With reports of seafarers, who are sitting without Seafarer Certificates despite having applied for them more than two months ago, being placed on unpaid leave, the South African Maritime Safety Authority has pledged to attend to the backlog by the end of July.
The delays and the backlog are caused by internal IT infrastructure problems and quality assurance issues.
In a statement, SAMSA says that they will prioritise certificates for those seafarers who are being placed on unpaid leave. Seafarers who are facing loss of income during the month of July 2016 should inform the SAMSA office where they made their applications.