AfriForum on Tuesday called on Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina to urgently work with more than 5 000 registered civil engineers who work in the South African water infrastructure sector.

This followed the Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS’s) comments earlier in the week that it does not have enough inspectors to ensure that safety standards are met at nearly 6 000 dams.

There are thousands of engineers across the country who can be reached by the DWS through professional bodies, AfriForum asserts.

However, these valuable engineering skills and knowledge are being lost at this stage owing to the department’s restrictive procurement practices.

Currently, contracts are awarded only to engineering firms instead of engaging registered, professional engineers individually.

AfriForum emphasises that intervention from the private sector is needed now more than ever to prevent further deterioration of public infrastructure and catastrophes, such as the recent collapse of three dams on a farm in Riverlands near Malmesbury.

While the DWS believes that the collapse is owing to the dam owner’s non-compliance with legal safety standards, AfriForum environmental affairs adviser Marais de Vaal said that it actually revealed DWS’s crippling shortage of competent and professional technical staff.

“The condition of infrastructure that has been built properly and according to standard does not deteriorate overnight, but with neglect it eventually reaches a tipping point after which it quickly – and possibly catastrophically – deteriorates.

“However, this requires proper monitoring to detect non-compliance and the DWS simply does not have the capacity to act as an effective regulator,” concluded De Vaal.