INTERVIEWS | GREENER WITH GAS | SAQCC GAS

GREENER WITH GAS

As South Africans increasingly turn to gas as a more reliable, and a greener alternative in the face of the country’s electrical energy crisis, the South African Qualification and Certification Committee (SAQCC) for Gas Installers and Gas Practitioners is enforcing the essential checks and balance to assure both safety and quality.

Eddie Cooke, Director at SAQCC Gas “Gas is indeed that solid bridge we are seeking for South Africans to transition to more sustainable energy solutions, but to ensure optimal benefits, it is critical that the relevant equipment is registered and approved,” explains Eddie Cooke, a director at SAQCC Gas. SAQCC Gas is a regulatory framework mandated by South Africa’s Department of Employment and Labour to oversee the registration of all the country’s gas practitioners, and to maintain a publicly-accessible database of authorised providers in fields including natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, air conditioning and refrigeration gas, and compressed industrial and medical gases. “Given the depth of the potential risks associated with working with gas, registration with SAQCC Gas is the only way for South African gas practitioners to take responsibility, and to make a meaningful contribution to the improvement of South Africa’s gas industry,” Cooke says.

Q&A

1. Tell us a bit more about the importance of a body such as SAQCC Gas, and some of its top priorities going forward?

“Primarily, our role is to ensure that South African consumers have 100% certainty that when they choose a practitioner for their gas installation and related appliances or equipment, whether residential, commercial or industrial, they can be confident that the job will be done safely, and deliver maximum efficiency. Our efforts to exclude any non-compliant practitioners from the gas industry include digitisation of certificates of com‐pliance, which aside from being a secure, convenient and paper‐less online system, is putting an end to fraudulent paperwork.”

2. Practically, how does the centralised database of gas practitioners operate?

“Everyone working on gas in the country needs to be registered in order to be authorised to call themselves a gas practitioner. Licences are issued for three years, and initial registration and renewals both require proof of competence. Training and refresher training is supported by three different associations: the Southern African Gas Association or SAGAS (industrial gases), the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association of South Africa (domestic and industrial gases), and the South African Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Contractors Association (air conditioning gases). Our fourth allied association, the Southern Africa Compressed Association (SACGA), is responsible for conducting the requisite assessments, following proof of competence in theoretical qualification, knowledge, and practical experience., to find a gas practitioner in your area please go to www.saqccgas.co.za ”

3. In the South African context, what role does gas have to play, and is the country taking its potential seriously enough?

“The first gas production in South Africa dates back to 1892, and the industry has since grown across markets. Today, the industry is considered established, but is of course also constantly evolving in terms of technology, product development and practitioner techniques. While coal still accounts for the majority of South Africa’s energy mix, examples of progress include the successful implementation of importing natural gas via pipelines from Mozambique, as well as the City of Johannesburg convert‐ing a large proportion of its service vehicles to run on compressed natural gas. There is also a lot of investment in gas, with very large terminals in Richards Bay and Saldanha ensuring a dedicated supply going forward.”

4. Do we know what percentage of South Africans are switching to gas, in the face of the Eskom crisis?

“As a registration body, what we are seeing is a consistent increase in the number of new practitioner registrations. This certainly reflects growing demand for their services amongst South Africans switching to gas.”