Programme Director
Chairperson of the SAMSA Board: Mr Fred Jacobs
Members of the SAMSA Board
Deputy Director-General: Maritime: Adv Nosipo Sobekwa
CEO of SAMSA: Commander Tsietsi Mokhele
CEO of Transnet National Ports Authority: Mr Richard Valihu
Executive Management of DoT, SAMSA and Transnet present
Members of the transport family
Captains of Industry
Distinguished guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentleman

The African National Congress led government of the Republic of South Africa was again given the mandate by the people in 2014 based on its election manifesto: “Together moving South Africa forward”. This is premised on the understanding that together, as South Africans, we have a collective responsibility to make this country work. This is particularly true for the maritime sector, which continues to be faced with a challenging global economic outlook, driven by weak oil prices that have led to large scale cancellation of key projects that could have had a positive impact on the sector; sluggish economic prospects with key trading partners that dampens our ability to move commodities and a weakening domestic currency that is inflationary and impacting domestic appetite for the consumption of goods.

Despite these myriad of negative factors,government continues to forge ahead with the implementation of the National Development Plan, aimed at combatting unemployment, addressing inequality and attending to matters of poverty alleviation. The maritime sectorcontinue to play
an enabling role in the realisation of national priority outcomes and is integral in driving the economy forward.

Reiterating what the Honourable President JG Zuma said and I quote:
“The Plan has been adopted as a National Plan for the whole country. It is our roadmap for the next 20 years. All the work we do in government is now part of the comprehensive National Development Plan, including all operational plans, be they social, economic or political.”Unquote.

This is a clear call to action for all stakeholders, including the maritime sector, to be ready and deliberate in delivering value against this core vision.

The immediate short term actions, over next five years are aptly captured in the 2014 - 2019 Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF)which was released by the Presidency on the 8th of August 2014. It has prioritized two overarching areas, namely Radical Economic Transformation and Improving Service Delivery as strategic themes and pillars for all of government. It identifies 14 priority outcomes, building on the previous MTSF for 2009 – 2014, the New Growth Path (NGP) and the National Development Plan.

To ensure accountability at the highest level for the MTSF, the Minister of Transport has signed a performance agreement with the President, wherein the Minister has been assigned the responsibility for implementing sub outcome actions/interventions to advance the realisation of the following national outcomes:
- Outcome 4: Decent employment through inclusive economic growth.
- Outcome 6: An efficient, competitive and responsive economic infrastructure network.
- Outcome 7: Vibrant, equitable, sustainable rural communities contributing towards food security for all.
- Outcome 10: Protect and enhance our environmental assets and natural resources.

To maintain alignment with the above policy requirements and ensure that the performance accountabilities for the Minister are attained, the Department of Transport seeks to leverage maritime opportunities through the Oceans Economy Development Programme.

The Oceans Economy Development Programme was developed through Operation Phakisa, which is the national strategic approach and methodology adopted by government in 2014, led the Presidency, to accelerate the execution of the National Development Plan. The development of our oceans economy is one of the two initial national priorities identified for implementation through this new methodology and approach with the strategic goal of unlocking the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans.
Maritime has set root in government's prioritisation as evidenced by the fact that it is now seen as one of the key points in government’s implementation of the National Development Plan through Operation Phakisa.In the State of the Nation Address 2015, the President set the tone by declaring that the Oceans Economy has been added as the 9thpoint of the government’s 9-point implementation plan of the NDP, aimed at economic growth for job creation and poverty alleviation.

The emergence into prominence of the maritime economy has been a long journey which began in 2009 with the Maritime Skills Study, South Africa Maritime Industry Conference (SAMIC)2012, which led to the Ocean Study on the potential of South Africa’s Ocean Economy study. The study had shown that the sector could add as much as R177bn to the GDP and create an additional 1million jobs over 20 years.

The delivery of this potential has been shaped by the Big Fast Results methodology in the form of Operation Phakisa that has zoomed into four priority maritime industry segments of Marine Transport and Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Aquaculture and Fisheries and Maritime Governance.

Some of the flagship projects under the Marine Transport and Manufacturing (MTM), which Team Transport is the lead include:
• Saldanha Bay development as an Oil & Gas hub for which Transnet has committed approximately R9.6bn towards its development
• Richards Bay Port development
• Development of the ship register through the creation of a competitive registry environment in collaboration with National Treasury and other key role players
• Fishing vessel recapitalization programme in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), the fishing communities and industry and the Department of Trade and Industry.
• Comprehensive localization programme focusing on Offshore Oil & Gas Exploration and Marine Manufacturing chaired by DTI.

In order to realize the aspirations of the Labs it is vital that all parties focus on delivery of results. The public sector also recognizes that without the private sector’s full participation and engagement in the process, none of the aspirations would be realized. On our part as government, we have undertaken to streamline our processes in order to make it easier for business to do what it needs to do. We are confident that the private sector and all stakeholders including civic organizations will find their spaces in which to add value for the benefit of all South Africans.
Whilst we acknowledge the gap that exists in the engagement of the private sector in some of the initiatives, one of the key gaps that still remains is the alignment with regional and continental maritime partners. The growth taking place in the East and West Coastlines presents South Africa with opportunities for growth while fostering intra-Africa trade.

There have been a number of engagements with the private sector since August 2014 when the Ocean Lab process was completed.
These include engagements with affected transport stakeholders on the Maritime Transport Policy, where certain issues were raised.
• The Oil & Gas lab engagements took place on initiatives such as:

o The development and implementation of a local content road-map, in this regard the industry raised concerns of the possible additional burden on an already struggling sector. Government is of the view that localization has to play a central role in the development of the offshore oil & gas exploration sector in order to contribute towards the aspirations of the lab for the period ending 2019;

o In the operationalization of the International Oil Pollution Corporation (IOPC) Fund, government has agreed to cover the costs of unpaid contributions to the fund. Government, through SARS, has undertaken to collect all contributions from Oil receivers and to ensure that it is paid over to the Fund. This is part of government’s oversight and risk minimisation strategy in the event of a major disaster on South Africa’s territorial waters. Other initiatives include the jointemergency response drills with stakeholders from both the private and public sectors
• In our consultation with the fishing industry, as part of the fishing vessel recapitalization initiative under the Marine Manufacturing 3 Foot Plan, the industry raised, amongst its concerns, the issue of Marine Spatial Planning. They raised this issue because of the competing interests that exist especially with the offshore oil & gas exploration and the impact it could have on fishing grounds. The Marine Protection & Governance lab has set up a working group to look at the issue of Marine Spatial Planning. This working group will include sufficient consultation with all the critical stakeholders in order to ensure optimum balance between the competing interests.

In conclusion,
I would like to reiterate government’s continued effort to engage all participants in the maritime sector and ensure that all voices and views have the opportunity to be heard. We shall get some things wrong and we shall get some things right as we continue to learn and improve on how best we can co-create a vibrant maritime oceans economy.

I look forward with anticipation to today’s Presidential Imbizo deliberations on the Maritime Transport Service Delivery Stakeholder Imbizo which indicate government’s commitment to making sure we hear your collective and individual voices.

I thank you.