Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga: South African International Maritime Institute Women’s Day Seminar and Awards

Keynote address by Hon. Sindisiwe Chikunga, MP, Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, At the South African International Maritime Institute (SAIMI) Women’s Day Seminar and Awards

Theme: “Accelerate Action: Empowering Women to Navigate New Horizons”
Nelson Mandela University, Ocean Sciences Campus, Gqeberha
Thursday, 4 September 2025

Salutation

• Programme Director, Ms Nondumiso Mfenyana

• Vice-Chancellor of Nelson Mandela University, Professor Sibongile Muthwa, in absentia

• Executive Director of Human Resources at Nelson Mandela University, Dr Nandipha Sishuba

• Chief Executive Officer of the South African International Maritime Institute, Mr Odwa Mtati, and the SAIMI Management Team

• Representatives from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, including Ms Zukiswa Kimani, Chief Director for Industrial Policy

• Our distinguished speakers and panelists — Ms Hermoine Manuel of Damen Shipyards, Ms Mpho Monyane of Maritime EmpowerHer, Ms Zodwa Velleman of Oceana Group Limited, Advocate Manthekele Monama of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, and Dr Phindile Masangane of Africa Energy Corporation

• Leaders from industry, academia, and labour

• Representatives from AMSOL, the Moses Kotane Institute, and other partners

• Colleagues, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen

• Good morning!

Opening
You know programme director, just this past weekend, as we closed Women’s Month at the EmpowaWomen Leadership Summit, I reminded South Africans that the end of August is not the end of the women’s agenda. It is not the conclusion — it is the continuation, the acceleration point of our struggle for equality.

That is why I am honoured to join you today, at the very beginning of September, for this Women’s Day Seminar hosted by SAIMI and Nelson Mandela University. This gathering is testament to the truth that our march for women’s empowerment does not end when the calendar page turns. It continues here — in the maritime sector, in our universities, in our industries, and in our communities — where real transformation must take root.

In its Mission Statement the Beijing Platform of Action of 1995 declared that a transformed partnership based on equality between women and men is a condition for people-centred sustainable development.

What this simply means is that countries who do not invest in their women-citizenry have systematically and structurally decided to shortchange their economic progress and social wellbeing. For the strength of women’s participation in all spheres of social, economic and political life is an invaluable asset to society.

Setting the scene
My sisters, you know that I am no stranger to you or to the field you find yourselves in.

For more than a decade, I served in the Transport portfolio — first as Deputy Minister and later as Minister of Transport. In those years, I came to know the maritime sector not in theory, but in practice. I stood with seafarers, I sat with port authorities, I worked with shipowners, and I came to understand both the immense promise of the oceans economy and the deep inequalities that still hold it back.

Today, in my current role as Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, I carry the mandate to drive policy, coordination, and accountability so that women, young people, and persons with disabilities are not left on the margins of our economy — and this includes the oceans economy.

And so this seminar carries special meaning for me. It brings together the two worlds I have worked in — transport and maritime on the one hand, and the struggle for gender equality on the other. It reminds us that transformation is not abstract; it must be lived in industries like shipping, logistics, ports, and research, where women must no longer be bystanders but leaders and builders of the future.

That is why the theme of this year’s seminar — “Accelerate Action: Empowering Women to Navigate New Horizons” — resonates so deeply with me. It reflects my journey across two realms: the vast potential of our oceans economy and the stubborn inequalities that continue to hold women back in that space.

Here’s what the latest data reveal:

• Globally, women make up only 1% of the active seafarer workforce, and just over 19% of the broader maritime workforce when shore-based roles and national maritime authorities are included

• In the private sector, women’s participation drops even lower — to just 16% of the workforce

• Here at home, women make up about 44% of South Africa’s overall workforce, yet they hold only 27% of managerial positions across the economy, according to the World Bank

• Within the maritime sector, senior leadership in ports and shipping companies remains overwhelmingly male, and in many coastal communities, young girls still do not see themselves reflected in this industry

Down memory lane: Where we come from as a maritime nation in the democratic dispensation

Programme Director,

Sir Walter Raleigh once mentioned and I quote, “Whosoever commands the seas commands the trade, whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world and consequently the world itself.”

The above quote by Sir Walter Raleigh holds true to this day. Closer to home it expresses the immense opportunities South Africa has yet to realize, only if we can be intentionally committed to fully unleash our oceans economy untapped opportunities.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to take you down memory lane on how it all started. This account is not just an exhibition of evidence but a revolution clarion call to everyone present here today to press on and re-commit to the development and growth of the maritime sector.

As South Africa we call ourselves a Maritime Nation and a Port State, because we boast of a 3,000 km coastline, we have nine commercial ports, we own an exclusive economic zone covering over 1.5 million km² of ocean and have a long maritime heritage. And we are strategically located on one of the world’s major shipping routes (Atlantic, Indian and Southern Oceans), which is critical to global transportation.

Furthermore, our rich and productive coastal waters support thousands of jobs across various ocean-based industries and contribute billions in Rand to the national economy each year.

Despite the overwhelming maritime nature of South Africa’s geo-position, the contribution of the maritime sector to the overall national economy indicates that South Africa has not fully explored her enormous potential of its ocean space.

