That need is for the engineering profession and body (ECSA) not for Prasa though. This saga is making me think about registering at ECSA though, but in my company with about 300 engineers only 3 are registered and they aren't even trying to convince the rest to register.
Always better doing it at soon as possible. Even if you don't have the minimum requirements you can still register as a candidate for whichever level.
Also, if you join as a member of SAIEE then you get discounts on your ECSA registration too. I've been a member of both for some time now and in most cases my employer covered the annual membership fees as it benefits the company's portfolio to have professionally registered members. I actually renewed my annual membership yesterday. Cost me R1.9k.
What people don't realise is that all these professional bodies aren't just old boys clubs or dick measuring parties. They ensure that everyone sings to the same tune. If every qualified person just went off and did his own thing...or perhaps did the right thing but never bothered updating his knowledge set, then you'll have an out of date engineer. We worked with one on a big building project and the guy was brilliant but he still issued all his drawings to us on paper...as he still used pens and a drawing board. Never bothered with CAD.
That said, PRASA is making a huge mistake if they say that being a member of ECSA is not important. Instead of your HR person trying to figure out if your potential employee knows what they're doing, if they have ECSA membership it shows that a PANEL OF ENGINEERS reviewed their whole CV and interviewed them in person to check their skillset and experience if there was any doubt on their CVs.
So who do you trust better to decide who is qualified for the job ... HR or a national panel of engineers who do this every day.
I'm not saying someone who is professionally registered is more suitable for the job or has more experience than someone who isn't...what I AM saying is that if they have a PR Eng or PR Tech Eng, then I know for a fact that they've been screened to at least some level of competency by the same panel who screened me...rather than having to take a chance on the person.
