134th National Annual General Meeting ( AGM) - Feedback

On Thursday, 4th September 2025, SAIMechE held a virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the sixth time in its history. The AGM was presented using the Zoom online meeting platform. Meeting attendance peaked at forty-five persons, and thirty-three persons signed the online attendance register. 

SAIMechE President, Mr Mishael Mashele, welcomed the attendees on behalf of the Council and presented the AGM as per the agenda.

During her presentation of the Council report, Mr Mashele spoke about some of the more important information reflecting the position and performance of the Institution over the period 1 May 2024 to 30 April 2025.

Council Report

The Council report for the 2024-2025 Council session summarised membership statistics  as follows :

Financial statements

The Institution received an unqualified report from the Accounting Officer confirming that it complies with the provisions of the Constitution relating to financial matters. Key financial indicators are shown below.

• Total income increased by 10% to R 5 555 585

• Membership fee income increased by  8% to R 4 777 791

• Total expenditure increased by 7% to R5 542 933

• Administrative expenses increased by 16% to R 1 635 636

• Net surplus of R 1 232 268  after including investment adjustment

• General reserve increased by 17% to R 8 651 833

• Investment increased by 14% to R 7 174 265

• Good standing with SARS and exempt from income and capital gains tax

• Concern over increasing outstanding membership fees

Council and EXCO

The following members were declared to the council for the 2024-26 session.

Office Bearers

Mr Mishael Mashele - President
Dr Oscar Asumani - Vice President
Ms Marietjie M Jansen van Rensburg - National Treasurer

Branch Chairpersons

Mr. Niel Olivier (Vaal Branch)

Mr. Eugene Venter (Mpumalanga Highveld Branch)

Mr. John Mokwatlo (Central Branch)

Mr. Avinash Maharaj (KwaZulu-Natal Branch)

Dr. William Rall (Eastern Cape Branch)

Mr.  Carl Tshamala (Western Cape Branch)

Elected Council Members

The following members were elected to Council for the 2024-26 session:

Dr Oscar Asumani (Education, training and development)

Ms. Marietjie Jansen van Rensburg (Finance and Student and Candidate Affairs)

Ms Portia Moketla (Immediate Past President)

Mr Vally Padayachee (Constitution, By-Laws and Rules)

Mr Vaughan Rimbault (Finance, ECSA; Membership)

Mr Nkululeko Thusini (Communication and Marketing)

Immediate Past President

Mr Hangwani Makwarela 

Council Members ex officio
Mr. Uncel Mhelembe (Chief Executive Officer)

SAIMechE President, Ms Portia Moketla welcomed the attendees on behalf of the Council and presented the AGM as per the agenda.

During her presentation of the Council report, Ms Moketla spoke about some of the more important information reflecting the position and performance of the Institution over the period 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2024.

Council Report

The Council report for the 2023-2024 Council session summarised membership statistics as follows:

   
Financial statements

The Institution received an unqualified report from the Accounting Officer confirming that it complies with the provision of the Constitution relating to financial matters. Key financial indicators are shown below.

●      Total income increased by 7% to R 5 004 454
●      Membership fee income increased by  5% to R 4 434 118
●      Total expenditure increased by 13% to R5 135 022
●      Administrative expenses increased by 16% to R 1 404 348
●      Net surplus of R 120 329  after including investment adjustment
●      General reserve increased by 1.6% to R 7 406 9111
●      Investment increased by 6.2% to R6 198 072
●      Good standing with SARS and exempt from income and capital gains tax
●      Concern over increasing outstanding membership fees

Council and EXCO

The following members are serving on Council for the 2022 -2024 session:

Office Bearers

Mr Mishael Mashele - President
Dr Oscar Asumani - Vice President
Ms Marietjie M Jansen van Rensburg - National Treasurer

Elected Council Members

The following members were elected to Council for the 2024-26 session:

Dr Oscar Asumani
M. Marietjie Jansen van Rensburg
Mr Mishael Mashele
Ms Portia Moketla
Mr Vally Padayachee
Mr Vaughan Rimbault
Mr Nkululeko Thusini

Branch Chairpersons

Mr Niel Olivier (Vaal Branch)
Mr Eugene Venter (Mpumalanga Highveld Branch)
Mr John Mokwatlo (Central Branch)
Mr Avinash Maharaj (KwaZulu-Natal Branch)
Dr William Rall (Eastern Cape Branch)
Mr Carl Tshamala (Western Cape Branch)

Council Members ex officio

Mr Uncel Mhelembe (Chief Executive Officer)

The meeting was CPD validated for 0.1 credits with validation number SAIMechE-1674-08/24.

