Pretoria - Defence and Military Veterans Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, says SADC member states should put in place robust laws to effectively prosecute pirates.
"The current practice of 'catch-and-release' of pirates should be stopped, since it allows experienced pirates to execute more sophisticated acts of piracy," she said.
Speaking at the SADC Extraordinary Meeting on Regional Anti-Piracy Strategy, Sisulu said over the past five years, there have been around 1 600 acts of piracy, which have caused "immeasurable harm."
According to Sisulu, the highest ransom recorded in 2010 was $9.5 million paid to Somali pirates to release the Sambo Dream, a South Korean oil tanker.
"The increase in pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa is directly linked to continuing insecurity and the absence of the rule of law in war-torn Somalia," Sisulu said.
In that regard, Sisulu said piracy had affected the cost of trade not only because particular ships are intercepted when delivering goods.
"As regions are increasingly regarded as threatened by piracy, unstable, or volatile, entire trading routes are altered, insurance premiums increase, cargo shippers use alternative ports to pick up and deliver their goods," Sisulu said.
In February, Madagascan marines arrested 12 Somali pirates and rescued 25 hostages on board the vessel M/V Aly Zoulficar, which was hijacked in October the previous year.
The pirates were captured 150km east of the Ambre de Diego cape in the northern parts of this Indian Ocean island.
At the time, the South African government said it would strengthen its sea border management and deploy the SS Mendi, a South African Navy MEKO Class Frigate, to resume patrols along the Mozambique Channel.
South Africa's maritime transport industry plays an important role in the economy. It is strategically situated along vital sea routes of the world, the South Atlantic, the Indian and the southern oceans, with a coastline of about 3 000km along which its marine resources are spread.
Between 2007 and 2010, close to 100 vessels were seized by pirate gangs operating off the coast of Somalia, and more than $200 million in ransom paid to hijackers.
