Council for the Built Environment: strategic plan and activity report

Meeting report

Council for the Built Environment (CBE) report
Mr Sipho Madonsela, Chairman of the Council for the Built Environment, pointed out that his term of office would expire in May 2010, so that he was not sure about his future with CBE.

He explained that the CBE is an overarching organisation for six professional organisations operating within the built environment:- architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, project and construction management, property valuation and quantity surveying. Of these, architecture, engineering and quantity surveying had been in existence prior to 2000, while landscape architecture, project and construction management and property valuation came into the sector after 2000. The CBE was governed by a 20-member council, which is appointed by the Minister of Public Works, and comprises representatives from the six professional councils, government and the general public on a proportional basis of 12:4:4, with each professional council having two representatives. The task of CBE was to oversee the six built environment professional councils. However, it faced a host of challenges and opportunities, some from the past, and others operational challenges of a new regime. The Council had no disciplinary powers. “Work” was not defined, and there was no restriction as to who may work in the field.

Act 43 of 2000 set up the CBE, which had initiated its operations in late-2001 and listed itself as a Section 3(a) entity under the Public Finance Management Act in 2006. The CBE is guided by the vision or purpose of providing sustainable built environment professions, serving the public and the national interest, as outlined in the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) and its mission statement reflected that it should ”through leadership of the built environment professions, facilitate integrated development, whilst promoting efficiency and effectiveness”. He noted that this would be encapsulated by the concepts of promote, protect, facilitate, ensure, and serve. He amplified that the Council would therefore:

-promote and protect the interest of the public;
-promote and maintain a sustainable built environment and natural environment;
-promote ongoing human resource development in the built environment;
-facilitate participation by the built environment professions in integrated development;
-promote appropriate standards of health, safety and environmental protection (HSEP) in the built environment
-promote sound governance of the built environment professions;
-promote liaison in the field of training in the Republic and elsewhere;
-serve as a forum where the built environment professions discuss relevant issues;
-ensure uniform application of norms and guidelines set by the professional councils.

CBE had five main objectives: namely, to improve stakeholder relations and create partnerships to improve service delivery, to intervene in improving the performance of the skills delivery pipeline, to ensure the alignment of the activities of the CBE and the BE professional councils with national imperatives and initiatives, as set out in SONA, to ensure an effective and efficient public protection regime, and to transform and consolidate the regulatory, institutional and structural framework regulating the functioning of the CBE and the professional councils.

He added that it should also ensure that the required skills were produced, provide decent work, improved demographics, adherence to Green programmes and a skills audit at regular intervals.

The challenge was to align the skills and the demands  with each other. He then tabulated what the CBE response would be to each of the SONA prescripts. In answer to the requirement in SONA to build  economic and social infrastructure, CBE would improve inflows, outflows and increased registrations. Where SONA required the creation of decent work policy guidelines, CBE offered the Safety Health Environment (SHE). SONA’s demand for a more inclusive economy would be matched by CBE improving demographic representation. SONA’s requirement for sustainable resources was met by CBE’s Green building policy guidelines. SONA asked for strengthening of skills, and CBE would align skills with the needs of country. SONA called for the building of a developmental state, and CBE would produce and provide information annually on the state of professional councils. SONA called for the country to intensify the fight against crime, and CBE would make available regulations for all identified areas. Where SONA required South Africa to pursue African advancement and enhanced international cooperation, CBE said that there would be increased coverage of international agreements, through alignment with the Department of International Affairs and Cooperation’s foreign affairs policy doctrine. Finally, where SONA called for improvements to the public service and strengthening of democratic institutions, CBE said that the monitoring and evaluation units would undertake quarterly reports covering all regulatory functions of the six professional councils.

CBE’s plan for rural development skills alignment entailed co-operation with the new Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. It would create dialogue between BE professional councils, tertiary institutions and government departments, to ensure relevant continuous professional development (CPD) and would also ensure that skills programmes were producing skills conversant with rural development needs and a developmental state. CBE had a bursary scheme in operation with a target group of those under 35, and intended to present a proposal to the Minister that would seek to mitigate the forecasted skills shortages within the built environment professionals up to 2025. He illustrated the skills shortage by way of a bar graph (slide 14) reflecting that the most serious shortage of skills lay in the engineering field, particularly in Gauteng and Limpopo. There was a  surplus of architects in Gauteng and Limpopo, and a moderate surplus of architects in other provinces. There was a shortage of landscape architects in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal.

He submitted that CBE was complying with the requirements set out in SONA.

