Suid-Afrika: 'n visie van die toekoms van die land en die siviele ingenieurberoep

Inaugural lecture--Faculty of Engineering, Rand Afrikaans University, 15 April 1986@@The future of South Africa and that of civil engineering in this country are considered by reviewing characteristics of political evolution, aspects of the South African economy and challenges in civil engineering. The theories of chaos and minimization of the rate of internal entropy production are used to show that the process of political evolution has the same characteristics as other dynamical processes observed in the natural sciences. By analysing the current state of affairs in South Africa using this approach, it is shown that the political system is in a state which is very close to complete chaos and that this can only be changed by finding ways to minimize the rate of internal entropy production. This can be achieved either by force or by negotiation. The assumption is made that there is enough good will in the country to ensure return to stability by negotiating the future with the peoples involved. Given this state of affairs it is then further shown that the only way to maintain stability is by nurturing a free market economy. Once this has been achieved South Africa will no longer be persona non grata in the rest of Africa and the opportunities for South African civil engineering will be manifold. The fields of specialization in civil engineering with the most interesting challenges will be that of transportation, water engineering and project management. The other fields of specialization will as always demand considerable time from the civil engineering profession, but the major challenges as regards appropriate technology will be in the three indicated fields of specialization. In order to meet these challenges it is shown that the intake of civil engineering students at universities should increase and that undergraduate courses should incorporate a considerable number of courses in systems analysis.