A Department of Maritime Affairs – a wish

• Published date: 11 January 2023
• Publication title: Cape Times, The (Cape Town, South Africa)

Our Caesars want large German chariots, drawn by umpteen horses, rather than cheaper Japanese versions. I also remembered that only a small percentage of citizens render anything to Caesar and that some who should, dodge that duty via a variety of loopholes or criminal schemes

On many other fronts, our Caesars bumble on, with no thought of the origin of the money they squander. They continue to fiddle while children tumble to their horrific deaths in open toilets.

Following Lady R’s clandestine call at Simon’s Town, the defence Caesar provided no plausible explanation for containers being loaded aboard a Russian vessel in the naval port.

If South African claims of neutrality in the conflict are to be believed, the same cargo should be loaded forthwith onto a Ukrainian ship.

I hope that, while honest folks render their dues to Caesar, our chief Caesar – within days – will make radical changes among his line-up of lesser Caesars.

Several Caesarships can be combined or culled, and, with the inept transport Caesar moving to ANC employment, it is time to restructure the Transport Department and to separate the maritime portfolio from the rest of the department.

In the South African context, the transport Caesar oversees divergent activities, ranging from the crazy, lawless taxi sector that requires full-time policing to the collapsed railway system and road transport.

In an unchanged structure, a new transport Caesar will be unable to dedicate the necessary time and energy to the vital maritime sector with its many facets.

Thus with the possible demise and combining of several government departments in a Cabinet shake-up, many hope for the establishment of a special Department of Maritime Affairs, embracing all aspects of the maritime industry – including its role in formulating the legal framework of shipping and the country’s international maritime responsibilities, the harbours, ship repair and shipbuilding, fishing, oceanography, marine conservation and tourism, as well as the important offshore mining sector that includes exploration for and production of offshore oil and gas.

Maritime education and training should also fall under the new department.

The suggestion will raise some eyebrows but the Departments of Basic Education and Higher Education do not understand the international requirements for such training, passing it off as any other academic discipline.

The ill-advised introduction of a three-year degree course in maritime studies at the local...