132nd National Annual General Meeting (AGM) - Feedback

On Thursday 10^th August 2023, SAIMechE held a virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the fourth time in its history. The AGM was presented using the Zoom online meeting platform. Meeting attendance peaked at fifty-seven persons and forty-five persons signed the online attendance register. 

SAIMechE President, Ms Portia Moketla welcomed the attendees on behalf of the Council and presented the AGM as per the agenda. During her presentation of the Council report, Ms Moketla spoke about some of the more important information reflecting the position and performance of the Institution over the period 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2023.

Council Report

The Council report for the 2022-2023 Council session summarised membership statistics  as follows:

Financial statements

The Institution received an unqualified report from the Accounting Officer confirming that it complies with the provision of the Constitution relating to financial matters. Key financial indicators are shown below.

• Total income decreased by 4.8% to R 4 639 989
• Membership fee income decreased by 0.07% to R 4 210 548
• Total expenditure increased by 10% to R 4 505 476

• Administrative expenses increased by 16% to R 1 223 359

• Operating surplus of R 134 513

• Net surplus of R 686 444  after including investment adjustment

• General reserve increased by 10.4% to R 7 286 671

• Investment increased by 17.2% to R5 816 598

• Good standing with SARS and exempt from income and capital gains tax

• Concern over increasing outstanding membership fees

Council and EXCO

The following members are serving on Council for the 2022 -2024 session:

Office Bearers

Ms Portia Moketla - President

Ms Cillia Molomo-Mphephu - Vice-President

Mr. Mishael Mashele - National Treasurer

Branch Chairpersons

Mr. Henri Roux (Vaal Branch)

Mr. Mishael Mashele (Mpumalanga Highveld Branch)

Mr. Fannie Raseruthe (Central Branch)

Mr. Avinash Maharaj (KwaZulu-Natal Branch)

Prof. Danie Hattingh (Eastern Cape Branch)

Mr.  Carl Tshamala (Western Cape Branch)

Elected Council members

Ms. Marietjie Jansen van Rensburg (Student and Candidate Affairs; Communication and Marketing)

Mr. Rangani Lishivha ( ECSA; Membership)

Mr. Rudzani Tshitahe (Transformation and Diversity; Finance)

Mr. Nean van Niekerk (Governance, Education, Training and Development )

Mr. Vaughan Rimbault ( Education, Training and Development; Finance, Communication and Marketing)

Immediate Past President

Mr Hangwani Makwarela 

Council Members ex officio
Mr. Uncel Mhelembe (Chief Executive Officer) 
   
The meeting was CPD validated for 0.1 credits with validation number SAIMechE-1606-08/23 .

The SAIMechE Student Chapter at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), in collaboration with the SAICE and SAIEE student chapters (UJ), IIE Village, JCI and ECSA, hosted yet another very successful Engineering Career Day on 5 May 2023.

The event provided companies with a great platform to showcase their products and services, as well as present on opportunities for promoting their mentorship programmes, bursaries, funding and internship.

The event was well attended by top industry, including Megchem, Thyssenkrupp, SKF, CSIR, Howden, Siemens, Juta Publishers, MECAD Systems, Zutari and more.

Louis Joubert, a local farmer, and sawmill owner in Georges Valley realised his vision of living off the grid by harnessing the energy potential of water at his farm, Mazuri.

“I set the initial goal of using only hydro-energy in 1985, more than thirty years ago. We tried several systems but the previous attempts were not stable,” says Joubert. He tried a waterwheel and other patents but finally found the right system for the task when he met with engineers from WD Power, hydroelectric power specialists based in Johannesburg.

Joubert’s hydro-power system starts at a 200mm pipeline leading down from a small dam for 45m to a hydro station. Here a micro-hydro-turbine is fed with 12 litres of water per second which in turn generates 4kW of electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The micro-hydro-turbine generates 380V which is converted to 500V DC power. This leads to inverters where the electrical current powers the household with 220V and charges lithium-ion batteries to store excess electricity. Full article...

