Programme Director;
The CEO of South African Maritime Safety Authority, Commander Tsietsi Mokhele;
Stakeholders in the maritime industry;
Exhibitors;
Visitors;
Ladies and gentlemen
It is our pleasure as the province of KwaZulu‐Natal (KZN) to host this very important maritime careers expo which, no doubt, will impact positively in our on-going campaign to transform our economy and fast the generation of much needed jobs, especially for the youth of our country.
Programme director, when we were requested to share a few remarks with this audience, we recalled two often‐quoted sayings but whose importance and relevance is seldom acknowledged. The first one is that “knowledge is the key to success” while the second one, a motto of the US Air Force, says “"Man's flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge."
Our talk this morning will be centred on these two sayings. It is our contention that in order for anyone to succeed in any endeavour, that person must possess the necessary knowledge in order to be competitive. In particular, our history of segregation and denied access to the majority of our people to opportunities, has created a situation where we have a country that, in terms of global competitiveness, boxes way below its weight.
Because of our past and the current global economic scenario, our country is currently dealing with the troika challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality. The current figure of unemployment which stands at 24,9% should concern all of us and poses a real threat to the stability of our country.
Alarmingly, the high levels of unemployment among our youth do not bode well for our future. According to a study conducted by the National Treasury in 2011 focusing on youth unemployment, the following outcomes emerged:
- About 42 percent of young people under the age of 30 are unemployed compared with less than 17 percent of adults over 30.
- Only one in eight working age adults under 25 years of age have a job compared with 40 per cent in most emerging economies.
- Employment of 18 to 24 year olds has fallen by more than 20 per cent (320 000) since December 2008.
- Unemployed young people tend to be less skilled and inexperienced – almost 86 percent do not have formal further or tertiary education, while two‐thirds have never worked.
Why are young people unemployed?
There are a number of explanations why young people are unemployed, these include
- Employers look for skills and experience; they regard unskilled, inexperienced jobseekers as a risky investment.
- Education is not a substitute for skills. Schooling is not a reliable signal of capabilities, and low school quality feeds into poor workplace learning capacity.
- Given the uncertainty about the potential of school leavers, employers consider entry‐level wages to be too high relative to the risk of hiring these inexperienced workers.
It is our view that this maritime careers expo will, in a significant manner, help to address this challenge of youth unemployment because it will equip young people with knowledge to tap into opportunities whose existence they could not have been aware of.
This context, then programme director, brings me to the second part of my talk. Because of our past and its unequal education, the majority of Africans have not been exposed to the opportunities that exist in our economy. The sad thing about this is that despite the abundant resources as well as competitive and comparative advantages that our country possesses, we have not been able to fully exploit them.
The maritime sector is one sector where we have not even begun to scratch the surface in terms of living up to our potential as a country. Since we are faced with the spectre of unemployment and, in particular, youth unemployment, we can ill‐afford to continue as we have done in the past. We need to ensure that we utilise this sector as a leverage not only for economic growth but to address the social challenges that we face.
Programme Director one of the industries which are very labour intensive, but whose potential has not been fully exploited, especially here in KZN as a coastal province, is the maritime industry.
According to research, the international shipping industry is responsible for the carriage of around 90% of world trade. In this regard, shipping is the life blood of the global economy. Without shipping, intercontinental trade, the transportation of raw material and the import and export of food and manufactured goods would simple not be possible. Over and above this, the cruise tourism industry alone is valued at more than $29 billion and employs thousands of people.
Clearly, programme director, this industry has the potential to contribute to the economy of our country. But, programme director, we would like to take this opportunity and remind our audience of the second saying that we spoke about earlier on in our talk which says "Man's flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge."
With this expo and the information that will be shared during the next few days, we have no doubt that those who attend, particularly the youth, will be able to fly through this life sustained by the information gathered at this expo.
Programme director, as you may be aware, last week Friday we launched the first‐of‐its‐kind in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, the KZN Maritime Centre of Excellence. This is a tangible step by the province of KwaZulu‐Natal to ensure that we tap into the opportunities provided by this industry.
This Centre will ensure the growth of shipping related services that will improve ports productivities, cargo handling operations and offer professional support services, become a conduit for Regional Seafarer supply for the nation and minimise global shortfalls, exponentially increasing the capacity and output of the skills development system.
It will also:
- Be an anchor in managing national and regional Maritime Sector Information (MSI).
- Establish a Provincial Maritime Institute with a One Stop Shop Market Differentiation.
- Establish higher Education Institute with International recognition.
- Fast‐track Economic Development in the Province by stimulating Local SMME development towards shipping and Logistics business and assist in creation of quality jobs. Increase the level of support currently given to small and emerging companies.
- Represent the interest of all stakeholders in the sector equitably and transparently.
- Strengthen provincial partnerships with industry players.
- Establish aquaculture or fish farming facilities.
- Establish Nautical Education in High School through Maritime Mathematics Marine Science.
- Provide quality support to the province, and facilitate a framework of learning which promotes access to, and recognition of, learning in the workplace.
As we draw towards the end of our address, we would want to stress that as government, we would like to see meaningful transformation in this industry and ensure that it works for the growth of our economy. In this regard, we urge companies and stakeholders that are exhibiting at this expo today to come up with innovative schemes to empower those who are the future of this industry with the necessary skill to compete.
We need bursary schemes, internships as well as incubation programmes to ensure that we open a new chapter for the maritime industry in our country. This expo is just a start but, if we work together as social partners, there is no doubt that we are ushering a new and exciting future for the maritime industry in our country.
