By Warda Meyer
An emergency motion denouncing the mysterious death of a South African marine cadet who fell overboard in the Adriatic Sea, has been unanimously adopted by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) congress in Mexico City.
Akhona Geveza's body was found off the Croatian coast in June, hours after she had allegedly been raped on board the Safmarine Kariba. It was claimed that Geveza, 19, told a fellow cadet and the ship's master that she had been raped by the ship's Ukranian chief officer. She had just two weeks of her apprenticeship left.
Geveza was one of 100 young women on the Transnet National Ports Authority's maritime studies programme.
The motion, calling for a full investigation of Geveza's death on board a UK-flagged vessel was submitted to the ITF congress by the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) and the British marine trade union, Nautilus.
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson said: "The support of the ITF for our work is a tremendous fillip. I hope it will provide some comfort to the Geveza family that they can see action is being taken. Harassment and bullying at sea should never be tolerated."
Satawu and Nautilus's motion also called on the ITF to remind shipping company AP Moller-Maersk, owners of Safmarine Kariba, of its obligation to ensure that Geveza's family get justice and support.
The ITF will work with Satawu to ensure the SA Maritime Safety Agency/Transnet cadet programme continues to receive full industry support.