SA gets aggressive on maritime development

12 Sep 2014 - by Adele Mackenzie

Transport heavyweights last
week renewed their call for
South Africa to become a
maritime nation in order to
compete on the global trade
stage and take advantage
of the opportunities offered
by international trade route
changes.
Of the R84 billion spent on
maritime import and export
trade last year, R44bn was
spent on freight costs which
went directly into foreignowned
maritime coffers. This is
money which could contribute
to South Africa’s gross domestic
product (GDP) growth and
is thus a major incentive
to develop the country’s
maritime assets, speakers at
the monthly Transport Special
Interest Group (SIG) Forum in
Johannesburg said.
Deputy minister of
transport, Sindiswe Chikunga,
noted that while the maritime
sector was widely recognised
as a major contributor to trade
growth – 80% of South African
trade is conducted through
the country’s seven ports – it
has for too long remained an
unspoken part of the transport
sector. “This has changed and
government recognises that the
maritime sector has a powerful
voice and is working on creating
an enabling environment to
attract investment and spur
development,” she noted.
Chikunga said that initiatives
to develop the sector and up
South Africa’s competitiveness
as a maritime nation should
include South Africa building,
maintaining and sailing its own
fleet of commercial ships and
the establishment of a South
African Ship's Register which
needs to be benchmarked
against “the best global
operators”.
She noted that government
had been working to improve
investors confidence in the
viability of the maritime
sector by introducing a new
tax regime, creating an
improved mortgage rating
which facilitated ease of
financing, and working with
the International Maritime
Organisation (IMO) to ensure
South Africa’s maritime
labour laws were managed and
regulated under international
shipping laws.
“We are also looking at
establishing a dedicated
maritime training facility
to address the severe skills
shortage across a variety of core
competencies,” said Chikunga.
Professor Johan du Plessis,
managing director of Logistics
International SA, said that
South Africa’s ports were key
assets and vital gateways for
maritime trade. But, he said,
they were under threat from
competing African ports
that were investing heavily
in expansion, new ports and
supporting infrastructure such
as road and rail to and from
the ports. “To remain a trade
gateway into Africa and the rest
of the world, the ports need to
retain and up their efficiencies,”
he said.
Du Plessis added that the
port developments in and
around Durban would provide
much-needed capacity and
efficiency but that the timing
around completion of these
projects was quite sensitive.
“South Africa cannot afford to
miss the boat and lose out to its
regional competitors,” he noted.
Commander Tsietsi Mokhele,
CEO of the South African
Maritime Safety Authority
(Samsa) made mention of the
high percentage of free on
board (FOB) contracts. “At
the moment we are giving
complete control to foreign
freight players and losing
opportunities in the process.”
He noted that the market
would soon be closed to
foreign cabotage and placed
in the hands of South
African operators. “Although
government needs to create
the enabling environment, it
is up to South African owners
and operators to drive the
changes and ensure strong
global competitiveness,” said
Mokhele.