Noting this immense untapped maritime wealth, in 2014 after a rigorous six weeks of in-depth discussion on our national maritime wealth, we discovered that the maritime sector holds a potential to contribute R177 billion to the GDP and create between 800,000 and one million direct jobs by 2030. As a nation, we adopted a Big Fast Results approach that brought all sectors and stakeholders from government, state-owned entities, private sector, academia, etc., to discuss and conclude a National Maritime Strategy called the Blue Oceans Economy Strategy — famously known as Operation Phakisa (meaning accelerated implementation).

The Blue Oceans Economy Strategy unveiled a plethora of maritime industries which others were dormant in South Africa. Operation Phakisa, the blue oceans economy strategy, places women and youth as central to the sustainability of the sector. We categorised them into different labs, that is:

• Maritime Transport and Manufacturing Lab – it included activities like port operations, coastal shipping, and warehousing. We wanted to increase our share of global marine manufacturing, including shipbuilding and repair

• Offshore Oil and Gas Lab – research indicated potential offshore resources of approximately 9 billion barrels of oil and 11 billion barrels of natural gas equivalent. Developing these resources could create up to 130,000 jobs and significantly boost our GDP

• Aquaculture Lab – this was a seriously underdeveloped area with significant potential to contribute to both economic growth and food security. The sector has already shown strong growth rates

• Marine Protection Services and Oceans Governance Lab – aimed to ensure balance between economic opportunities with environmental sustainability through the management of South Africa's large exclusive economic zone

• Skills Development and Capacity Building Lab – we realised that we needed a skills development plan and required institutions to introduce maritime subjects from primary to tertiary institutions. The State funded initiatives and introduced maritime curriculum in schools and institutions like Nelson Mandela University, and established SAIMI. We massified intake of learners doing STEM subjects, especially the girl-child

• Research, Technology and Innovation Sub-sector – this became critical to ensure that South Africa produces cutting-edge technological and innovative solutions for both national and international needs

After the adoption of the Comprehensive Maritime Transport Policy (CMTP), we later added two more sectors:

• Coastal and Marine Tourism – a major global contributor to ocean economy employment. We established high-impact coastal tourism initiatives as one of the key growth areas

• Small Harbours Development Sub-sector – aimed at developing un-proclaimed small harbours with potential for significant job creation through infrastructure improvements, marine aquaculture, and tourism

All these aimed to create 1 million jobs and contribute R177 billion to the GDP by 2030. These initiatives necessitated that we establish multi-stakeholder structures in the different maritime sub-sectors inclusive of all levels of government, SOEs, private sector and academia. The main goal was to maximally use available resources, streamline all initiatives, address duplication, recruitment, intake and absorption, and to align the transport sector national skills and development initiatives.

For all involved, transformation meant the implementation of far-reaching measures to overhaul the structure of the economy to produce effective social and economic development that would drastically reduce unemployment, eradicate poverty and eliminate the stark inequalities faced most deeply by women.

This exercise had a multiplier effect. It created access, employment, enterprise development, and business opportunities for the youth, women, and people living with disabilities. It also grew maritime industries, facilitated fast-paced legislative review, and led to the adoption of the first-of-its-kind Comprehensive Maritime Transport Policy, followed by critical strategies like the Waterways Strategy.

The policy environment that was crafted by government enabled an inclusive transformation process for the sector. Strategic initiatives aimed to advance women, youth, and people living with disabilities.

Furthermore, with the help of the World Maritime University, State institutions such as the Transport Education and Training Agency (TETA) availed prioritised funding for students to take up maritime studies at WMU. The World Maritime University further assisted in the process of establishing universities with maritime qualifications like Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth — hence, we have SAIMI today.

When I left, SAIMI had more than fifty percent of women executives. I hope there is more growth and progress.

We organised women to speak with one voice under the umbrella body known as the South African National Women in Transport (SANWIT). It was and still is a new dawn in the maritime industry. Women began and continued to be appointed in different strategic leadership and management positions.

In South Africa, women are now found across many levels of the maritime sector — from crane operators to senior executives. Women fill 35% of mission critical jobs within the country’s port system, ranging from harbour masters and deputy harbour masters to chief marine engineers, marine pilots, dredge masters, coxswains, tug masters, aviation technicians and helicopter pilots.

The SAIMI Imbokodo Institute
What has made progress possible in the area of skills development is the deliberate, sustained work of institutions such as SAIMI.

Through the Imbokodo in Maritime Transformation Programme, SAIMI is not only opening doors through bursaries, but also building bridges through mentorship, empowerment, and recognition. It is a programme that tells our daughters: you belong here.

The Sindiswa Carol ‘Tu’ Nhlumayo Merit Bursary, named after a woman of courage and excellence, is another powerful example. It is more than financial support — it is planting seeds for a new generation of women leaders who will reshape shipping, ports, and maritime governance in South Africa.

Equally important are SAIMI’s efforts to restore dignity and break barriers in practical ways — such as donating sanitary pads and toiletries to disadvantaged schools here in Gqeberha. These interventions may seem small, but they carry a powerful message: no girl should miss opportunities because of poverty, and dignity must be part of transformation.

These are the kinds of initiatives that move us from promises to progress, from vision to reality.