ENGINEERING COUNCIL OF SOUTH AFRICA

PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS

Adv. Rebaone Gaoraelwe (ECSA Executive: Regulatory

Functions)Tuesday, 24 August 2015

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1. ROLE OF ECSA

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Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Section 22Every citizen has the right to choose their trade, occupation or profession freely. The practice of a trade, occupation or profession may be regulated by law.•South Africa chose to regulate the profession•This gave rise to the Engineering Profession Act (EPA, 46 of 2000)•Registration is a tool by which we regulate the profession

2. HOW DO WE REGULATE?

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3. OTHER ROLES OF ECSA• Evaluations of Foreign Qualifications

• Identification of Engineering Work (IDoEW)

• Recognition of Voluntary Associations

• International Relations & Benchmarking

• Advise the Minister of Public Works on matters of engineering interest

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4. SOCIETAL BENEFITS

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5. CATEGORIES OF REGISTRATION

6. …AND WHAT IF WE DON’T REGULATE?

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Com

pete

nce

Code

of C

ondu

ct

Qua

lity

Stan

dard

s

Top end registered Professionals

Unregistered Engineers

10%

Economically active

unregistered engineering practitioners

52%

38%

7. REGISTRATION STATUS QUO

Qualified unemployed or practicing outside engineering scope

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Why?

8. WHY UNREGISTERED ENGINEERS? • Engineering is not a well defined and

protected term• Professional Registration is not compulsory in

terms of the EPA (46 of 2000)• Employer bodies are not compelled to employ

registered engineers

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9. ROLES NOT PLAYED BY ECSA • ECSA does not –practice engineering or intervene in areas of

practice(such as employment), but regulates those that practice it– Influence areas of practice/direct engineers

to a particular areas of practice–Discriminate any applicant for registration

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10. REGULATION OF FOREIGN ENGINEERS WORKING IN SA

• Situational Overview– There are appr. 3327 Foreign engineers registered with the Engineering Council

of SA– Appr. 1600 of these are Professional Engineers (different categories and

disciplines) – There are many foreign Engineers working in South Africa, unregistered.

• There are multiple Engineering Consulting Firms that are based in SA– Employ South African and foreign engineers

• Foreign Engineers by law require working VISAS.– Critical Skills VISAS– Treaty VISAS

• ECSA in constant formal discourse with the Department of Home Affairs regarding the management of the influx of foreign Engineers in SA

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11. REGULATION OF FOREIGN ENGINEERS WORKING IN SA

• ECSA released a press statement in June 2015 on its position regarding foreign engineers working in SA– This was in response to the public outcry triggered by the Free State Provincial

Government’s employment of Cuban Engineers– Question posed to ECSA was on the suitability or otherwise of foreign engineers

to service the South African population• Press Statement:

– ECSA’s mandate does not extend to issues around who and where Engineers are employed.

– ECSA’s only concern is their registration with the Council(determined by the scope of engineering work they have been contracted to undertake).

– If required to take responsibility for the engineering work, and sign it off as complete, they are required to be registered with ECSA

– ECSA registration is structured into two segments: the evaluation and recognition of educational standards; and the assessment of that individual’s competence.

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12. REGULATION OF FOREIGN ENGINEERS WORKING IN SA cont…

• Press statement cont..– Recognition and evaluation of qualifications is a standard procedure, regardless

of their nationality, and is measured according to the educational standards set in the Washington, Sydney and Dublin Accords

– Automatic recognition of any engineering qualification obtained from any signatory countries(of which South Africa is a signatory to all three)

– Applicants with qualifications obtained in non-signatory countries (such as Cuba, France, Germany, Zimbabwe) will go through a qualification evaluation process

– Any applicant for registration: whether local or foreign: is required to demonstrate experience in their chosen discipline ( minimum of 3 years, under the supervision and mentorship of a registered engineering professional (peer review exercise)

– The country of origin of the applicant is IRRELEVANT: competency and substantially equivalent qualifications is the determinant. 13

13. REGULATION OF FOREIGN ENGINEERS WORKING IN SA cont..

• On 3/6/2014 the Department published Government Gazette 3766: (Government Notice 459), issued in terms of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002.

