The eThekwini municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has called on retired engineers to return to government and assist with strategic and special projects that are currently underway.
The KwaZulu-Natal metro also wants the retired engineers to transfer skills to young ones in order to help improve its lagging service delivery.
The programme is spearheaded by the city’s water and sanitation unit and seeks to draw from the expertise of retired engineers and technologists in civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering, SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) and instrumentation.
NEWS: The ANC-run eThekwini municipality has issued a call to retired engineers to come back to work with it to mentor upcoming and transfer skills. The coastal city says this will help to improve service delivery.
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) July 21, 2023
According to OleumTech, SCADA is a computer-based system for gathering and analysing real-time data to monitor and control equipment that deals with critical and time-sensitive materials or events.
The call comes as the persistent natural disasters and heavy rains have shown that the city’s infrastructure, more especially its sewerage systems, are not modernised enough to withstand heavy rains.
The city is also facing criticism over sluggish services rendered to residents.
The latest Business Confidence Index (BCI) produced by the Macroeconomics Research Unit of the University of KwaZulu-Natal noted in its report that operations by the municipality had dwindled.
According to Head of Water and Sanitation Ednick Msweli, the programme has been in place for the past five years, in line with the eThekwini Municipality Scarce Skills Policy which allows for the employment of retired persons with scarce skills.
The retired professionals will be required to provide their expertise in strategic initiatives and projects, while others will provide support to the city’s engineering mentorship programmes, thus strengthening service delivery and skills transfer.
“Arising from the skills shortage within South Africa is a need for the municipality to draw from these engineering experts to assist with service delivery and skills transfer.
“The policy provides for the transfer of skills as part of the retirees’ appointment, and this has resulted in scarce skills being transferred to engineering graduates and to the betterment of the service delivery,” Msweli said.
He said in addition, up-and-coming engineers and technologists have received mentorship in line with the Engineering Council of South Africa requirements for professional registration.
Applications for the programme are now open and will close on 11 August.
The municipality said opportunity is not limited to those previously employed by the City, however, experience in local government will be advantageous.
It added that all successful applicants will be paid at a rate set in advance.
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