South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) senior manager and country’s first black surveyor, Captain Francis Chilalika, 65, retires
Pretoria: 27 April 2016
South Africa’s first black ship surveyor, Malawian-born Captain Francis Chilalika bid farewell to the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) this week after 20 years of service.
During the two decades Captain Chilalika was one of SAMSA’s strongmen, a key contributor to both the setting up of the organization in 1998 as well as its bedding down as the country’s lead authority on ocean safety and environmental protection, and crucially, the promotion of South Africa’s maritime interests domestically and globally.
At a formal low key yet highly significant event at SAMSA head office in Pretoria on Tuesday, and during which he was presented with an assortment of gifts along with his Long Service Certificate, Captain Chilalika bid a fond, emotional farewell to both management and staff of the organization, albeit, with a promise he would not be lost completely to the continent’s maritime sector. To read more, click here