Durban - The newly established Maritime Industry Transport Development Task Force Network is set to provide a major boost for the country’s maritime economy - an initiative that will be spearheaded by the private sector.
Wholly supported by the Department of Transport, the Network aims to unleash the true potential of the country’s multibillion-rand ocean economy. The launch took place at the newly established and world-class Passenger Terminal in Durban.
CEO of Durban based Sandock Austral Shipyards, Prasheen Maharaj, has been elected president of the Maritime Transport Development Network with industry heavy-weights, Lindani Mchunu as first vice president and Captain Makhosi Mbokazi as second vice president.
This is the first time in the South African Maritime history that a government supported initiative is led by the private sector with the collaborative aim of cutting the red tape and realising the South African government’s plan to create one million new jobs and unlock R177bn of value to the GDP through the maritime sector via the National Development Plan under Operation Phakisa.
Dumisani Ntuli, Chief Director: Policy and Legislation in the DOT was encouraged by the initiative and believes that it is going to address many of the challenges we are facing in the industry.
“Today’s event demonstrates that the government is prepared for and welcomes Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). South Africa is a democratic state and by extension, platforms such as these are encouraged and while the network is new, your commitment has shown that we cannot lose,” he said.
Ntuli stressed that 80% of the economy depends on the maritime sector but the DOT is facing huge challenges and their continued existence is at stake.
“This is therefore a critical initiative” he said.
Operation Phakisa has six priority potential growth areas - marine transport and manufacturing, offshore oil and gas exploration, aquaculture, marine protection services and ocean governance, small harbours development, coastal and marine tourism.
Speaking at the launch of the Maritime Transport Development Network, the Cluster’s President, Maharaj said that one cannot deny that maritime transport is an integral enabler of the South African economy as 90% of goods that come in and leave South Africa are done via SA’s oceans.
“In fact, if you ever wanted to sabotage the country, block off its maritime trading routes to stop the importation of crude oil and petrol/diesel and this country will come to an end. It therefore becomes critical that our maritime transport economy not only survives but thrives,” he said.
Maharaj noted that there had been many attempts at kick-starting the oceans economy including Operation Phakisa in 2014, the Comprehensive Maritime Transport Policy in 2016, The Oceans Economy Master Plan in 2021 and the African Maritime Charter in 2009.
“All these initiatives were characterised by one common thread. They were led by the government with private sector participation at varying degrees,” he said.
“Due to changes in leadership within the government, changes in managers, adherence to bureaucratic and stifling governance procedures, progress on these matters has either been frustratingly slow or in some cases zero achievement has been made,” Maharaj added.
He said the private sector views this as another string of broken promises by the government.
“As a result, stakeholder commitment and enthusiasm for initiatives, especially from the private sector, have dwindled. There is no more trust and belief that the government can unlock the full potential of the ocean economy,” said Maharaj.
He said this initiative is different.
“This is private sector driven but supported by the government with the Department of Transport being the secretariat. The word Network and Task Force were chosen very deliberately. The Network underscores the co-operative and collaborative nature of the undertaking - we need to work closely together to leverage each other’s strengths and resources for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders,” he said.
Maharaj explained that the task force is task-oriented and will identify tasks that are impediments to the growth and efficiency of the Maritime Transport Economy and ensure solutions are implemented on time and within reasonable costs.
Time and costs will be drivers in the relationship between the private sector and the government with clear goals and objectives being set alongside ensuring that all investments yield tangible results.
Maharaj called on the private sector to come to play their part.
“We call on the private sector to do two things. The first is to put your money where your mouth is. Don’t just complain, provide solutions and invest and we as a task force will ensure that government policy is implemented, and an enabling environment created for investments to succeed,” Maharaj said.
“The second is to please embrace the transformation imperatives that a developing country like South Africa needs. We have a high level of unemployment and inequality. We have low skill levels. We have many unemployed graduates. We have many small businesses that need support from the maritime industry,” he added.
“Remember, for your businesses to grow and thrive you need more consumers and that basically means more people need to earn an income through employment or entrepreneurial activities. For your business to increase in profitability it needs to be super-efficient and that needs an investment in increasing the skill levels of your employees and future employees,” he said.
Maharaj noted that global uncertainty brought an abundance of economic opportunities for South Africa - which the country was not ready to take.
“Take for example the huge shortage of various commodities due to the Ukraine and Russia war. If our transport networks were in place, we could have easily stepped in and filled the void. We have lost out on billions of dollars in potential GDP and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues to the fiscus.
“So the government has to realise that by always wanting to take charge, it’s losing billions of dollars in GDP and tax revenue and not alleviating its triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. Rather play a supportive role and creating an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive,” he said.
Maharaj said businesses need to realise that they can’t just complain from the side-lines.
He said they need to be actively involved and work in a co-operative and collaborative manner with all stakeholders in the maritime transport value chain.
“This sometimes means working together with your competitors - but it’s for the greater good. A rising tide will lift all boats. There is time for competition and there is time for co-operation,” he said.
Part of the network’s mission, Maharaj said would be to remove the “silo mentality” prevalent in the maritime industry.
“This mentality of turf protection, self-interests and egos is not what this country needs to reach its full potential. When I first entered the shipbuilding and ship repair industry, I often heard people say that this industry cannot support three shipyards in Durban, only two. Then they spent all their time bad-mouthing and fighting each other in order to shut each other down,” he said.
Maharaj said this energy could have been used more productively to grow the industry and capture more export orders through closer co-operation and collaboration.
He said each shipyard had certain unique strengths that could have been leveraged for mutual benefit. Up until today this practice of fighting, gossiping and back-stabbing still prevails while the industry is a shadow of its former self. The biggest victims have been the people who have lost their jobs and the small businesses who had to close down.
He added that the trend can be reversed if the industry works together.
“We cannot continue to just pay lip service year in and year out. We cannot be insane by doing the same things and expecting new results,” Maharaj concluded.
IOL