Joburg’s major proponent of structural engineering, Moeketsi Mohlabi, has assumed the role of Unit Head of the City’s Engineering Centre of Excellence.
In his new designation, charged with overall contract management and project monitoring and evaluation, with a slant towards citywide capital projects, Mohlabi will focus on uplifting the City’s infrastructure projects through in-house engineers.
He hopes to boost engineering by upskilling existing engineers and motivating others to study towards the field.
“My main objective is the development of engineering professionals in order for the City to benefit from homegrown talent and have engineers who are able to take on, implement, and complete large scale projects,” he says.
In his previous role as Community Development’s head of Facilities Enhancement, Mohlabi oversaw overall contract management as well as project monitoring and evaluation of swimming pools, libraries, and recreation centres.
He says engineering as a profession throughout the country lags on a global scale, as per the Engineering Council of South Africa’s (ECSA) international benchmark.
Mohlabi notes that this is because the study of engineering is not undertaken on a large scale, and those who are qualified in the field choose to work in the private instead of the public sector.
As a result, over the next year, he commits to collaborating with professional institutions such as the ECSA and the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa (IMESA) to work on the profession’s development.
“With most engineers venturing into private enterprise, the City is forced to make use of contractors and to outsource services. This hampers our ability to fulfil one of our most important mandates, which is service delivery,” he avers.
He says if the City can minimize dependency on outsourced engineers, the communities the municipality serves will benefit twofold.
A decorated civil servant, Mohlabi is a Civil Engineering Technologist by profession, with more than 23 years’ experience in the construction of civil and social infrastructure. He has been with the City for over seven years now, having previously worked for the Ekurhuleni metro.
“What I love most about working for the City is seeing the communities we serve smile because we have enhanced their lives with our services.”
He oversaw the construction of the oval-shaped Constance Bapela Council Chamber, for which he won a prestigious municipal engineering award, which recognises its environmentally friendly and climate-conscious design. The ultramodern Chamber, which embodies the City’s commitment to transparent governance and environmental sustainability, won the IMESA and the Consulting Engineers of South Africa (CESA) award in November 2019.
With his passion for engineering stronger than ever, Mohlabi is adamant about establishing an engineering hub for new graduates to plough those skills back into the City. He believes the development and retention of skills within the City is of utmost importance to creating a better operating municipality.
“It is a worry to think that once our generation leaves, whoever enters our workspace will have to start from nothing. Another one of my objectives in my new role is to build a system that lasts and that can be adapted and developed as time goes. We shouldn’t have to waste time for no reason,” he adds.
Mohlabi plans to retire at 55 to take up tutoring at a local university. He’s in his late 40s.
“We need to upskill, motivate, and retain the skills in our industry. We should develop the ones that we have. All projects that are implemented in the City need to have engineers. Engineering is, therefore, the science that brings people and projects to life,” he concludes.
Written by Sascha-Lee Joseph
18/03/2022