NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO 1225
DATE REPLY SUBMITTED: TUESDAY, 24 MAY 2011
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: FRIDAY, 15 APRIL 2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 11 – 2011)
Mr S C Motau (DA) asked the Minister of Transport:
(1)
(a) How does the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) intend to create employment
opportunities in the 2012-13 financial year, (b) what jobs will be created and (c) what are
the expected costs involved;
(2)
whether Samsa has set any targets in this regard; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the
details of these targets, (b) how were they derived, (c) what are the time frames
attributed to these targets and (d) what (i) processes, (ii) procedures and (iii)
mechanisms exist to ensure that these targets are met?
NW1363E
REPLY:
The Minister of Transport:
(1)
(a)
The core job creation programme of the South African Maritime Safety Association
(SAMSA) entails attracting commercial vessels to the South African Ship Registry.
Aspects driving the ship registry are ownership, mortgage ranking, health of seafarers,
tonnage tax and other incentives. This initiative will not only ensure creation of
employment opportunities, but will secure the supply of key national items like fuel or oil
for the proper functioning of the economy.
SAMSA also realises that poor education and skills are critical impediments to job
creation in the sector and to the country at large. SAMSA, in recognition of this
imperative, has initiated a cadetship programme in partnership with the South African
Maritime Training Academy and six shipping lines. Through this programme, SAMSA
aims to increase the number of secured berths for cadets. This initiative will equip the
maritime sector with the means of meeting the current officer and ratings shortage in the
country and globally. The facilitating mechanism in the programme is the subsidising of
the cost of berths with public funds through SAMSA.
Other targeted maritime training and development areas are the establishment of a
network of high schools offering maritime subjects in all 8 port cities, expansion of the
Further Education and Training colleges (FET) and Universities maritime courses. This
should create indirect jobs for additional lecturers, instructors, private trainers, et cetera.
However, with the long-term policy objective of growing the sector and elevating South
Africa‘s ranking as a maritime nation, more may have to be done to increase not only the
capacity of training institutions to supply cadets, but more critically the capacity of the
system to berth cadets in order for them to qualify as certified officers, hence, the need
to attract commercial vessels to the national flag.
(b)
It is anticipated that the National Ship Registry and the cadetship programme will create
direct employment opportunities for officers and ratings such as deck engineers. Both
programmes and other skills development initiatives also imply opportunities for ancillary
support services. In this regard, many indirect employment occupations will be created.
The following table summarises the type of occupations to be created in the maritime
sector:
Industry
Shipping (National Ship Register)
Maritime Port and Auxiliary
Services
Training Institutions
Public (SAMSA)
Type of occupation
Navigation Officers
Engineers
Ratings
Artisans
Naval Architects
Ship and Boat Repairers
Ship and Boat builders
Hydrographers
Marine Attorneys
Maritime Economics
Marine Financiers
Maritime Technologists
Hospitality officers (Chefs, Stewards, et cetera)
Lecturers/Trainers/Assessors
Administration staff
Management
Ship and Boat Surveyors
Inspectors
Maritime Security
Environmentalists
(c)




(2)
National ship register - R300 000 in 2011/12.
Cadetship programme R6 million in 2011/12.
High Schools and expanded maritime courses – R670 000 in 2011/12.
Public (SAMSA) R18 million per annum of which about R12 million is for Inland
Waterways Inspectorate.
(a), (b) and (c)
SAMSA aims to establish a National Ship Registry of 300 trading vessels by 2025,
initially targeting the 1990 levels of around 75 vessels to the South African Registry by
2018. It is projected this will create direct employment opportunities for 3 000 officers
(Marine Navigators and Engineers) and about 15 000 ratings (non-officers) seafarers.
This amounts to about 480 new officers per annum over the next 7 years. On average,
a vessel requires approximately 40 local people (20 people for each shift that takes
place). To reach this target implies an equal amount of seafarers needing to be trained
and available in South Africa.
It is also documented that each job at sea provides an economic multiplier factor of 8 to
10 shore-based support jobs which implies this development will provide many
employment opportunities ashore.
(d) (i), (ii) and (iii)
South African Ship Registry Programme
SAMSA was instrumental in the establishment of the coordinating forum – the Maritime
Economic Development Policy Cluster led by the Department of Transport (DoT) and is
working in conjunction with other government departments, such as Trade and Industry,
National Treasury, Justice, Labour, Public Enterprises and Home Affairs and
development finance institutions, such as the Industrial Development Corporation and
the Development Bank of Southern Africa to ensure that the National Ship Registry
objectives are realized.
South African Sea Cadetship Programme
The Sea Cadetship Programme is already in the implementation phase, with an initial
intake of 18 cadets placed in April 2011. SAMSA aims to make annual placements,
commencing with 140 officer cadets (and 560 ratings trainees) by the end of 2011, rising
to 250 officers (and 1 000 ratings trainees) by 2014, and reaching 480 officers (and 1
920 ratings trainees) placed for every fiscal year. Thus, the successful implementation
of the MoU between SAMSA, the Seafarer Recruitment/Placement Agencies and
shipping lines is vital. Additional government funding is also critical in order to sustain
the initiative. SAMSA has also entered into MoUs with two placement agencies already,
pledging about R6 million to each for cadets placed in terms of the Service Level
Agreements and Contracts of Agreement.
Maritime High Schools Network Programme
SAMSA is in the process of concluding Cooperation Agreements with relevant provincial
government departments (e.g. Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Departments of
Education) to ensure the establishment (in some instances revival) of Maritime High
Schools. For the 2011/12 financial year, SAMSA and the Eastern Cape Provincial
Government jointly funded and placed the initial intake of Grade 10 learners in Simon’s
Town, who will return to the Eastern Cape as senior learners when the Province
launches its own Maritime High School in 2012/2013. The target is a network of High
Schools offering maritime studies in Nautical, Maritime Economics, Maritime Hospitality
(Cruise Industry focused) and Fishing, by 2014 as follows: 1 in the Northern Cape, 1
more in the Western Cape, 2 more in KwaZulu-Natal and 2 in the Eastern Cape.
Therefore, successful implementation of such MoUs is very important.
National Schools Cadetship Induction Programme
SAMSA has undertaken to resuscitate the floundering and mothballed Sea Cadetship
Programme aimed at learners at basic education levels operating throughout the coastal
and inland provinces, in partnership with the SA Navy. The programmes serve as a
maritime awareness for children as young as 13 years until finishing school level (Grade
12).
Inland Waterways Boating Safety Programme
SAMSA is involved in promoting and enforcing inland waterways boating safety. This
includes campaigns on boating safety awareness. The waterways lie in every province
and district municipality. The programme will create about 50 direct new SAMSA jobs
and 900 municipal safe boating jobs (at about 60% of municipalities, employing 3
employees and the rest 1 person each to promote safe boating), with manifold indirect
job opportunities created.