What does the new SAMSA board mean for the industry?

New SAMSA Board announced

SOUTH AFRICA: Following last week’s Cabinet meeting announcing the appointment of Non-Executive Directors to the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) Board for a period of three years, there is general speculation that this could mean that the process to appoint a permanent Chief Executive Officer for the authority could be back to square one.

SAMSA has been without a permanent CEO since Tsietsi Mokhele vacated the position in 2016 and SAMSA announced that the “hunt for the new leader” had "begun in earnest" when a call to fill the post was advertised in newspapers in July of that year.

The hunt, however, has not yet yielded any permanent candidate.

After taking up the position in 2008, Mokhele became a notable and outspoken champion of the maritime industry and was seen as one of the forces behind the launch of Operation Phakisa in 2014. Although he resigned with immediate effect on 24 May, his departure was delayed by a forensic investigation until the end of June 2016.

Sobantu Tilayi then stepped into leadership as Acting CEO and was amongst the contenders to take up the permanent position. Despite significant industry support for his appointment, no such announcement was forthcoming.

Five years later, in April 2021, Tilayi was suspended from the position and an investigation into irregularities at SAMSA was commissioned. One year later, in April 2022, the report by Morar Incorporated was presented to the then Chairperson of SAMSA, Ms N Minyuku.

Since the departure of Tilayi, however, there have been no less than three acting CEOs and, with the announcement of the new board as well as a new Minister of Transport, the maritime industry can likely expect to see the appearance of another call for applications to take up the top position.

Interestingly, previously shortlisted candidates whose names were whispered amongst the industry have moved into other positions and it is not clear whether they would consider revisiting the option of applying for the post.

Going forward the new board will have to agree on a candidate and put them forward to the Minister of Transport for approval before any formal announcement can be made. Numerous sources in the maritime industry have indicated that the need for a permanent placement is long overdue and should be pursued with some urgency.

New board at SAMSA

SAMSA’s new board is perfectly balanced in terms of gender with three women and three men being appointed by Cabinet.

Mahesh Fakir has been appointed as Chairperson and brings significant depth of knowledge from the port sector having served as the CEO of the Ports Regulator of South Africa. Having undertaken research in the sector, he has also published papers as well as served on the board of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Serving within National Treasury, Fakir also acted as an Operation Vulindlela consultant. Fakir holds an MSc in development finance from the University of London, MSc in civil engineering and a Master’s in business administration from the University of Durban-Westville, now known as the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

He is joined by Deputy Chairperson, Tau Morwe who is no stranger to the sector having served within Transnet in leadership positions across a number of entities including the National Ports Authority and Port Terminals.

Maritime consultant, Adv Aurelia Nosipho Sobekwa, joins the new board alongside Dr Natalie Skeepers, Nogolide Feziwe Nojozi and Sihle Nguse.