What would a Jacob Zuma presidency mean for the freight and transport industries?

WITH RECENT talk in the
press indicating that the
public is softening to the idea
of a Jacob Zuma presidency,
it looks more-and-more likely
that SA will next year have
a new president and a new
government.
What will this mean for
the trade, freight and transport
industries?
Very much a case of “waitand-
see”, according to Andrew
Robinson, director of lawyers
Deneys Reitz, and chairman of
the Maritime Law Association
(MLA) sub-committee
for road, rail, air and sea
legislation.
However, he added, it is
to be hoped that the new
government’s policy will
be more aligned to passing
updated maritime legislation
than the present government’s
“rather hesitant” attitude.
“SA has never had a clearly
defined indigenous maritime
policy,” he told FTW, “and it
has been left up to the MLA
to keep the country up to
date by passing legislation
such as the Carriage of Goods
by Sea Act, the Wreck and
Salvage Act, amendments to
the limitation provisions in the
Merchant Shipping Act, the
Sea Documents Act and so on.
“This legislation could not
have been possible were it
not for government support,
but there is currently a
terrible back-log – and no
new legislation, or legislative
amendments, have seen the
light of day for years.”
About four years ago there
was an effort made by the SA
Maritime Safety Association
(Samsa) and the Department
of Transport (DoT) to develop
a maritime policy, Robinson
added.
“But,” he said, “while the
process was out-sourced and
a great deal of effort has gone
into the drafting of a policy
document, it has probably not
received sufficient attention
from those actually involved
in the maritime industry.”
Although there has been “a
fairly incoherent policy” aimed
at the development of a local
shipping register along the
lines developed in Dubai and
Singapore, Robinson added,
the legislative structure is
not in place yet and there
does not seem to be any real
strategy from government.
“In my view,” he told
FTW, “this grand plan will
only succeed if driven hard
at cabinet level, with the
various organs of state (DoT,
Treasury, Samsa) working
together toward a clearlydefined
and common goal.”
But the current
administration has not
shown that this is one of
its strengths, and Robinson
hoped that a new government
might see a change in attitude.
“However, the
development of a maritime
policy, unfortunately, does not
seem to be an issue of great
importance at the moment,”
he said. “This is a pity, given
that this country survives on
being able to export, by sea,
its valuable mineral resources
and to import manufactured
goods for the majority of the
southern African countries.”
“The experience of Dubai
and Singapore is that any
radical new policy must be
driven at the highest level
by free thinking individuals
backed up by the organs of
state.
“In this regard, the efforts
of this government have
been very disappointing
- especially since 2000.
Hopefully we will see a
change over the next few
years.”