Johannesburg - About 1 000 SA Transport and Allied Workers Union members marched to Transnet in East London on Friday to demand that the freight transport company look into the death of a female South African sailor in Croatia.
Satawu spokesperson Honest Sinama said in a statement that the focus of the march was to draw attention to the unresolved death of Akhona Geveza, a 19-year-old trainee seafarer from East London, who was found dead in Croatian waters on June 24.
"She was found just hours after she had reported to her captain that she had been raped by an officer," he said.
Sinama said Geveza had been on the brink of concluding her training under a scheme developed by Transnet Port Authority. She had worked on a container ship owned by Safmarine, which in turn was owned by Maersk.
A memorandum was handed over on Friday to demand that both Transnet and Maersk engage more actively to ensure that justice was done, especially because there were inconsistencies.
"Satawu is appalled that the alleged Ukrainian rapist has not been investigated or charged; that the Croatian authorities do not appear to be interested in investigating the possibility of a murder," Sinama said.
"The UK maritime authorities have washed their hands of the case, leaving it to the Croatian police...(and) we have no evidence that Maersk has investigated the manner in which the rape allegation was handled by the ship's captain," he said.
Sinama said that Transnet acknowledged the memorandum, saying they would respond timeously. They could however not conform with the 72-hour deadline given as the case was complex, he said.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Satawu-demands-answers-in-sailors-death-20101126