• Regulation enjoins ECSA to issue letters to critical skills visa Applicants provided- – the Applicant possesses the “skills or qualifications and appropriate post-

qualification experience”; and– the Applicants must prove that they have applied for registration with ECSA.

• Regulation intended to control the influx of foreign engineers in SA• ECSA is inundated with these requests• ECSA in constant formal discourse with the Department of Home Affairs regarding

the management of the influx of foreign Engineers in SA(8/8/2014; 19/2/2015)

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14. REGULATION OF FOREIGN ENGINEERS WORKING IN SA cont..

• Practical Implications to ECSA: – Previously ECSA issued letters upon proof by Applicant of having applied

for registration.– The Regulation is “stricter” in that it empowers ECSA not to issue any

letter unless it is satisfied that the two requirements above are met.– Requirement 1 fairly straightforward. Requirement 2 requires Committee

work, which takes time.– PR and Reputational Implications for ECSA.

• All applications for critical skills VISA have to undergo ECSA registration process just like all normal applications. This takes time(4 to 6 weeks)

• The Department constantly liaises with ECSA to verify the authenticity of letters submitted by foreign applicants.

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15. REGULATION OF FOREIGN ENGINEERS WORKING IN SA cont..

• Treaty VISAs: – Department has informed ECSA that through treaty VISAs, foreign Engineers

could work in South Africa.– ECSA does not have details on foreign Engineers working on SA on treaty

VISAS.– ECSA has requested information from the Department n the record of all

foreign engineers to whom critical skills VISAS have been issued.– Upon receipt of that Data ECSA will compare how many are indeed registered

with ECSA• Challenges

– There are high levels of fraudulent attempts at obtaining working VISAS; – Many Employers: public and private, do employ engineers( local and foreign)

that are not registered with ECSA– Some foreign engineers and then seek to apply for working VISAS whilst

already here. 16

16. REGULATION OF FOREIGN ENGINEERS WORKING IN SA cont..

• Critical vs. Scarce Skills: – Department's Critical Skills Regulations classify Engineering Skills as

critical(not scarce)– ECSA- recognised VAs contend that there is over-supply of Engineering

capacity in the country(with many unemployed graduates and professionals).• ECSA is in a process of compiling a comprehensive Database of all

Engineering Graduates from ECSA- accredited Universities• ECSA is formally engaging all VAs to obtain bi-annual stats on all

unemployed Engineers that are members of VAs– Government argues that Engineers do not want to work/ service rural SA.– There is no evidence that SA has shortage of Engineering capacity

• The issue of attracting foreign Engineering skills is met with resistance due to what appears to be sufficient capacity in the country

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17. CONCLUDING REMARKS• There has to be increased Government, private sector and ECSA collaboration

prior to bringing in foreign engineering skills in SA– Department of Health: Clinical Engineering Technicians

• Any foreign engineer not registered with ECSA shall not be subject to ECSA’s exacting evaluation of educational qualifications and competency standards

• Any foreign engineer not registered with ECSA shall not be subject to ECSA’s Code of Conduct for registered professionals

• Any foreign engineer assigned to projects must be subject to supervision of a registered Engineering professional

• It is not only Cuban Engineers that get employed in SA: many Engineering Consulting Firms as well Government Institutions have, and continue to employ foreign Engineers

• The control of the influx of foreign engineers through the Departmental Critical Skills VISA Regulations is welcomed

• Properly-coordinated and managed(through ECSA’s facilitation), foreign engineering skills in SA should be used at a minimum

18. ECSA’s VISION & WAY FORWARD

1. Develop a solid foreign engineering regulation strategy2. Engage with National Treasury regarding a directive for all

public sector institutions to employ and or procure services from competent engineers(as defined by the Engineering Professional Act of 2000)policy to employ only competent engineers

3. Enter into MoUs with corporate SA(Engineering firms) to employ registered, competent Engineers

4. Establish an objective, transparent and consistent registration system and possibly

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THANK YOU!

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