Leonard Neill PROPOSALS IN the government’s draft Maritime Industry BEE Charter could prevent major clearing and forwarding companies in South Africa from pursuing big accounts. “Unless we contest the issues vigorously we could be ruled out of contention on certain accounts in the future,” an industry spokesman told FTW. “There are a number of areas in the draft proposals which are unworkable and untenable. The government seems determined that the F&C chamber of the TETA should not be represented with a separate charter but should form part of the maritime industry as a whole. We deserve separate identity in the draft for the simple reason that while we provide an essential service to the country’s economy, proposals are destined to cause serious problems to us all if carried through.” Industry majors - those with 100 and more employees - have banded together to present a united front to government bodies involved in the plotting of the charter. The general feeling is that they are the companies at risk, while those with fewer employees will be unaffected. A cause of major concern is a proposal calling on industry players ‘to persuade local cargo owners to increase the cargo carried on South African ships to 25% of the total within the next five years. “This is counter-productive,” said a shipping source. “The move is to have Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) groups control 25% of all cargo movements in and To page 16 From page 1 out of the country. But apart from owning a few trawlers and coasters, South Africa doesn’t have its own fleets of merchant vessels. Even Safmarine is owned by Denmark’s AP Moller Group. “Do these officials really think that we can insist that all the international shipping lines and airlines serving our trade have their South African dealings controlled 25% in this manner? It just won’t work. “We in the clearing and forwarding industry merely arrange for the transportation of goods. We don’t get any business from airlines and shipping companies. We give them business. “All of these efforts are aimed at job creation. But our real asset is knowledge. You can’t merely employ someone from off the street to follow the line of black empowerment requirements. Government should be concentrating on the development of skills. That will serve the needs of the industry far better than the bulk of the proposals they are putting before it.”
