This year two up and coming alternative dispute resolution students who were in the final stages of completing their Admission to Fellowship through the Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa) NPC attended the Society of Construction Arbitrators 2025 conference in Bristol. The students were from South Africa. Both presented papers at the conference. Below is a brief submission from Zandile Ndlovu on her experience.
SOCIETY OF CONSTRUCTION ARBITRATOR’S CONFERENCE
CLIFTON BRISTOL
2-5 MAY 2025
ZANDILE NDLOVU
FAAr, PrPM(PMI), PrEng(ECSA)
I had the opportunity of attending and presenting at the Society of Construction Arbitrator’s annual conference in Clifton Bristol in May 2025. Several topics stood out for me including the ‘’The use of new technologies and ai in construction and how it would affect our work’’ by Ilke Sahin Goler whereby she gave a glimpse into the future of construction incorporating robotics and AI as well as how to gear ourselves for that change. Also a presentation on the ‘’Construction mafia: a view from South Africa’’ by Darlington Chakapfava gave insights into the challenges and opportunities that South Africa has in managing the construction mafia. I made a presentation on the ‘’Interplay between traditional dispute resolution practices and formal arbitration’’ whereby I shared about Eswatini’s dual legal system and its effect on Arbitration. It was an overall amazing experience and with welcoming arbitrators from all over the world.