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.”