South Africa's Maritime Domain Awareness
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South Africa’s maritime domain awareness A capability baseline assessment Timothy Walker and Denys Reva ISS RESEARCH REPORT | AUGUST 2020 South Africa’s maritime domain awareness A capability baseline assessment August 2020 Contents Acknowledgements .........................................................................................................................................3 Glossary ............................................................................................................................................................4 Key findings ......................................................................................................................................................5 Recommendations ...........................................................................................................................................6 Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................................................7 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................7 Objective of report .........................................................................................................................................7 Structure of report .........................................................................................................................................8 Chapter 2: Defining MDA .................................................................................................................................9 Definitions of MDA .........................................................................................................................................9 South Africa’s definitions of the maritime domain and MDA ......................................................................... 11 Securing South Africa’s maritime domain .................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 3: Context and background to South African MDA ....................................................................... 14 South Africa’s maritime nature ..................................................................................................................... 14 Notable incidents in the development of South African MDA capability ....................................................... 15 Chapter 4: Departmental roles and responsibilities ....................................................................................23 National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure ...................................................................................23 Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries ....................................................................................23 Department of Science and Innovation ........................................................................................................26 Department of Transport ............................................................................................................................. 27 Department of Defence ...............................................................................................................................28 Chapter 5: South Africa’s international agreements ....................................................................................35 Southern African Development Community .................................................................................................35 African Union ...............................................................................................................................................38 United Nations .............................................................................................................................................40 Indian Ocean Rim Association ..................................................................................................................... 42 Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Centre and Trans-regional Maritime Network............................................. 42 INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES | AUGUST 2020 1 Interpol ........................................................................................................................................................43 International initiatives ..................................................................................................................................43 Chapter 6: Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................44 Annex 1: Methodology ...................................................................................................................................45 Notes ............................................................................................................................................................... 47 2 SOUTH AFRICA’S MARITIME DOMAIN AWARENESS: A CAPABILITY BASELINE ASSESSMENT Acknowledgements This report was prepared by the Peace Operations and Peacebuilding Programme of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria, South Africa. The ISS would like to acknowledge the support of South African government departments, organisations and international institutions for sharing information and knowledge with the report team. The ISS is grateful to all who generously gave their time to contribute to this research. These include respondents from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Department of Defence, Department of Transport, Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, State Security Agency, South African Police Service, South African Revenue Service, South African Maritime Safety Authority, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Institute for Maritime Technology and the British High Commission. The ISS is also grateful to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research for providing a live demonstration of the Oceans and Coastal Information Management System Integrated Vessel Tracking and to the South African Maritime Safety Authority for a visit to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Centre for Sea Watch and Response. SOUTH AFRICA’S MARITIME DOMAIN AWARENESS: A CAPABILITY BASELINE ASSESSMENT INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES | AUGUST 2020 3 Glossary 2050 AIMS 2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy AIS Automatic Identification System ARMSCOR Armaments Corporation of South Africa AU African Union BMA Border Management Authority CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research DCoC Djibouti Code of Conduct DCoC(J) Djibouti Code of Conduct, Jeddah Amendment EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone GDP Gross Domestic Product IMO International Maritime Organization ISS Institute for Security Studies MDA Maritime Domain Awareness MDAC Maritime Domain Awareness Centre NATJOINTS National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure OCIMS Oceans and Coastal Information Management System REC Regional Economic Community SAAF South African Air Force SADC Southern African Development Community SAMSA South African Maritime Safety Authority SANDF South African National Defence Force SAPS South African Police Service SMC Standing Maritime Committee UK United Kingdom US United States 4 SOUTH AFRICA’S MARITIME DOMAIN AWARENESS: A CAPABILITY BASELINE ASSESSMENT Key findings • Having actionable maritime domain awareness (MDA) enables South African decision makers to determine how best to deploy maritime security capabilities if a threat at sea (or on maritime-related infrastructure), a crime being committed or a situation with a high level of risk if left alone are identified. • South Africa’s maritime surveillance capability and maritime security vulnerabilities swiftly become high-profile public issues, especially regarding the prevention of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. • The challenge of funding to achieve the Defence Review milestones has further implications for MDA given its prominence in the second milestone. While elements of the second milestone are being achieved, further enhancement and consolidation of MDA technology and the fusion of acquired data is contingent on sustained funding. • The successful establishment of the Oceans and Coastal Information Management System (OCIMS), especially regarding its Integrated Vessel Tracking tool, significantly enhances South Africa’s MDA. With this, greater awareness of activity at sea allows for the efficient deployment of limited assets such as South African Navy or Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries vessels to investigate or intercept suspicious vessels. This complements existing systems such as the Vessel Monitoring System and VistaNet. • While OCIMS will provide information and decision support to key stakeholders for the day-to-day management of South Africa’s oceans and coasts, the establishment of a National Maritime Information Centre, as envisioned in the Djibouti Code of Conduct and its Jeddah Amendment, could be beneficial. • Capability gaps in South African maritime surveillance and patrolling are acknowledged in the 2015 Defence Review. Coordinated enforcement operations have increased, but Department of Defence vessels could lose some of their main capabilities in 2023 due to inadequate funding. This would affect South Africa’s MDA capability and possibly restrict its operability to coastguard functions.