*Engineering Manager at WD Power, Brian Adendorff, is a member of SAIMechE.

On Thursday 4th August 2022, SAIMechE held a virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the third time in its history. The AGM was presented using the Zoom online meeting platform. Meeting attendance peaked at seventy-three persons and sixty-eight persons signed the online attendance register. 

SAIMechE President, Mr Hangwani Makwarela welcomed the attendees on behalf of the Council and presented the AGM as per the agenda.

During his presentation of the Council report, Mr Makwarela spoke about some of the more important information reflecting the position and performance of the Institution over the period 1 May 2021 to 30 April 2022.

Council Report

The Council report for the 2021-2022 Council session summarised membership statistics  as follows:

Financial statements

The Institution received an unqualified report from the Accounting Officer confirming that it complies with the provision of the Constitution relating to financial matters. Key financial indicators are shown below.

• Total income increased 9.4% to R 4 873 462
• Membership fee income increased by 0.8% to R 4 213 440
• Total expenditure decreased by 7.7% to R 4 086 746
• Administrative expenses increased by 1% to R 1 031 167
• Operating surplus of R 786 716
• Net surplus of R 767 589 after including investment adjustment
• General reserve increased by 13.2% to R 6 600 225
• Investment increase by 7.9% to R4 962 514
• Good standing with SARS and exempt from income and capital gains tax
• Concern over increasing outstanding membership fees
  

Election of Council Members

The following members were declared elected to Council for the 2022-24 session:

Mr P Bailey

Mr R Lishivha

Ms M Jansen van Rensburg

Mr H Makwarela

Mr V Rimbault

Mr R Tshitahe

Mr N van Niekerk

These members join current Branch Chairpersons to form the Council for the 2022-24 session.

Branch Chairpersons

Mr. Mishael Mashele (Mpumalanga Highveld Branch)
Ms. Portia Moketla (Central Branch)

Mr. Jacques Claassen (Vaal Branch)
Mr. Vaughan Rimbault (KwaZulu-Natal Branch)

Prof. Danie Hattingh (Eastern Cape Branch)

Prof. Martin Venter (Western Cape Branch)

Council Members ex officio

Mr. Uncel Mhelembe (General Manager)

The meeting was CPD validated for 0.1 credits with validation number SAIMechE-1519-08/22.

• Matthew Blackwell, Mechanical Engineering - Scaffolding designs using 3D printed titanium alloys (Supervisor: Prof Thorsten Becker)
• Paul Olivier, Mechatronic Engineering - Design and build an automated pipe intersection marker (Supervisor: Dr Everhard van Niekerk)

Well done to our winners – your presentations bear witness to your hard work and dedication, not only to the technical content and achievements of your projects and presentations, but also to the professional manner in which you communicated your work.The rest of the nominees deserve honourable mention as there was not one project that did not impress the judges panel: WJ Albertyn, Clayton Govender, Torick Hatha, Thomas Hettasch, Andre Nel, Kathryn Nicholls.

Many thanks to the judges for volunteering their time!

(by Past SAIMechE President Prof Deborah Blaine | PhD, BEng (Mech) | FSAIMechE, SASEE, APMI, EPMA)

It is a great pleasure to inform you that the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering (SAIMechE) have extended our agreement on the mutual understanding and friendly cooperative relations. Click here to see detailed agreement. The agreement between the two societies is summarised as follows: 

• To advance the common aims of the societies and, through them, to facilitate the promotion of scientific and technological exchange and development in mechanical engineering. 

•  To make appropriate privileges of membership available to members of the reciprocal society, excluding the use of membership titles or designatory letters unless appropriately qualified. 

• To provide announcements of conference and meeting programmes and news of mutual interest which may be republished by the reciprocal society for the benefit of its members. 

• To encourage the participation of members from the reciprocal society in those meetings which are appropriate.  

• To encourage the participation of members in joint events for the dissemination and exchange of technical information. 

Read the full media statement here.

On Thursday 5th August 2021, SAIMechE held a virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the second time in its history. The AGM was presented using the Zoom online meeting platform. Meeting attendance peaked at eighty-nine persons and seventy-four persons signed the online attendance register. 

