SAIA Pulse 01/2026
Updated: Sep 10
Dear Members and Stakeholders,
By now, we imagine you are back at the grindstone. We trust you had a restful and enjoyable break. Despite current world events, there are some encouraging signs that the South African economy is growing: GDP growth is outperforming earlier forecasts, business and investor confidence is improving, the Rand has strengthened, and inflation is moving toward a revised target. The Construction Industry could still do with a boost from the State and the private sector.
After a fairly tumultuous 2025, the SAIA National Office has been restructured, governance has been re-invigorated, and there are some exciting projects coming up during 2026.
2026 Awards Season Kicks Off
This year's Corobrik SAIA Awards of Excellence and Coverland Rooftile Awards of Merit have drawn 54 entries — including 3 from abroad and 51 spread across the country. Sites will be visited during March 2026, with the Awards ceremony held in mid-May 2026. The Coverland award carries a prize of R150,000 in travel expenses to the World Architecture Festival in Miami, 12–14 November 2026.
Entries are being loaded onto the SAIA Instagram reels and Facebook page — keep an eye there over the coming weeks.
Sponsorship, CPD and SAIA Share
SAIA is ramping up sponsorship and fundraising activity, and plans to grow its CPD offering and the SAIA Share programme with more technical lectures that generate CPD points — CPD as continuing professional development, not a desperate end-of-year points grab. SAIA SHARE#53 was held on Friday 6 February 2026, hosted by Eugene Barnard, with speakers Mosa Mefane, Brendan Hart and Yasmin Mayat.
Prof Kathy Munro is hosting the JHF Bookshop at Northwards every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 to 14:00 — a rare chance to see inside Northwards, plus a good selection of second-hand architecture books.
International and Local Dates for the Diary
UIA World Congress of Architecture, Barcelona, 28 June – 2 July 2026 — early bird tickets EUR 190 (~R3,595) until 29 March 2026, and a chance to see the completed Sagrada Família.
Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) biennial world conference, in:situ 2026, Auckland, 8–10 September 2026 — around R11,500.
Sophia Gray Memorial Lecture, Thursday 27 August 2026 — 2026 laureates Savage + Dodd. The SAIA National Convention will be held in Bloemfontein just before the lecture, to encourage more inclusion.
Obituaries: In Memoriam
Michael John Freeman, PrArch — Border Kei member and practitioner.
Shirley Bettison (Gnodde), PrArch, CIfA — possibly the first woman architect to graduate from UCT.
Academic Support: the CBE is conducting a research study on the challenges hindering built environment professionals' compliance with CPD.
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