Ms Maphefo Sedite, Chief Financial Officer, CBE, then addressed the budget, which reflected that total revenue was R29.8 million, projected to rise to R37.1 million by 2012. In the past financial year the expenditure had been R22.1 million, projected to rise to R36.04 million in 2012. She said that  operational costs had decreased and that future projections were based on an inflation rate of 6%. Her responses to the Auditor-General’s qualification in the audit certificate, in relation to membership fees, was that CBE had not had proper internal control systems to ensure completeness and accuracy of membership fees income, and that control measures had been installed to validate the membership fees received from the professional councils. The challenge was to reconcile the data.

Mr Bheki Zulu, Chief Executive Officer, CBE, then advised the Committee that some of the perceived challenges included a lack of integrated planning with the professional councils, inadequate funding which prevented professional councils from dealing with their mandate, but that in future the CBE would be driving the skills pipeline, promoting integrated planning and its implementation, as well as providing “intelligence” for policymaking. He said that “intelligence” was a compendium of whatever information and facts were required in order to perform the task at hand, specifically complying with SONA. In regard to skills, he asserted that four areas had been identified. Firstly, there should be a focus on the necessity for learners to study mathematics and science. Secondly, the universities must comply with the demands of the professional market place when designing their courses. Thirdly, successful graduates should be encouraged to register with their professional councils, specifically the CBE, and lastly, there must be concentrated professional development. He felt that although there was no room for complacency the CBE had grown exponentially and would continue to do so. He said that there was a need for the definition of “work” as currently too many people were engaging in work that should be reserved for registered professionals. There was a need to persuade universities to accredit themselves with the professional councils, so that the students would be able to undertake work specifically in the professions for which they believed they were being trained, and above all to protect the public and to widen the demographic representivity of the professions.

Discussion
The Chairperson stated that the built environment Bill had been withdrawn, but it was intended to re-introduce it, so that greater enforcement measures would be provided.  He asked why CBE found it difficult to get an unqualified audit, and why it was unable to comply with legislation pertaining to money management. He was particularly concerned when financial requirements were flouted year after year, with nothing apparently learnt from the processes of the previous years. In regard to accreditation he felt that CBE and the professional councils had erred in being too reactive, and suggested they become proactive and inform the tertiary institutions that they would be inspecting them on a certain date. With regard to the allegations of inadequate funding, he questioned whether the CBE was justified in receiving more funding when it had not yet proved that it could handle its present small budget properly, as evidenced by the audit reports.

Mr Zulu asserted that the CBE was now fully staffed, with 30 members of staff, having grown from having only six members of staff in 2006, and that there was thus now sufficient capacity to meet the challenges and deal with the issues. He said that all staff positions were filled. The strategic plans and other submissions had been made timeously, but there had been inadequate proof of submissions, but mechanisms were in place to obviate such problems in the future.

Mr Zulu stated that accreditation was a long process involving many requirements around staffing, installation of the necessary equipment, and interaction between the university and the profession concerned. CBE was now interacting with the Council for Higher Education (CHE) rather than the individual universities. With regard to funding, the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) was the best-funded of all councils, but even it lacked sufficient funding to maintain a full investigatory and disciplinary process, especially if there was failure of a major project, such as collapse of a bridge.

Mr C Kekana (ANC) queried the requirements for accreditation, noting that this could include the content of the academic courses but also include the standing of the lecturers and the equipment available. He also questioned the requirement that the institutions interact with the relevant professions. He stated that previously members had been advised that skills creation was to be viewed in terms of Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) or Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA) and that a distinction had to be made between the immediate demands for jobs, as set out in SONA, and the long term demand for skills, whilst also bearing in mind SHE and questions of safety and security.

Mr J Masango (DA) noted the call for more money, but agreed that the qualified audits proved that CBE could not handle the money it had presently. He added that SONA called for decent work, but the CBE had different views and referred to SHE and safety and security features. He also pointed out that the report regarding outcomes and objectives sounded good, but he wondered what happened to the multiplicity of reports, and who was studying them, if this was done at all, and putting them into action. He drew attention to the report in the full Annual Report to an employee who was employed for one month, yet was paid R100 000. He said there was also a need to explain why the same matters were being raised time and again by the audit report, seemingly without any attention being paid to the issues.

Dr Oswald Franks, Chief Executive Officer, Engineering Council of South Africa, noted that this Council (ECSA) was now expanded, included people of colour, and that the demographics of the profession were changing, in accordance with the of the trainers and trainees. He explained that ECSA’s experiences showed problems with accreditation with two institutions, who showed an insouciant approach both to ECSA and the regulations with which they must comply. He suggested that this was not a professional approach, probably had a hidden agenda, and that management needs should be accommodated by all institutions, with co-operation being vital, and that no institution could exist in isolation.

Mr Zulu pointed out that the Bill that was withdrawn had set out standards and defined them. This was not the case at the moment, as there was no definition of standards or of work, and this was causing a gap between CBE and the Department of Higher Education, which must be resolved.