SAIMechE President, Mr Hangwani Makwarela welcomed the attendees on behalf of Council and presented the AGM as per the agenda.

During his presentation of the Council report, Mr Makwarela spoke to some of the more important information reflecting the position and performance of the Institution over the period 1 May 2020 to 30 April 2021.

Council Report

The Council report for the 2020-2021 Council session summarised membership statistics  as follows:

Financial statements

The Institution received an unqualified report from the Accounting Officer confirming that it complies with the provision of the Constitution relating to financial matters. Key financial indicators are shown below.

• Total income decreased 8.3% to R 4 455 148

• Membership fee income decreased by 4.8% to R 4 180 851

• Total expenditure decreased by 4.1% to R 4 426 884

• Administrative expenses decreased by 27.9% to R 1 020 750

• Operating surplus of R 28 264

• Net surplus of R 893 211 after including investment adjustment

• General reserve increased by 18.0% to R 5 832 635

• Investment increase by 18.7% to R4 599 541

• Good standing with SARS and exempt from income and capital gains tax

• Concern over increasing outstanding membership fees

Council and EXCO

The following members are serving on Council for the 2020 -2022 session.

Office Bearers

Mr. Hangwani Makwarela - President
Ms Portia Moketla - Vice-President
Mr. Tertius Bosman - National Treasurer

Branch Chairpersons

Dr. Gareth Erfort (Western Cape Branch)
Mr. Mishael Mashele (Mpumalanga Highveld Branch)
Ms. Portia Moketla  (Central Branch)
Dr. Jared Padayachee (KwaZulu-Natal Branch)
Mr. Danie Vorster (Vaal Branch)

Prof. Danie Hattingh (Eastern Cape Branch)

Elected  Council members

The following members were declared elected to Council for the 2020-22 session:

Ms. Marietjie Jansen van Rensburg (Student and Candidate Affairs; Communication)
Ms. Cillia Molomo-Mphephu (Membership; Finance)

Mr. Rangani Lishivha ( ECSA; Membership)

Mr. Rudzani Tshitahe (Transformation and Diversity; Finance)

Mr. Stefan de Nagy Koves Hrabar (Governance)

Co-opted Council members

Mr. Vaughan Rimbault ( Education, training and development; Finance)

Council Members ex officio

Mr. Uncel Mhelembe (General Manager)

The Council has published on the Government Gazette, the Identification of Engineering Work (Gazette Number 44333, Volume 669, Board Notice 21 of 2021) in March 2021. The full article can be accessed here...

Significantly, the two new discoveries were both located in the same small area of the sky. Also important was the fact that previous radio telescope surveys of that part of the sky, including by the Karl G Jansky Very Large Array in the US and the Giant Metre-Wave Radio Telescope in India, had failed to detect them.

Read the full article by Engineering News...

Electra Mining Africa Connect 2020 hosted a series of successful theme-focused days and webinars from 7-11 September 2020.

The 'Early Career Development of Engineering Professionals', hosted in conjunction with SAIMechE was held on 11 September 2020. If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording at this link: https://bit.ly/2RgMvgu. Recordings of the other webinars held during the week and more details are available here. 

Panelists included:

• Sewela Portia Moketla - Senior Product Engineer: Komatsu Mining Corporation 

• Cillia Molomo-Mphephu - Director: Centre Of Engineering Excellence

• Sy Gourrah - Business Development Executive/ President: ACTOM/SAIEE

• Prof Deborah Blaine - Associate Professor, Mechanical & Mechatronic Engineering: Stellenbosch University

• Alicia Celliers - Project Engineer: Single Destination Engineering (Pty) Ltd

Background: Most would agree that the proper early career development of engineering professionals is key to them achieving their potential and making a significant contribution to their career development and to society.  There are many challenges facing the recent graduate in their early work environment, not least of which is finding gainful employment to begin with.  This panel discussion aimed to offer a platform to engineering professionals to share their experiences of early career development and to offer insight, guidance and support to those at this critical stage of their careers.

Council Report

The Council report for the 2019-2020 Council session summarised membership statistics  as follows:

Financial statements

The Institution received an unqualified report from the Accounting Officer confirming that its compliance with the provision of the Constitution relating to financial matters. Key financial indicators are shown below.

