South Africa has temporarily shelved plans for establishing a shipping line to allow for further consultations. Early last month, the Cabinet approved the withdrawal of the Merchant Shipping Bill, which was tabled in parliament in May 2023. The Bill contained provisions for reviving South Africa’s maritime sector, including cabotage regulations to develop the country’s merchant fleet. This would be operated under a state-owned entity referred as the South African Shipping Company (SASCO).
In approving the withdrawal of the bill, the cabinet said that the Department of Transport will now have time to finalize consultations with different stakeholders. The discussions will be carried out under the National Economic Development & Labor Council (NEDLAC). The body is mandated to facilitate public participation for government bills in cooperation with trade groups and community organizations.
Early this year, major industry groups in the South African maritime sector voiced their opposition to the Merchant Shipping Bill. The lobbyists including Exporters Western Cape (EWC) argued that the bill skipped the NEDLAC process, hence lacking industry input. A Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) report dated 20 May 2025 also indicated that the Bill was not submitted to NEDLAC, which is against parliamentary procedures.
The bill’s proposal to establish SASCO also proved contentious with different stakeholders. For instance, the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) said that the existing port infrastructure could easily be overwhelmed by cabotage regulations. The hub and spoke port model requires well-developed and efficient terminals to avoid backlogs along the transport chain. In the case of South Africa, a port such as Durban handles over 60% of the country’s containerized cargo. This means the port could be easily overwhelmed in a scenario where it is made as a hub port under the cabotage regulations proposed by the bill.
“While the development of a national shipping capability is broadly supported, implementing a restrictive cabotage regime without understanding its full economic impact risks unintended consequences,” added Saaff.
In addition, some observers doubted the government’s ability to run a national shipping line, recalling the era of the previously state-owned Safmarine. Formed in 1946, Safmarine was acquired by the Danish ocean carrier Maersk in 1999, at a time when the global shipping industry was undergoing massive consolidation.
