GEOFF TOOLEY: Put engineers at the table or infrastructure will keep failing

SA’s local infrastructure is under pressure, and one of the key reasons is being consistently overlooked: engineers are being left out of critical procurement decisions. 

At municipal level, tender evaluation committees and bid adjudication committees, which are responsible for awarding billions of rand in infrastructure contracts, are still dominated by non-technical officials. This has become a systemic issue, and the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa has raised the alarm repeatedly. It now demands urgent intervention because tenders are routinely being awarded to contractors who do not have the technical capacity to deliver. Often, decisions are based on the lowest price, not on whether the bidder can actually build what’s needed. This leads directly to project delays, cost over-runs and substandard work. 

It also puts professional engineers in an impossible position. Under the Engineering Profession Act (46 of 2000), engineers registered with the Engineering Council of SA are legally required to uphold standards that protect the public. This includes rejecting work that is unsafe, improperly scoped or risks infrastructure failure. When engineers are not part of procurement decisions — or worse, when their expert input is ignored — it creates an ethical and legal conflict. And this has consequences for everyone. 

Poor contractor selection costs municipalities billions

The 2023/24 auditor-general report highlighted these very issues. Municipal projects across the country have suffered delays, quality failures and ballooning costs. In most cases the problem traced back to one thing: poor contractor selection, with no proper technical due diligence. 

This is exactly where engineers are meant to step in. Our standard role includes a detailed evaluation of whether the proposed budget matches real-world construction costs and whether the bidder has a track record for the kind of work being tendered. These assessments are submitted as part of the engineer’s report to the bid evaluation committee. 

But currently engineers’ recommendations are often ignored, especially when we advise that a tender be declined. That’s not just bad practice, it’s reckless and it wastes public money. This pattern must end. The law already gives engineers a mandate. It’s time municipal procurement processes recognised it in practice.

Planning without engineers: a recipe for disaster 

The problem also extends into planning. SA’s rapid urbanisation is placing enormous strain on existing infrastructure. For development to succeed — whether urban, peri-urban or rural — it must be grounded in what’s technically feasible. This means engineers and town planners need to work as a team, not in silos. 

One crucial example is how municipalities apply coverage limits, which refers to the percentage of a site that can be developed. These are critical tools used in terms of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act to manage stormwater run-off and reduce flood risk. If coverage limits are increased without proper stormwater modelling, infrastructure systems can become overwhelmed. For instance, increasing site coverage from 30% to 40% can increase surface run-off by roughly 17%. When this is repeated across many developments the result is often flash floods and infrastructure failures. 

Smart urban densification requires early input

Engineers must be involved in evaluating these effects early, before approvals are granted, not afterwards when the damage is done. At the same time, SA needs to be flexible and forward-thinking. In certain cases, such as proposals for waste-to-energy plants or large industrial facilities, it may make sense to exceed existing coverage limits — but only when supported by robust infrastructure investment and technical validation. 

There are also clear opportunities to densify intelligently. Multi-storey developments that stay within legal footprints and repurpose underused city buildings into housing and commercial space are not just feasible, they’re essential. And they are only possible with early engineering input. 

It’s important to note that going upward doesn’t reduce infrastructure load. Water, electricity and sewerage systems must still support the increased density. That’s why design and location matter, and why engineers must be part of the initial planning discussions. 

Engineers also play a critical role in determining realistic budgets for infrastructure construction and maintenance. Without this, municipalities risk underfunding essential services or overpaying for work that doesn’t meet standards. 

When engineers are involved from the outset, projects are more likely to be delivered on time, on budget and with long-term sustainability in mind. That benefits everyone — municipalities, developers, planners and, most importantly, residents. 

The current approach is not working. If SA is serious about fixing local government and delivering infrastructure that lasts, engineers need to be at the decision-making table from day one. Anything less is a risk we simply cannot afford. 

• Tooley is president of the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa.