For more than a century, IMESA (Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa) has been the quiet workhorse behind South Africa’s roads, bridges, stormwater networks and bulk services. Its members are the people who understand why freight corridors fail, why depots flood and why logistics bottlenecks deepen. So, when IMESA warns that South Africa’s local government turnaround is impossible without engineers at the policy table, every stakeholder in the transport and logistics ecosystem should lend an ear.

IMESA president Geoff Tooley says the institute has already submitted comprehensive technical input for the review of the Local Government White Paper yet remains uneasy about who is actually writing the document.

“More specifically, we have asked about the number of municipal engineers involved. To date, we haven’t received a response,” he says.

That silence is unsettling for a logistics sector already stretched by collapsing local roads, compromised water systems and ageing bulk infrastructure. If engineering voices are absent from the writing teams, Tooley warns the revised document may skew towards legal and financial wording while glossing over the technical failures that drive service collapse.

“Our appeal as IMESA is that we don’t miss this vital last step, because without sustained and equal engineering participation the objective of universal municipal performance will not be possible.”

Engineering insight or another missed opportunity
At the recent 88th IMESA Annual Conference, more than 700 engineers and municipal officials agreed that municipal engineers must once again be recognised as joint decision-makers in infrastructure planning.

Tooley says this has not always been the case. “The result has been a growing disconnect between engineering and political objectives, which has led to widespread service delivery shortfalls and growing community unrest.”

FleetWatch readers know these failures intimately. When local pavements crumble and stormwater systems clog, trucks slow, costs rise and logistics reliability goes out the window.

IMESA believes the revised White Paper is a chance to correct mistakes dating back to the 1998 policy. The original document aimed to build strong, accountable local government with citizens as equal participants. But, as Tooley notes, “the initial goals didn’t materialise as planned.”

The new version aims to confront the systemic failures that have derailed municipalities for more than two decades. A consolidated draft is expected for public comment before the final version heads to the Minister of CoGTA (Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) in March 2026.

“Right now, however, we do not know whether the writing teams include vital representation from the engineering profession, and that is worrying,” Tooley concludes.

Editor’s comment: This is the quiet crisis beneath every freight delay and every damaged municipal road. Without engineering competence built into the very DNA of local government policy, no recovery plan can hope to stabilise the logistics backbone of the economy. IMESA is right to sound the alarm. South Africa cannot engineer any form of ‘Built Environment’ turnaround without engineers!

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