The Chairperson felt that, given the shortage of skills, this was unacceptable. There was a perception of “gate keeping” by the professions, merely to frustrate blacks from entering the professions, and that was the real issue, thus causing impatience with what was perceived as avoidance of the main issue by concentrating on peripheral issues.

Mr Zulu added that the Quantity Surveying profession had had a problem with the pass rate at some institutions, but that this had been resolved. He also explained that, despite JIPSA and ASGISA, there had been opposition to engineers and other professionals from Cuba. Investigations had, however, been held into the content of their courses, peer certification and ability. Those Cuban engineers now entering the country did comply with the professional standards of South Africa. International agreements demanded certain evidentiary proof, which the first set of Cuban workers had for some reason not been able to provide, but the position was now different. Although the Washington Accord did not directly recognise the qualifications of Cuban engineers, there were ways around it, without compromising professional standards and competencies, and those foreign engineers already here and about to enter did show satisfactory proof of compliance.

Mr Masango returned to the question of the qualified audit. He stated that he could not reconcile the report and the explanations given. He wondered why the Auditor-General (AG) was stating that certain figures were provided whilst CBE maintained that the AG had been provided with the correct figures.

The Chairperson warned the CBE not to attempt to push the blame for poor workmanship to other Sate entities. He advised that they should admit that they had been wrong, and undertake not to repeat the same mistakes in future, then concentrate on doing the job properly.

Mr Zulu accepted that suggestion. He noted that CBE was working with both National Treasury and the AG to eliminate the problems. With regard to the deregistration of CGE as a VAT vendor, a payment had been made to South African Revenue Service (SARS) and clearance was awaited.

Ms Sedite explained, in respect of the question raised on the employee, that the payment was to one person for one year, not one month, and encompassed leave pay, pension contributions and travelling expenses returned.

Mr P Mnguni (COPE) referred to the document, citing the members of the CBE Board and the members of the professional councils, pointing out that there was a degree of overlap. He felt that this gave rise to conflict of interests. If CBE wanted to have any enforcement powers, then this arrangement should terminate. The financial section of the Annual Report seemed to indicate that the members were well-paid and the positions had little work attached to them. He noted that he served on the Portfolio Committee on Health, and knew that the health professionals did not have such overlapping situations. He also added that in the health sector, the Health Professions Council would act swiftly against fly-by-night or non-accredited institutions, and was of the opinion that those institutions that did not accredit and align themselves to the professional councils and CBE should be closed down, as their students suffered in the end if the courses for which they and their parents had paid were of no use once they left university.

The Chairperson said that capacity building was required, as well as skills training.

Mr Zulu acknowledged the challenges, and said that the CBE was trying to overcome them by concentrating on the youth and their development. However, he conceded that currently too many graduates were in limbo, having completed their degrees but, for one reason or another, being able to register with the councils as professionals. He said the councils set minimum standards. For example, the quantity surveying profession was enforcing its high standards despite a call for these to be dropped because of high failure rates. However, it must also be remembered that the CBE had a responsibility to protect the public.

Mr T Mangama (ANC) expressed the opinion that a lot could still be done to ease the situation.

Ms N Ngcengwane (ANC) referred to the AG’s report that the CBE had been late in making payments of PAYE and UIF, which she found unacceptable. She added that there had been references to membership not being controlled, and late reconciliations, but these were “internal’ matters in the sense that they were not related to staff matters such as the PAYE and UIF. She also noted that the same errors were occurring and CBE did not seem to be able to learn from the past. She also called for a clarification of operating expenses.

Ms Sedite stated that the operating expenses covered items such as rent and stationery.

The Chairperson questioned this, as these already seemed to be itemised under “expenses”. He cautioned that if she was not sure, then she should admit to this and then send a short written explanation through to the Committee when she returned to her office.

Ms Sedite apologised, and said that she would do so.

Mr Masango pointed out that deregulation from the professional councils was at a high number and sought the reason. He also asked why the CBE had reflected consultancy fees at R3 million, and felt that the travelling costs of R2.5 million also seemed to him to be inordinately high. He also asked for clarification on deregulation.

Ms Sedite noted that the CEO was appointed only in January 2009, and prior to that consultants had been hired to do this work.

The Chairperson thought that the situation with ECSA and the Cuban engineers, which to him appeared a clear case of gate-keeping.

Dr Franks explained that the Cuban engineers had provided no supporting evidentiary proof at all relating to the academic contents of their courses, no transcripts, and no peer evaluations of their competency. The matter had been discussed and negotiated. In future the South African requirements would be fulfilled. He said that over a five-year period, the number of historically-disadvantaged engineers had arisen from 26% to 32%, and the percentages of candidate engineers had risen from 14% to 26%, which was moving to address the demographics of the country.

The Chairperson asked that in future numbers, not percentages, should be given.

The meeting was adjourned.