• Total income up 0.3% to R 4 857 448
• Membership fee income increased by 5.8% to R 4 392 786
• Total expenditure decreased by 12.6% to R 4 615 488
• Administrative expenses decreased by 15.5%
• Operating surplus of R 241 960
• Net deficit of R 220 559 after investment value adjustment
• General reserve decreased by 4.3% to R 4 939 423
• Good standing with SARS and exempt from income and capital gains tax
• Concern over increasing outstanding membership fees

Election of Council members

The following members were declared elected to Council for the 2020-22 session:

Mr R Tshitahe

These members join the current Branch Chairpersons to form the Council for the 2020-22 session.

Dr G Erfort (Western Cape Branch)
Dr D Hattingh (Eastern Cape Branch)
Mr M Mashele (Mpumalanga Highveld Branch)
Ms P Moketla  (Central Branch)
Dr J Padayachee (KwaZulu-Natal Branch)
Mr D Vorster (Vaal Branch)

Our CEO, Mr V Rimbault also sits on Council ex-officio.

Election of Honorary Fellows

Leading up to the AGM, the Council acted in accordance with the Constitution by unanimously elected Prof. R (Bob) Tait and Prof. JL (Wikus) van Niekerk to the grade of Honorary Fellow.  This was in recognition of the substantial contribution of both to SAIMechE and to the Mechanical Engineering Profession. During the AGM proceedings, Prof Blaine recited the motivations for each of the elections and congratulated both members on this achievement.  Prof Tait and Prof van Niekerk expressed their gratitude for the recognition and for the opportunity to contribute to the greater cause.

The meeting was CPD validated for 0.1 credits with validation number SAIMechE-1379-08/20.

https://www.electramining.co.za/

With the CoVid19 pandemic hitting South Africa hard and starting to take root in the Eastern Cape, our medical staff at the local Livingstone Hospital are under enormous strain and this project was aimed towards helping to protect healthcare workers at the frontline who rely heavily on PPE. As such, we received an urgent appeal from Anaesthetist Dr Lorenzo Boretti through Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr Bryan Theunissen regarding challenges faced by the in-theatre Anaesthesia teams in their CoVid theatre.

The challenge is to contain aerosolized droplets from patients with possible CoVid19 virus infection during procedures to ensure that the theatre staff assisting in the operation are minimally exposed to these droplets.

Read the full article and project credits here and further information on LinkedIn.

International Women in Engineering Day is now in its seventh year, the 2020 campaign will be a year that is very different to the norm and we're asking for your help to achieve this! INWED is an international awareness campaign which raises the profile of women in engineering and focuses attention on the amazing career opportunities available to girls in this exciting industry.

In 2020 we're want to reach as many people as possible. If you have friends, relatives or colleagues in other countries we're asking you to aim to involve them in your celebrations, They don't need to be engineers, just appreciate the contribution that women engineers make. INWED HQ in the UK is now based from home, but we will still be planning our virtual activities to celebrate the day and will continue to co-ordinate your celebrations through our official INWED Activities page. We hope you will join us once again to celebrate the outstanding achievements of women engineers throughout the world.

Taking place annually on 23 June, it's your day, so get involved and help us #ShapeTheWorld this year!

http://www.inwed.org.uk/

https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Missions/15543/Women-in-Engineering-Day-calls-for-women-to-ShapeTheWorld

With the current COVID19 pandemic causing suffering among all nationalities, a team at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, assembled and designed a portable 3D printed ventilator. The team was established to explore possibilities of using 3D printing technology in the provision of mechanical ventilators. 

More details will be published here shortly. 

Pictured here is the team involved in the COVID19: 3D printed portable ventilator from UJ (captioned below from left to right):

i. Mr. Damon James Hoenselaar (Assistant Designer & Masters Candidate)

ii. Prof Tien-Chien Jen (Project Lead)

iii. Dr. N. Madushele (3D printing & Coordinator)

iv. Mr. Rigardt Alfred Maarten Coetzee (Lead Designer & PhD Candidate)

v. Mr. Malcolm Low (Electrical & ECSA Student Chapter President)

Please take the survey by 7 Feb 2020.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PN7WBSX