INTRODUCTION

"It is this route that is the Navy’s ward. It is the Navy’s duty to police it ... to watch it ... to care for its users - the mercantile fleets of the world. For this they work, and while doing it the grey ships can strengthen the bonds of friendships with our neighbours, can make new friends, and can uphold all that is best in maintaining the brotherhood of the sea, then they are doing their proper appointed peacetime task. They are the ‘grey diplomats’."

These are the concluding words from South Africa’s Navy: The First Fifty Years.1 They are relevant to the current challenges facing the country, with specific reference to the maritime interests and responsibilities within the context of a changing strategic environment in the Southern African region.

The main thrust of this article is to direct serious attention to the question of South Africa’s maritime interests and responsibilities. For this purpose a brief statement on South Africa as a maritime nation is presented and are followed by three factors. These are maritime zones, maritime trade and maritime regional co-operation, from which the maritime tasks facing the country will be seen to be increasing in scope and urgency.

SOUTH AFRICA IS A MARITIME NATION

South Africa is a maritime nation. This means that the nation is endowed with a double geo-political identity, namely the land and the sea. In turn, this twin blessing (often ignored) to a large degree shapes the country’s maritime and naval interests. Strategically situated along vital sea routes of the world, the South Atlantic, the Indian and the Southern oceans, South Africa has a coastline of about 3 000 kilometres along which its marine resources are spread; from the Orange River in the west to Ponta do Ouro in the east. The geo-strategic position occupied by South Africa is the most important factor and is followed in importance by the country’s maritime zones, marine resources, marine ecology and conservation, as well as the maritime trade. All of these factors carry with them immediate national, regional and international obligations.

MARITIME ZONES

South Africa’s maritime zones, signed into law by the country’s President on 11 November 1994 (Maritime Zones Act No 15 of 1994), cover the territorial waters, contiguous, exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the continental shelf and the Prince Edward Islands which belong to South Africa. The latter is situated 1 000 kilometres south-east of Port Elizabeth. All of these zones fall within South Africa’s jurisdiction for monitoring, control and enforcement of state authority. In total, it comprises an area of assets of more than 1 million square kilometres.



With this vast estate comes certain rights and obligations upon which specific international institutions and legal norms have a direct bearing. South Africa is a member of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and also the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO). As a subscriber to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), and including being a signatory to the convention on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), South Africa is morally bound to observe these normative international guidelines.

Writing in the SANavy News, Commodore Neil Guy2 explains that in the territorial waters, South Africa has total sovereignty that is counter-balanced with the right of foreign shipping to innocent passage. In the contiguous zone South Africa may enforce specific national legislation with respect to customs, immigration, health and fiscal issues. In the EEZ which includes the continental shelf, the rights and obligations of South Africa are confined to exploration, exploitation and protection of the marine resources.

Prof DJDevine3 has considered the relevant legal and regulatory factors affecting South Africa in the EEZ. These includes, for instance, South African rights and obligations, the rights and obligations of other states in the EEZ of South Africa, and the rights and obligations of foreign vessels.

Two other areas of importance are the hydrographic duties and the ‘search and rescue’ responsibilities. The South African Navy’s Directorate for Hydrography is entrusted with the responsibility (through membership of IMO and IHO) for navigation charts, and coastal navigational and NAVAREA warnings in the assigned area as depicted in Chart 2.

Chart 2: The South African Navy and the Directorate for Hydrography


The ‘search and rescue’ area of responsibility is vested in the country by conventions of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the IMO respectively. This area falls within the co-ordinates detailed in Chart 3.

Chart 3: Search and Rescue Area for South Africa



From a position on the coast at the international border between Angola and Namibia, and then to the position on the coast at the international border between South Africa and Mozambique, a maritime region of 17,2 million square kilometres exists. South Africa is expected to have the means to successfully carry out search and rescue operations in this vast area.

MARITIME TRADE

The South African economy, in conjunction with those economies of its landlocked neighbours, are served by six major ports on the South African coastline: Durban, Richards Bay, Port Elizabeth, East London, Cape Town and Saldanha. The two Natal Ports, Durban and Richards Bay provide the largest concentration of sophisticated port facilities on the Southern African coast.4 In addition, there are five dry docks which are part of the ship repair facilities.

The people of South and Southern Africa are economically dependent upon world commerce and also on the necessity to have free use of the gateway between the South Atlantic and the South Indian oceans. One international maritime obligation arising from this situation is for the SA Navy and the Directorate for Hydrography together with the other role players in South Africa’s maritime affairs, namely the Shipping Directorate of the Department of Transport, the Department of Environmental Affairs, the South African Search and Rescue Organisation, the SA Police Services (Border Control and Policing), Portnet, and the Maritime Weather Services, to ensure at all times that, in the pithy words of Frank Uhlig jr., "... friendly shipping can flow ... hostile shipping cannot."5

In order to illustrate the significance of maritime trade to the country’s well-being, a few pointers in this direction should suffice:

In 1993 South African ports handled about 121 million tonnes of freight with a value of R56,5 billion (excluding petroleum).



The 1993 value of South African exports was 23 per cent of the country’s GDP.



Ninety per cent of South African imports and exports in tonnage or eighty per cent in value terms enters or sails by the sea.



Cargo handled in South African ports between April 1994 and March 1995 was 130,7 million tonnes, a 5,8 per cent increase from figures for 1993/1994.6



According to Lloyd’s List Africa Weekly7, transshipment is on the increase (see table).



Approximately thirty per cent (154 million tonnes) of Middle East oil bound for Europe and the Americas is annually conveyed around the Cape sea route.



