An objection raised by the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) to draft legislation proposing the transformation of the South African Academy of Engineering (SAAE), has resulted in government removing said item from this year’s legislative calendar.
This draft legislation seeks to change the status of the SAAE from a voluntary body to a statutory one, to become the 'preferred source of expert engineering advice to government', as stated in the draft bill.
The objections raised by the SAIEE came in response to a formal request for comment from the Department of Science and Technology. Recently appointed SAIEE president, Ian McKechnie, outlined the institute's objections: "Our opposition to the content of this bill is based on a broad number of issues. These include: inadequate consultation with the Institute and other learned societies plus the lack of transparency and closed nature of membership of the Academy. Moreover, the Institute opposes the establishment of the current Academy as a statutory body giving it 'preferred status' as opposed to its present voluntary structure."
McKechnie said that the Academy did not directly approach the Institute regarding this issue, nor has it sought general engineering consultation with them in the past: "A collegial spirit must prevail in such circumstances with open discourse between the Academy and all interested parties," he says.
The SAIEE is a long-standing learned society - approaching its centenary in 2009 - boasting roughly 5500 members operating in various aspects of electrical engineering, constituting a broad base of skills and knowledge.
McKechnie expressed a deep concern that the Academy - a voluntary organisation with a membership of approximately 130 people - could become the primary liaison with government by an act of parliament. "Such a situation cannot bode well for the provision of objective consultation to legislators." He emphasised that existing, long-standing learned societies, like the Institute, have been fulfilling this role for many years and should continue to do so.
The Institute also protested the lack of inclusiveness of the membership composition of the current Academy. "The present Academy membership is closed and non-transparent. The draft legislation proposes continuing in this manner, fuelling concerns that this type of set-up can open a door for manipulation. Moreover, it is not clear how this process can result in a multidisciplinary representative membership."
McKechnie cited a similar academy, the UK's Royal Academy of Engineering, as an example of an organisation with transparency, inclusiveness of electoral processes and clear qualification/registration requirements for membership, but without statutorily entrenched preferred status. "The benefits that could emanate from the establishment of such an academy should be capable of standing on their own merit without the protection of legislation," he stated.
For more information contact the SAIEE, +27 (0)11 487 3003, crouchm@saiee.co.za, www.saiee.org.za
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