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From taxi driver to South African and world maritime history-maker!
By Media club South Africa on 2011-08-10
From taxi driver to South African and world maritime history-maker!
Appointed as the first black harbour master in South Africa and the youngest in the world in 2002, Captain Rufus Lekala has now made maritime history again after becoming the first black chief harbour master in the country and the youngest in the world to hold such a position. The 41-year-old father of two took up the position on 1 June 2011.
A chief harbour master is responsible for strategising maritime projects and dealing with policy-making.
From landlubber to sea master
Lekala matriculated at Vlakfontein High School in Mamelodi, Pretoria, in 1990, and hoped to study further, but could not afford it.
“After matric I had no money to study, so I drove taxis for five years in Pretoria. It wasn\'t for me,” said Lekala. While driving taxis, he earned an average of R1 000 a month.
Lekala’s big break came in 1996 when he heard that Portnet was offering bursaries for studies in the maritime sector.
“I applied, not expecting a landlubber like me to be selected. I knew nothing about the sea. It wasn\'t part of my culture, but I was desperate and when you want to make something of yourself, you\'ll take any opportunity that arrives,” he said.
Getting the bursary enabled Lekala to do maritime studies at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and, after completing the course in 1998, he began climbing the ladder. He started by doing in-service training and then became a tugmaster, manoeuvring vessels in and out of port. His next appointment was as marine pilot.
Stationed at the East London port in 2002, he became the youngest harbour master in the world and the first black one. This harbour has about 35 vessels going through it a month. He was then transferred to Cape Town, which handles over 300 vessels.
Lekala progressed to running the 500-vessel-a-month port of Durban, the second largest in Africa after Port Said in Egypt.
“You need people skills in this work as you’re at the front line of the company and you need to be analytical. Most of my job is dealing with other people\'s problems and I must remain neutral, not taking sides,” he said.
Lekala is now responsible for 12 people: eight harbour masters, three operations managers and a personal assistant.
He lives by the philosophy that “nothing is impossible in life”, and believes a person should lead by consensus.
Lekala the family man
In 2002 Lekala married Mathilda Mopayi, a marine pilot who also works for Transnet.
The avid reader of publications such as The Economist and Time magazine says his biggest personal achievement was receiving the National Diploma in Maritime Studies in 1998. Lekala says his late sister Dorothy Phetla, businessman Richard Maponya and Transnet mentor, Captain Edward Bremner are his biggest influences, professionally and personally.
Lekala is the vice-president of the International Harbour Masters Association and an honorary member of the Natal, Point and Bluff yacht clubs.
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South African women marine pilots make history!
By Media Club South Africa on 2011-08-10
South African women marine pilots make history!
Three South African women have set the standard in Africa by becoming the first black female marine pilots on the continent to gain open licences, enabling them to navigate ships of all sizes and types into local waters.
Precious Dube, Bongiwe Mbambo and Pinky Zungu, who are three of only five female marine pilots in South Africa, are tasked with guiding ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours.
The marine pilot acts as an advisor to the captain, who maintains legal, overriding command of the vessel.
Tau Morwe, chief executive of Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), said: “The maritime sector used to be one that was closed off to the historically disadvantaged, including women, but this is changing and we are geared for even greater success stories than this.”
The three women are products of the TNPA’s development scheme, which has been encouraging more equitable participation in the maritime sector since the 1990s.
Transnet offers aspirant students bursaries to complete a national diploma in maritime studies – specialising in navigation, and a national diploma in marine mechanical engineering.
These courses can be taken at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the Durban University of Technology.
Rufus Lekala, chief harbour master in South Africa and the youngest in the world, said: “These women have put us on the map once more and should be very proud of their achievements.”
Winning the trust of sceptical captains
Dube, from Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal, was the first in the group to gain an open licence.
“The captains of foreign ships can be very sceptical when you’re a woman because it’s not common for them to see a female marine pilot; although I’ve heard there are a few in the US and possibly Australia,” she said.
Dube said she had to demonstrate her knowledge of the port to the male ship captains before they were confident of her ability to steer their vessels into and out of the harbour.
The two other women to qualify with an open licence have also shattered preconceptions and – in one case – even become somewhat of a spectacle.
Mbambo, originally from Esikhawini on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal and now living in Glenwood in Durban, recalled how a ship captain actually video-recorded and photographed her while doing her job.
Zungu added: “Being at sea was difficult at first. I was the only cadet and the only female on a Russian cruise ship where only the captain spoke English well.”
Luckily, she eventually met another South African woman on board to whom she could relate.
“Today I love my job and can imagine myself still doing this at the age of 65,” she said.
Climbing the ranks
The group’s journey from cadet to master pilot was a lengthy one, involving many assessments and exams.
The women were part of Transnet’s one-year maritime programme and did practical at-sea training on shipping lines such as Safmarine and the Unicorn.
Training at sea was followed by an oral exam. Once they passed this, they became junior deck officers who auto-piloted vessels and managed safety equipment.
The next step was becoming tug masters and then, after another year’s course, junior pilots.
Becoming junior pilots enabled the trio to move up the ranks and through different grades until they reached their open-licence milestone.
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