‘Tax incentives needed to register ships in SA’

South African Maritime Safety chief executive, Tsietsi Mokhele, calls a spade a spade and he has plenty of such cards to deal these days as he bemoans the unenviable state of South Africa’s maritime industry, and along with it the detrimental consequences for the economy. Addressing the transport and maritime industry and maritime pupils at a recent World Maritime Day celebration at Milnerton, he said the country’s maritime industry was “slipping through our hands” and that heavy legislation was making it uncompetitive for companies to own South African-registered ships. By way of example, he says no locally registered ships will be available for maritime student training when Safmarine Oranje is decommissioned next year. In this regard, Fred Jacobs, Safmarine’s director of corporate affairs, points out that the line has “no definite plans” to decommission the Oranje in 2010. Mokhele says the country is facing a big crisis through its lack of participation in maritime trade and that he would retire peacefully if he was assured that for once in 400 years success had been achieved in integrating the maritime economy into the wider economy, heavily reliant on seaborne trade (98%) and contributing 50% to the country’s GDP. Not only is registering ships in South Africa costly but no formal policy exists around developing skills to support a growing shipping industry. Maritime schools produce only 120 graduates a year whereas the country needs more than ten times that number. What is more, says Mokhele, government should create a maritime environment that provides “sheltered employment” for graduates. He quizzed Sanjay Govan, National Ports Authority port manager for Cape Town, over why the port had been without a deputy harbourmaster for so long and questioned the shortage of ship pilots and tug masters. Approached by FTW for his take, Govan agrees with Mokhele but adds a new deputy harbourmaster, Sabelo Madlalosi, has since assumed duties. “The port is experiencing some personnel shortages, not that skilled people are unavailable but rather that training facilities are insufficient. “For all those positions to be filled (ship pilots, tug masters etc.) personnel would need sea time and we don’t have any South African-registered ships. In Govan’s view, government should provide tax incentives for owners to register ships in South Africa.