Improving dockyard capacity is on the drawing board – Motshekga

A publicly threatened action to “divorce” the SA Navy (SAN) from the manager of the naval dockyard, Armscor, is seemingly not going to happen thanks to the intervention of a “counsellor” in the form of the Defence Ministry.

The “divorce” call was made in March by SAN Chief, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese at a medal parade in Simon’s Town in direct reference to the non-performance of the dockyard. The dockyard, as per Armscor, is the third line maintenance and refitting authority for the maritime service of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF). It “focusses on repairing, maintaining and supporting submarine, ships and shore-based facilities for the commercial and defence industries”.

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Lobese’s “divorce” call was made in the light of the dockyard not meeting its own stated commitment to the SAN and, along with budget restrictions, “severely limiting” the maritime service putting its fleet to work at sea.

Proof the March “divorce” call did not go unheeded came in the reply to a Parliamentary question asked nine months later. Questioner Nicholas Gotsell, a Democratic Alliance (DA) National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Member of Parliament (MP), wanted Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga to enlighten him as to what is being done to address “capacity challenges” at the dockyard.

A capacity improvement project is on the way for the Armscor managed dockyard in Simon’s Town, she told him.

The gist of the ministerial reply is that a capacity improvement project is on the way, which, if the timeline given in the response is adhered to, should see the study for the project completed by March next year.

Gotsell wanted Motshekga to inform him – and South Africa – of “urgent measures to address capacity challenges” at the dockyard.

The Ministerial reply reads, in part: “A service delivery agreement entered into by Armscor and the Department of Defence (DoD) regulates the management by Armscor of the naval dockyard, Simon’s Town. In recognition of the dynamic nature of the operation of the dockyard, the parties are about to embark on a process to clarify the respective roles and responsibilities provided for in the agreement”.

“This will allow the parties to recommend changes and amendments to the agreement as may be necessary to execute the requirements of the SAN.

“The dockyard capacity improvement project is aimed at addressing critical aspects that impact on vessel repairs and maintenance operations. The project will review the prevailing situation and define the interventions required to strengthen the repair and maintenance process in the execution of support serviced. The study will also evaluate inventory levels and stock requirements, benchmark spare and inventory management systems, including the best practices in terms of the management of key enablers directly impacting maintenance and repairs execution.

“Armscor will ensure that the recommendations are implemented.

“The study will further consider the optimum funding model to ensure that the recommendations are implemented. This process is planned to be concluded by the end of March 2025.”

Gotsell was further told the dockyard is busy with procurement of “advanced manufacturing equipment and infrastructure improvement” to improve operations. This is in line with acquisition of an advanced co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM) made public in the final Armscor newsletter for the year.

“With this new addition, Armscor Dockyard continues to redefine boundaries in marine engineering with proven ability and unbounded ingenuity. The commissioning of this machine is expected to boost the dockyard’s capacity in maintenance and repair services, particularly important for operational readiness of the country’s naval and civilian vessels alike,” the newsletter titled “Inside Out” has it.

The current SAN Chief is not the first to express displeasure at the lack of performance by the Armscor managed dockyard.

Eleven years ago in 2013 ahead of the Navy Festival then SAN Chief, Johannes Mudimu, told reporters in Simon’s Town the dockyard had not been able to attract the requisite skills needed to properly maintain and service the fleet. He intimated the dockyard, under Armscor management since September 2007, would be better managed and able to perform if it was operated by the SAN.