The fishing industry contributes R1,5 billion per annum with 25 000 job opportunities.



More than fifty per cent of the country’s GDP is generated through maritime foreign trade and the sea fishing industry.



A significant percentage of the imports and exports of South Africa’s landlocked neighbours is transported via the country’s harbours.



The total number of vessels in South African ports in terms of bulk, cargo and tanker traffic is captured in the graph.

Table: Volume of Cargo at South African Ports (Tonnes)

From the above it can be seen that the South African economy is directly linked to its sea lines of communication and that its sea trade infrastructure is massively revenue generative. As recently highlighted by the Public Enterprises Minister, Stella Sigcau, "our ports have a strategic responsibility to promote foreign trade as much as to contribute to national economic growth."8 When coupled to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) members’ combined population of 94 million (excluding the 43,5 million of South Africa itself), it stands to reason that the prosperity of the region is highly dependent, among other elements, on the stability and unhindered flow of trade into and out of the region.9

MARITIME REGIONAL CO-OPERATION

One of the challenges which the country is facing within the changing strategic environment in the region is the emerging concept of common security. As adopted by the states in the region, this goal has been taking shape under the forums of the SADC and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Other initiatives on security and development include the Association of Southern African Sates (ASAS), as well as the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC) with its sub-committee, the Standing Maritime Committee (SMC).

The admission and membership of South Africa’s ‘rainbow democracy’ to these bodies emphasise its acceptance as a regional partner with an important role to play. At the inaugural meeting of the Standing Maritime Committee hosted by the Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Robert Simpson-Anderson (12-13 July 1995) in Pretoria, three cardinal concerns were raised by the attending members:

the vulnerability of the region to potential threat to sea lines of communication;



the protection of the landlocked member states’ interests and privileges in the maritime field; and



the fact that urgent co-operation areas could include the following:



protection of marine resources;

ability to respond to pollution contingencies;

need for hydrographic, search and rescue services; and

combatting of illegal immigration, drug and arms trafficking.10

The combined coastline of the nine coastal countries from Gabon to Kenya is 11 500 kilometres and has a combined EEZ of 4 245 672 square kilometres. According to Helmoed-Römer Heitman11, the resources available to watch over and protect this vast area against oil pollution,, illegal fishing, smuggling, narcotics smuggling, gun running, illegal immigration, and piracy are very limited (with the exception of some capability on the part of South Africa, Kenya and Gabon). However, there is an unco-ordinated assortment of patrol vessels and patrol aircraft, many of which are not operational.

Total vessels in SA Ports, May - October 1995 by type



Having thus sketched some of the imperatives for regional maritime co-operation, including some of the concerns in this regard, it is clear that the countries of the region have a vested interest in the waters around them. It should also be pointed out that they are unable to protect these very assets and essential trade, which makes it a demanding challenge for the socio-economic development of the region as a whole. Addressing the need for expanding regional co-operation, President Mandela, in his opening remarks to the SADCSummit said: "... Our concern for national sovereignty and national interest need not prevent us from planning seriously for regional growth and development - indeed they dictate that we move in that direction, because our fortunes are so interdependent. None of us can achieve sustainable growth and development, or peace and stability in isolation."

Chart 4: Ports and Harbours of Southern Africa

CONCLUSION

This article set out to raise awareness of the question of South Africa’s maritime interest and responsibilities. The three factors dealt with, namely maritime zones, maritime trade, and maritime regional co-operation clearly leave no doubt as to the country’s geo-strategic identity as a maritime nation. Of vital importance, however, is the need for acceptance of this identity by the entire nation, not only in the national interest, but in the light of regional implications and in compliance with international maritime law and regulations.

It is not easy to predict South Africa’s future maritime situation. Even the most consistent trends can be upset by unexpected events. However, some trends and developments can be forecast with confidence. One is that South Africa will face major maritime challenges relating to national socio-economic development on the one hand, and on the other, regional maritime co-operation.

This prediction offers urgent warning that South Africa needs to take a proactive stance with respect to its maritime affairs. There is an urgent requirement to develop a coherent national-interest framework to provide national maritime policy with a general orientation towards the external environment and to serve as the controlling criterion of choice in immediate situations. Lest we forget, Michael Roskin reminds us that "[w]hen states make national interest the guide of their policy, they are being as moral as they can be. We can’t know what is good for the whole world or for country x; we can only know what is good for us."12

South Africa’s Navy: The First Fifty Years, W.J. Flesch and Partners, 1973.



SANavy News, May 1995.



Major Role Players in the South African Exclusive Economic Zone, Institute for Maritime Technology, March 1995.



Ports of South Africa: Durban and Richards Bay, Africa Insight, 20(4), 1990.



Frank Uhlig jr., How Navies Fight and Why, USNaval Institute Press, Annapolis, 1994.



Portlink, Winter 1995.



Lloyd’s List Africa Weekly, 11 August 1995.



Opening Address to the 21st Meeting of the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa, The Star, 21 November 1995.



Africa at a Glance, Africa Institute, 1995/1996.



Robert Simpson-Anderson, Annual Policy Review 1995, paper read at the National Maritime Strategic Conference: Navies in Peace and War, Simon’s Town, 26 October 1995.



Helmoed-Römer Heitman, Southern African Maritime Security Agency, paper read at the National Maritime Strategic Conference: Navies in Peace and War, Simon’s Town, 26 October 1995.



Michael Roskin, National Interest: From Abstraction to Strategy, Parameters: US Army War College Quarterly, 24(4), Winter 1994-1995.