President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law legislation that will improve the safety of navigation in South Africa’s territorial waters; professionalise the country’s diplomatic Foreign Service, and give citizens access to information about funding for political parties.
The Hydrographic Act provides for the establishment of the Hydrographic Office as a unit within the South African Navy, with responsibility for the safety of navigation in South Africa’s exclusive economic zone and the internal waters of the Republic.
The Office will ensure that hydrographic surveying is done in accordance with international specifications and will issue sailing directions, notices to mariners and nautical publications, in addition to other services. This is vital for the safe use and economic management of the marine resources along South Africa’s 3 000km coastline, which is at the centre of an important global shipping route.
The Act emanated from the need to recognise and grant legislative status to the Office of the Hydrographer which has been in existence within the South African Navy since 21 July 1954. This flows as well from the Defence Review of 2014 which recommended that South Africa’s international hydrographic and nautical charting obligations, responsibilities and liabilities be formalised in law.
Hydrography is a branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as the prediction of their change over time, for the primary purpose of safety of navigation and in support of all other maritime activities, including economic development, security and defence, scientific research, and environmental protection.
The Presidency’s statement regarding the laws:
PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA ASSENTS VARIOUS BILLS INTO LAW (Text)
