Power to the people

When riots erupted in the townships around Johannesburg earlier this year, the dreams and aspirations of post-apartheid South Africa had rarely looked bleaker.

But huge though the country's social and economic problems are, there is still plenty to get excited about in a nation embarked on its long march towards equality. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in its rich and varied engineering and technology sectors.

South Africa remains the economic powerhouse of Africa, responsible for about 28 per cent of the continent's GDP, 40 per cent of its industrial output, more than half of all generated electricity, and 45 per cent of all mineral production.

Since 2000, the economy has grown by an average of 4.1 per cent a year. Despite an economic downturn caused largely by the energy crisis, this growth is predicted to continue, but at a slower rate.

South Africa's status as gateway to Africa, coupled with ongoing upgrades to its telecoms, transport and energy infrastructures (the nuts and bolts of equality) combine to make it a fertile and exciting climate for engineering innovation.