From: "Wolf Weidemann"

Date: 11 November 2011 9:00:47 AM SAST

To:

Subject: Your editorial in WATTnow of October

Dear Paddy!

I am sad to hear that Crown will no longer publish WATTnow, but all of us trust that the high standard Gavin Chait and you established, will be upheld.

Regarding your October Editorial: VERY FEW people worldwide, let alone politicians, know or realise how much technology is required to run a modern country, nor how intricate a "Machine for accommodating people" a modern city is. (Our previous governments also did not know, but at least they followed the excellent precedents of Europe, viz. having City Engineers, a Department of Public Works, etc., all staffed by competent professionals and not cadre appointments.)

Regarding the justified scepticism of your "The spreadsheet pipedream ... " editorial the following statistics fully support your view:

The number of professional engineers, in all tiers of government, has dropped from 5 100 in 1994 to 1 800 today, serving 47 million people.

In 1990, 40% of PrEngs worked in the public sector. In 2010 there were only 25%.

In the same period the number of PrEngs in the consulting industry has increased from 30% to almost 50%. [My comment on this: But there is nobody left on the government side to set out the infrastructure work and to appoint them, especially under the mandatory tender system for the appointment of professional consultants!]

In 1990, there was one government technical professional per 2 700 of the population. In 2010, this has declined tenfold to one for 27 000.)

[The above has been extracted from a CESA statement of 2010-09-08.]

It is also frightening that the training of tradesmen, according to a survey by Kelly Industrial, declined from 1975 with 33 000 registered apprentices to 1 440 in 2005. [I do hear from various sources, though, that the numbers are now again slowly approaching 10 000 a year.]

There is no hope that matters such as 'service delivery' will improve as long as the present government does not realise the value and necessity of competent engineers, technologists, technicians, artisans and tradesmen, and stops looking at the problem through their 'coloured' spectacles.

All success with WATTnow.

Regards

Wolf Weidemann PrEng