, Bhojaram walked a clear line of support for initiative by the South African Government to minimise and eliminate corruption, whilst being tough and realistic about the intense damage it is doing to South Africa. Bhojaram has not wavered from this stance in his two years as president and his direct approach has been responsible for the cultivation of robust and honest criticism, debate and action – not least of which was the establishment of a fund and a hotline for the reporting of corruption in the world of construction. The healthy criticisms and debate that emerged at this year’s conference can be rightly attributed to the culture of openness and honesty he has sought to promulgate. Bhojaram, formerly director of Royal Haskoning DHV for southern and Eastern Africa, has since been appointed as that company’s director of Rivers, Deltas and Coasts. An extremely accomplished individual, he is a mentor at Business Unity South Africa and is a former Chairperson of the South African Netherlands Chamber of Commerce. Despite the incredible demands on his time, Bhojaram’s passion for uplifting disadvantaged communities through education has seen him actively promoting community upliftment projects and establishing the Saturday School for previously disadvantaged school students – a concept has recently been extended to coach juvenile inmates in correctional facilities, to enable them to achieve their matric whilst incarcerated. Infrastructure News and IMIESA congratulate Naren for the impact he has made both during his presidency of CESA and throughout his career.

It is with immense pleasure that Infrastructure News and IMIESA welcomes Abe Thela  –  a Director of Nyeleti Consulting – as the new President of CESA. Mr Thela (B Eng) is a Professional Engineer who has specialised in municipal engineering for many years. A man of utmost integrity, Mr Thelais known to be extremely generous with this time, which is highly valuable, given an incredible work ethic and multitude of commitments.