Page 70 - Maritime Book 1

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT
EPHRAIM KESA SHIFT MANAGER, PORT OF DURBAN
"It s like they thought we were untrainable. We just had to push through."
Ephraim Kesa was no stranger to the cold waters of life out at sea when he joined Transnet in 1999. In exile during our country’s darkest days, he
had been introduced to the maritime industry – servicing vessels in the Caspian Sea in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku.
It was not an easy life, but neither was his return to South Africa. After being stationed in Tanzania for a year, he nally returned home as repatriation efforts began in 1992. He spent two years without a job, as the Apartheid regime crumbled.
The election of Nelson Mandela, and the rst real efforts of transformation brought Ephraim to the Navy. “It was a dif cult time, but I managed to get a lot of my quali cations during my time with the Navy,” he said.
“Then in 1999, I saw an advert in the City Press. I decided that I had all that it takes to join Transnet and become a pilot.”
As part of the class of 99, Ephraim travelled to Rotterdam for intensive training.
Remnants of South Africa’s past lingered still, as integrating the next generation of South African pilots into Transnet’s workforce proved a dif cult task.
“It’s like they thought we were untrainable. We just had to push through,” Ephraim said.
Due to personal circumstances Ephraim chose
to focus his efforts on excelling as a tug master, where he worked in the Port of Cape Town and the Port of Durban.
Now a shift manager in the Port of Durban, he supports a new generation of proudly South African tug masters, engineers and deckhands.
The future is bright, and Ephraim can see the role that he and his fellow colleagues played in transforming the port system.
“The new generation is lucky. People accept each other now, and we are aligned with the development of South Africa,” Ephraim said.
And to young employees, his advice is this:
“Take this opportunity with both hands and look forward for what you want to achieve. Career-wise you must push hard to qualify and keep on learning. You never stop learning. You must have courage, and you must love what you’re doing. Coming to work shouldn’t be a struggle. You must know that you’re coming in to do what you love.”
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