PROFILE: This is my story - Abiot Gusha

Traffic and Transportation Engineer Abiot Gusha shares THIS IS MY STORY about a role he occupied while in the Public Sector and how it impacted his career

Please give us a brief summary on your career.

I am a Civil Engineer with 17 years postgraduate experience. Started off in consulting in 2004 responsible for civil engineering planning, design and construction supervision. Switched to Government in 2008 as the Chief Traffic Engineer at the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport responsible for the assessment of traffic impact studies, traffic signal design and maintenance, road safety auditing and assessment of the provincial road network and input in various public transport and freight plans.

I went back to consulting in 2013 but now with a focus on mostly traffic engineering, transport planning, contracts management and major roads and highways design and construction management.

Give us details of a situation that made an impact in your career.

My acceptance of a role in a government entity had a great impact on my career. The switch from private consulting to public employee brought a significant shift of perspective both in my role as an Engineer and my responsibility towards sustainable development as well as the competing priorities in the race for service delivery.
What was your position and duties in the government entity?

I was the Chief Engineer for Traffic Engineering within the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport. I was responsible for the assessment of traffic impact studies and the issuing of comments on reports submitted, the general management of the traffic engineering unit, attending to and reporting on all road safety related queries including media reports as well as providing relevant input to provincial transport plans.

Why does this role stand out to you?

This role stands out for me because for the first time in my life I appreciated the pressure that Engineers and technical people working at public entities have. There is a constant need to manage enquiries, endless phone calls, addressing and managing political priorities and sometimes threats from the public (legal or otherwise). It was also the time I must say, I truly started appreciating and fully understanding the role of proper traffic and transport planning in the achievement of sustainable development.

What were the important lessons you learnt from the role?

The first lesson I learnt is that it is easy to get swallowed up in the system. As such a proper work structure is important and an intentional approach towards meeting set targets is key. I remember in the beginning thinking it is impossible to clear the backlog because of all the competing priorities, and the seemingly overwhelming schedule of meetings and reports.

Then a colleague taught me my second lesson: Do not belittle your efforts. Every query you address and every report you attend to is a contribution to the efforts by everyone to developing the province. So I took this as an opportunity to provide my national service.

A third lesson came from another colleague who taught me that sometimes we place systems between us and the people we serve and use that as an excuse to procrastinate. Some of the queries (especially questions on traffic reports) could simply be attended to by placing a phone call and a follow up email to the Consultant and understanding their approach before finalizing formal comments which needed to be filed then sent out from the central registry.

The fourth and by no means last lesson was that there is a fine line between technical and political. A professional engineering opinion should always be considered in evaluating political solutions. In the end there are risks and liability issues to manage and again the sustainability of a decision made for the long term.

What were the regrets you experienced while in this role?

My greatest regret was not doing more to advocate for training and mentorship of upcoming engineers and technicians.

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How did you overcome your regret?

At the end of my fixed term contract, I made the effort to provide guidance and input to my replacement. Even then I felt structured training will go a long way.
What has been the most satisfying thing for you personally about this role?

The most satisfying thing for my career was enrolling into a Post Graduate degree at the University of Stellenbosch in 2012. I needed to upskill and fully grasp the concepts of Transportation Engineering.

This industry is said to be one of the toughest industries , how did you manage to stay in for so long?

I became an Engineer to assist in the development of the communities we live in and to impact positively the lives of those who are marginalized due to lack of access to basic services. I have stayed for so long because there is still a backlog in basic service delivery. I cannot abandon my post, not until I have made significant strides in making others' lives better.

In your opinion what are the biggest challenges facing the industry currently and how can they be overcome? 

I think when political parties use infrastructure projects as both a carrot and a stick everybody loses. The industry is battling political promises as well as poor business profit margins. The diversion of funds from important projects is also a challenge which leaves targets unmet and a perpetual cycle of incomplete or poorly completed projects. Training and mentorship is also critical at the moment. Lastly our public entities still require adequately trained and qualified personnel to plan and implement infrastructure projects on time and on budget.

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