The report says that municipalities own and run large infrastructure assets but they do not have the engineering capacity to properly manage those assets.
The shortage was most acute in mainly rural and district municipalities.
It says the geographical distribution of engineers is uneven, with higher concentrations in metros and secondary cities.
According to the report metros employ more than 50% of the 468 engineers surveyed. The Western Cape, followed by Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, had the highest number of engineers.
Staff vacancies were substantial, with just 72% of the available municipal posts filled nationally. The highest number of vacancies was reported in Limpopo where only 61.5% of its positions had been filled.
The report says vacancies are more difficult to fill in rural regions.
"Of the funded posts, where rural municipalities can afford to fill these posts, 32.5% remain vacant," the report claims dismissals accounted for more than 10% of the vacancies in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. The highest number of dismissals was recorded in the Western Cape where more than 13% of municipal staff were dismissed for a variety of reasons.
While municipal managers and corporate services managers had some tertiary qualifications, this was not the case for technical services managers.
The survey found that almost 50% of technical services managers did not have any under-graduate degree or diploma. The report says these managers are responsible for the municipal assets and perform functions that take up the bulk of municipal expenditure.
The study found that the qualifications of senior managers were improving across the country.
