Zutari shines at 2025 CESA Aon Engineering Excellence Awards

Zutari, a leading buildings and infrastructure engineering and advisory firm, has been recognised for its innovation, resilience, and technical excellence at the 2025 CESA Aon Engineering Excellence Awards, securing one category win and two commendations at the industry’s premier annual event, held on 21 August at Vodacom World in Midrand.

Now in its 53^rd year, the CESA Aon Awards remain the pinnacle of recognition in South Africa’s consulting engineering sector. The awards celebrate not only technical achievement but also the partnerships and collaboration that enable infrastructure to drive meaningful social and economic development.

Zutari’s award-winning projects highlight both the complexity of the challenges faced and the enduring impact of the solutions delivered. The company’s flagship achievement was the N1 Sinkhole Repair Project for SANRAL, which won in the category for projects valued between R50 million and R250 million.

In January 2022, a massive sinkhole opened up near Pretoria, threatening one of South Africa’s busiest transport corridors, with 85 000 vehicles passing daily. Zutari led a rapid and multi-disciplinary response to stabilise the dolomitic ground conditions, deploying advanced digital tools such as drone photogrammetry, 3D modelling, and detailed geotechnical logging. The project balanced technical excellence with public convenience, restoring the route with minimal disruption while significantly improving its long-term resilience.

Zutari also received a commendation in the mega projects category (valued above R1 billion) for its role in delivering the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone Phase 1 and 1a for the Coega Development Corporation. Appointed on the eve of the national COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, Zutari provided civil and structural engineering services for Africa’s first Automotive City.

Despite extraordinary challenges, the project was completed in time to support Ford’s global launch of its new Ranger vehicle. Beyond its engineering achievement, the project became a catalyst for socio-economic development, with 106 SMMEs supported, over 1 100 local jobs created, and nearly 1 000 people benefiting from training and development, making a lasting contribution to the Mamelodi community.

A further commendation was awarded to Zutari in the projects valued between R250 million and R1 billion category for the N2 Slope Stabilisation Project in KwaZulu-Natal. Following the devastating floods of April 2022, three major slope failures severely compromised a key section of the N2 national route.

Zutari mobilised rapidly under SANRAL’s Emergency Works programme, developing resilient solutions to stabilise the road embankments, safeguard downslope communities and restore the strategic corridor. The works also included upgrades to local access routes, reconnecting communities and ensuring that children could travel safely to school even during heavy rainfall.

Commenting on the company’s success, Zutari Group CEO Teddy Daka says: “These awards are benchmarks of engineering excellence and resilience. They celebrate not only the technical mastery of our teams but also the real impact that engineering has in protecting lives, reconnecting communities, and driving socio-economic development. At Zutari, we are proud to be recognised among the best in our industry, and these accolades affirm our purpose of co-creating enduring impact across Africa.”

Zutari was also recently ranked among the world’s top 100 firms in the Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 225 International Design Firms 2025, further underscoring its reputation as a global leader in engineering and infrastructure advisory services. It is a strategic sponsor of the 2025 FIDIC Global Infrastructure Conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 21 to 23 September.

For more details, visit www.zutari.com.