Having completed two years of National Service, and wanting to become a draughtsman, I joined the technical department of the South African Post Office in Cape Town but found myself in the foreign parcel section (a story on its own). From 1981 to 1989, I gained invaluable knowledge of the customs tariff book and the calculation of duties, but was offered an opportunity in the private sector, and so my real journey began.
Becoming the in-house clearing agent for a private company presented huge challenges, but it was enjoyable, interesting and exciting. Dealing with customs, the then Portnet, the shipping lines and depots, during a time when every step of the clearing process was done physically, stood me in good stead for the rest of my career. In 1992 I joined an international clearing and forwarding company - and highlights of my time there included clearing goods for the yacht building industry and the clearance of spares and equipment for the Cape to Rio yacht race. I clearly remember racing to then D F Malan Airport to collect cargo and then racing back to the harbour to deliver spares to a yacht that was already on the starting line of the Rio race.
In 1995, I joined Project Freight, and for the next 11 years was involved in some of the most interesting projects of my career - such as clearing nuclear fuel for Koeberg Power Station, the clearing of all the equipment needed when Koeberg shut down for maintenance, the importation of fighter aircraft for the SA Air Force, acting as agent for the regular visits of oil rigs to Cape Town, and the temporary importation of vintage racing cars. The company also specialised in the oil and gas industry, with some unique and strange pieces of equipment being imported. A particular memory of that time is when, on a stormy Cape night, the oil rig, South Seas Driller, broke free from its moorings and damaged several vessels in the harbour before coming to rest at the entrance of the port. Thankfully, there were no injuries, only red faces as we were acting as the vessel’s agent.
The next few years of my career, from 2006 to 2014, saw me with another international clearing company, which brought some special achievements. In 2010, I registered a formal complaint with the Ports Regulator with a view to having Transnet review the entire process of submitting cargo dues and abolishing the penalties relating to amending these orders. Legal agreement was reached in 2014, in favour of the complainant. I was also fortunate to be part of the Western Cape work group which provided commentary to the draft rules for the new customs acts. A special highlight was being invited by the then shadow minister of trade and industry, Geordin Hill-Lewis, with two of my colleagues, to represent Saaff in Parliament. We appeared before the Portfolio Committee, Trade and Industry and presented the challenges faced by industry relating to the 120-day turnaround time for the NRCS to issue letters of authority. We were subsequently invited to Parliament on two further occasions relating to NRCS challenges.
For a short while, between 2014 and 2016, I was also involved with the Antarctic expeditions, coordinating the arrival and storage of equipment arriving from around the world and then delivering to the research vessels. Unusual, exciting and interesting, as have been most things when reflecting on my career as a clearing agent. Now, as I end my career, not bad for someone who wanted to be draughtsman!
