Cape Technikon Survival Centre, Granger Bay, Cape Town, 23 August 2002
Chairperson,
distinguished guests,
members of the media,
ladies and gentlemen
it is indeed an honour to be with you at this fishing vessel safety indaba today. I congratulate South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) for organising this indaba. I thank you for the invitation to address you.
The fishing vessel industry is inundated with the number of accidents and fatalities that occured in the previous years. To date, about 199 commercial fishers have died in this industry. This year about 46 commercial fishers died, and 40 of which have been onboard small vessels. About 112 were rescued, and 40 injured. Samsa has set up a fishing vessel safety unit with the following objectives:
I directed SAMSA to set up and chair a fishing vessel safety working group, which will consist of all government's role players relevant to the fishing industry. SAMSA's safety campaign forms part has the national department of transport's transport safety campaign.
SAMSA is expected to support nepad in assisting the sadc countries by establishing safety mechanism in fishing. It will also supports teta by assisting them to identify the training needs, and have access to funding. Discussions with marine & coastal management have commenced with a view of enlarging the scope of responsibilities for the fisheries control officers, and to identify and report unsafe vessels and operating practices.
The theme of this indaba is to sensitise the industry to a number and nature of incidents that have led to these unfortunate deaths. In most instances, defects are found on the south african fishing vessels, and it is therefore necessary to provide life and safety skills to fishers and also inform them of the path followed by the department of labour when setting the minimum employment conditions. I hope this conference will also to sensitise the delegates about SAMSA's initiatives, which aim to reduce accidents and deaths rates, and also to inculcate a safety culture in the industry.
As you all know, safety is a very serious concern of mine. South africa has contributed to search and rescue in the southern oceans with the establishment of an operational cospas/sarsat, satellite linked local user terminal (LUT) and mission control centre in Cape Town, which is operated by Telkom.
Our regional maritime search and rescue capability is being improved. A SADC working group on regional co-ordination of search and rescue has been established. South africa continues to make progress in the maintenance of safety standards on foreign vessels.
The Indian Ocean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, which is chaired by South Africa, is playing a vital role in the eradication of substandard ships from the waters of our region. The efficiency of the memorandum of understanding will be improved further once a database and information office on ship information is established.
But, despite these safety improvements, I am deeply concerned about the high loss of life from our fishing vessels and the hardship suffered by the families of our fisher-folk. The training, employment and empowerment of our previously disadvantaged people are very serious concerns. Without these, there can be no equity or growth in the maritime industry. SAMSA is undertaking increasingly active practices in this respect.
My department, in consultation with other government departments, has been developing a national ports policy for South Africa. In addition, a new maritime policy to update the white paper on national transport is being finalised. It will also be made available for comment. This will be an overarching maritime policy. All these policies are aimed to develop not only South Africa but also to support the SADC region and Africa.