Fin24 reports that the CEO of the SA Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE), Manglin Pillay, has apologised “unreservedly” for his article published in the institution's official magazine that questioned the place of women in the engineering field.  

He indicated that he would also undergo diversity training.  In his article, Pillay inferred that women preferred not to occupy high-profile executive posts, dedicating themselves to "more important enterprises, like family and raising children, [rather] than to be at the beck and call of shareholders".  In his apology, Pillay unreservedly apologised “for (being) antagonistic and offending so many people with my article published in the July 2018 edition of Civil Engineering.”  Last Wednesday, the SAICE board said that Pillay would stay on in position as CEO notwithstanding calls for him to step down by women’s engineering advocacy group WomENG and others.  The board said Pillay’s valuable contribution to SAICE over eight years was considered in the decision to have him stay on in his position.  It added that SAICE was committed to establishing an inclusive team to “intensify existing initiatives” addressing gender and diversity issues within the sector.

• Read this report by Lameez Omarjee in full at Fin24
• Read too, Top engineer Manglin Pillay apologises for sexist article, at Timeslive

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