Former taxi driver’s record-setting course to the top of maritime sector

Achieving a 50% female representation in the previously male-dominated top management of Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and recapitalising key infrastructure for harbours are among Rufus Lekala’s most significant achievements in his 10 years as South Africa’s Chief Harbour Master.

The 52-year-old marine pilot, who hails from Mamelodi in Pretoria, is in charge of operations at the country’s eight ports – Cape Town, Durban, Richards Bay, Mossel Bay, Saldanha Bay, Port Elizabeth, East London and Ngqura. In addition, he oversees the eight harbour masters who are accountable for the safety of vessels coming in and out of the harbours.

As a young man, Lekala was determined to find a meaningful career but with limited opportunities, he ended up driving a taxi for four years after matric, all the while seeking opportunities to better himself. That opportunity came in the form of a Portnet advert announcing that bursaries were available to youngsters with matric maths and science. After applying, he won a scholarship to study maritime studies at the then Cape Technikon (Cape Peninsula University of Technology).

From humble beginnings come great things and he went on to become the country’s youngest harbour master (at the Port of East London) in 2002 and, in 2011, the country’s first black Chief Harbour Master and the youngest person in the world to hold this position.

With Transport Month commemorated in October, Lekala says maritime transport is critical to the country’s economy.

He believes that everything revolves around maritime, saying that over 80% of goods distributed around the world are distributed via maritime vessels.

Despite media reports bemoaning the state of the country’s ports, he is adamant that they are satisfactory. He does, however, acknowledge that there is work to be done to improve efficiency and turn TNPA into a world-class ports operator. To this end, he says nine tugboats, four dredgers and four helicopters have been procured.

Lekala says when he took over, gender transformation, particularly in management positions in the maritime industry, was among his priorities and he is proud to reveal

that he has achieved that. He says when he was appointed as chief in 2011, there were no female harbour masters. He set a target that by 2020, Transnet would have four female harbour masters, which is a 50-50 gender scale.

“We have them now, and if you look at the structure, we have enough female pilots and tug masters; we pride ourselves on that. I believe in transformation and empowering others with skills. It did not come easy, but I’m glad in the 10 years of my leadership, I achieved this 50-50 [ratio],” he says.

However, the gender equality fight is not over, he says, because many shipping lines are reluctant to hire female employees, despite their capabilities.

While Lekala boasts about the female harbour masters, he also reflects on the challenges in the industry. One of the biggest is the lack of infrastructure transformation, which discourages people from joining the industry.

Another concern of his is the lack of ships owned by South Africa. “We only have four ships as a country; we cannot train people as much as we would want.”

While COVID-19 wreaked havoc in many sectors of the economy, Lekala says the maritime industry was spared as it was classified as an essential service.

Being at the helm of such a key sector of the economy comes with huge responsibility and requires experience and leadership skills, he says.

Lekala, who reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the ports authority, says his management style was inspired by his mother’s values of respect, honesty and trust.

“You will not respect somebody that you do not trust and you will not be honest with that person. You first have to trust and be honest with yourself; that is the ethos system that I have developed,” says Lekala.

Reflecting on his journey to the top, Lekala says that as a youngster, he never imagined becoming a harbour master. This was not a profession that was popular among black people back then, he says, but through hard work, he has been a trailblazer in the sector.

He remembers the transformation period in the maritime industry in the late 1990s and says he was among the first black people to occupy management positions.

After finishing his training, he trained as a tug master and then as a marine pilot. “I became a pilot in 2001 at Saldanha Bay. Within a year, in 2002, aged 32, I was appointed harbour master of the East London Port; the rest is history,” he says.

Lekala says the Port of East London was not doing well when he took over. He had to implement immediate change. He managed to turn the port around and demonstrated good leadership qualities, which earned him the CEO's Employer of the Year Award in 2004.

He attributes his early success to his humble beginnings and the appreciation he received from his subordinates.

“How you conduct yourself as an individual distinguishes you from the rest,” he says.

In 2004, when the harbour master of Cape Town retired, Lekala was called to take over there. In 2007, he was redeployed to the Port of Durban, which is one of the biggest ports in Africa. He described this appointment as his biggest achievement as it set him up to take over as Chief Harbour Master in 2011. He says the Port of Durban receives more than 60 vessels a day, which requires the harbour master to have a high level of intelligence and experience.

“I strive to do my job to the best of my abilities when I am given a chance. Managers know their staff and they will always acknowledge your input. I guess among the rest, I showed maturity in my work and I was promoted and deployed to leadership sooner than others. But I must say, without their [managers] guidance, I would not be here.”

Lekala says while he has spent his life in the marine industry, he plans to resign before retirement age and become an academic.

He is currently studying towards a Master of Commerce in Maritime Studies through the University of KwaZulu-Natal, with the potential of doing a PhD in maritime studies.