Hon Chair, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, even though South Africa is a maritime nation and a coastal state with a long coastline of about 3 000 km situated along major shipping routes, moving about 98% of its total traded goods by ship and through the country's enormous port infrastructure, there has been little focus on the maritime transport sector. We are told, through many studies conducted, that this sector has the potential to contribute a lot to economic development and job creation in this country.
Due to the fact that South Africa's trade is almost all seaborne and international, the maritime sector offers jobs at home and on a global scale. There are many seafarer job opportunities on cargo and passenger ships, offshore mineral and energy platforms and on fishing and naval vessels. These jobs are based in South African waters and beyond. There is a global shortage of 250 000 seafarer jobs in the international cargo fleet, with an opportunity for South Africa to compete and place about 50 000 of these jobs. The ports and the offshore energy mineral sector in South Africa can contribute 10 000 jobs for seafarers, with the fishing industry already employing over 22 000 working at sea. The South African maritime industry has a real potential to create over 40 000 jobs, sea and landside maritime jobs combined, which can employ people across the economic sectors.
The only way to create skilled labour force and expertise in order to take advantage of these opportunities is by supporting the Maritime Skills Development and Jobs Plan that is being driven by the Minister of Transport, hon Ben Martins. This is a plan in which the Department of Transport and its agency, the South African Maritime Safety Authority, Samsa, in collaboration with the Departments of Labour, Higher Education and Training, Basic Education and Science and Technology are working with 11 further education and training colleges and pilot high schools countrywide and universities to launch at least one of the universities as a comprehensive centre of excellence in maritime education. [Applause.]
The conversion of the old SAS Agulhas into a dedicated training ship has, in less than a year, already seen an impressive officer cadet intake of 162, added to the other 190 cadets already at sea, specialising in engineering, navigation and maritime hospitality. Currently there are 53 new cadets on board in the SAS Agulhas - 34 males and 19 females. [Applause.] Twenty-four of the cadets, who were part of national scheme, have already qualified as officers.
Due to the successful Maritime Career Awareness Campaign, trainees and cadets come not only from the coast, but even from deep rural areas of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Polokwane, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the North West and urban townships, representing the entire country. [Applause.]
The ANC calls upon all South Africans to join hands with the Minister of Transport, who has taken the bold initiative to declare 2013 Maritime Year, marking the beginning of a dedicated maritime sector in South Africa. [Applause.] The Minister's vision and that of the ANC will ensure that in the next decade the maritime sector is transformed into a key sector for economic growth and social development, one which creates enterprise and job opportunities, ensuring a clean environment and improving the security of our country.
As the ANC, we are confident that the hon Minister and the hon Deputy Minister have a job that needs to be accomplished, and that job is to make South Africa's transport a working reality. That is why we are proud, as the ANC, to support Budget Vote No 37. Thank you. [Applause.]