Time for SA to develop cohesive maritime policy

ALTHOUGH FIGURES from Transnet show that 95% of SA and Southern African Development Community (SADC) trade passes through SA’s port system, this country lacks a “cohesive maritime policy”, according to SA Navy chief vice-admiral Refilwe Mudimu. Talking to an international conference on maritime security in Stellenbosch last week, Mudimu said this led to duplication of efforts and wastage of resources. “And worse – often certain critical maritime tasks are not performed because functional delimitations have not been agreed to.” Governments in the southern African region, he added, tend to under-estimate the importance of the surrounding oceans and the need to exercise sea power through a viable navy – an essential in protecting the “sea lines of communication” and ensuring economic sustainability and trade growth. Talking to FTW, Andrew Robinson, the maritime legal specialist at attorneys Deneys Reitz, said that he agreed that it was difficult to establish what the SA government's current official policy was with regard to maritime affairs. “The White Paper on national transport policy was adopted by government in September 1996, and includes a chapter on maritime transport,” he added. “But there is nothing in that White Paper that suggests that the SA Navy has any role to play. “There have been efforts over the past few years to redefine Government’s strategy on transport matters, but to my knowledge no further white paper has been published. Should such a policy be developed, it should, in my view, include some consideration of the SA Navy's function in safeguarding the freedom of the seas and enforcing or maintaining the government’s maritime policies.” It’s now quite a longstanding debate. Acording to Robinson, the SA Navy has been concerned about this since at least 1991. “That year,” he said, “they undertook a review of the rights and duties of naval officers in peace-time – which I was tasked to complete during my national service. “But I am not sure how much further this has been taken.” However, reading the views of vice-admiral Mudimu, Robinson said he had no doubt that the SA Navy now has a very clear notion of what their role and function is in this regard. “It needs to be incorporated, where possible, into a wider policy relevant to maritime trade and transport,” he told FTW. “I should perhaps add that – since SA has adopted the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea – the state has various duties and obligations that can perhaps only be best served by the navy, operating more as a coast guard than as an aggressor or defender.”