South Africa’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport has expressed satisfaction with the work of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), even though maritime incidents are rising due to increased ship traffic around South Africa.
“The maritime space is very important for economic emancipation, but also for moving, generally, the economy of the country…emerging from this meeting with SAMSA, we are pleased and happy with the work that they are currently doing, even as there are areas that they must improve on, especially those relating to contracts management, and transformation,” Transport Committee chairperson Selelo David Selamolelo said during a scheduled oversight visit of and meeting with the entity’s management leadership on 12 October in Cape Town.
The meeting took place at SAMSA’s Cape Town based Centre for Sea Watch & Response (incorporating the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre) and which in 2024 has had to deal with a significantly higher number of maritime incidents compared with recent years, involving both transnational cargo vessels traversing across South Africa’s three oceans along a 3 200 km coastline, as well as commercial fishing vessels; and from some of which incidents, in both categories, regrettably, life and property were lost at sea.
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