Congratulations to Danie Brink on being selected as the joint-winner of the ‘Engineer of the Year’ award at the South African Institute of Civil Engineers and South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors’ 2016 Awards Ceremony.

Danie has served the civil engineering profession in South Africa with distinction throughout his career. Danie became the first CEO of Jones & Wagener during a period of major political change in South Africa.

As a result, he had the demanding task of identifying ways of restructuring the company so as to comply with Black Economic Empowerment requirements. The continued progress of Jones & Wagener is a testament to his success in implementing these measures.

Having stepped down as CEO, he remained on as a Director within Jones & Wagener, a firm that has reached their 50-year anniversary milestone in 2016. He will be stepping down as a Director at the end of 2016, but will continue to serve the profession and the company as a Technical Director, while passing on his experience and expertise to the next generation of leaders.

Danie strongly believes that improved education and providing people with opportunities are vital to the future of the country and the empowerment of its people. He was instrumental in setting up SAYEP (South African Youth into Engineering) almost a decade ago, together with Dudu Mkhize, and remains actively involved in its activities today.

Over the years Danie has worked on numerous challenging projects. Designing the water management system for Syferfontein Colliery, Fine Ash Dams 3, 4 and 5, for Sasol at their Secunda plant in Mpumalanga, hazardous waste landfill development and rehabilitation, and numerous Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) development and surveillance.

Danie was on the Steering Committee that assisted with the drafting of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry Minimum Requirements for Waste Disposal by Landfill set of documents which revolutionised waste containment facility design in South Africa.