The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) has noted that transformation is running smoothly in the civil engineering industry.

Addressing engineering students at the University of the Witwatersrand on Wednesday, SAICE president Stanford Mkhacane said SAICE was made up of 18 000 qualified civil engineers, most of whom were young engineers.

Those members falling into the age group of 35 years and younger, made up 51% of the institution’s total membership, with 66% being black.

Those members between the ages of 36 and 55 formed 30% of SAICE’s membership, with 40% being black, while those 56 years and above formed 20% of the institution’s membership and 6% were black civil engineers.

However, the shortage of civil engineers in South Africa persisted, as for every engineer in South Africa there were 3 000 people, said SAICE CEO Manglin Pillay, who also spoke at the university.

He highlighted the need for more engineers in South Africa to take up projects for the betterment of the country, while Mkhacane, who was inaugurated in February, noted that there were only 30 000 civil engineering practitioners in South Africa.

Mkhacane added that SAICE was committed to association with all universities in South Africa to build the civil engineering network and to encourage turning engineering visions into realities.

He encouraged students to become a part of SAICE to build the network of engineers in South Africa and also encouraged them to persevere in their studies and take every engineering opportunity that came their way.