Cape Town – It has been a momentous and historic moment for former submarine diesel fitter of the South African Navy after the same vessel he had worked on, now stands on his doorstep in Simon's Town at the museum of the SA Navy.
The Naval Museum Trust welcomed the SAS Assegaai after it took 21 years of fundraising to realise the dream of moving it from the dockyard to the museum.
The big move began on July 6, 2023. Delays crept in because lifting the structure required additional strengthening according to the Naval Museum Trust.
They said it was a challenging 350m journey with the tireless dedication of workers from the Armscor Dockyard which saw the Assegaai come to its permanent home on July 19.
Rear Admiral (JG) Arne Soderland (Rtd), representing the Naval Heritage Trust at the museum said in a media statement: “It is with the greatest pleasure that we can advise you that Assegaai is finally home and safe in her new museum precinct and visible to the public, albeit in need of some make-up.”
Soderland said the success was credited to the SA Navy and Armscor Dockyard (Simon's Town), including Damen Shipyards Cape Town, the Mayor's Office and Vanguard Heavy lift.
He said the museum would prepare the shore-side facilities to ensure that the submarine was safe and accessible to visitors. The submarine museum is expected to be open to the public by the end of the year.
According to the SA Navy, the last of its Daphne class submarines, SAS Assegaai (formerly Johanna van der Merwe), was decomissioned on on November 23, 2003, and destined for disposal along with her two sisters. It was decided that the vessel would be retained as a museum.
Sheribeen Amlay who runs the Amlay House Heritage Museum in Simon's Town, began his career as a diesel fitter in 1984 and became one of the few people of colour to work on such sophisticated vessels as the submarine.
Two weeks ago, he took to social media to welcome the SAS Assegaai to Simon's Town's Naval museum. It is just a stone's throw away from his home and museum and can be seen from his backyard.
Amlay proudly told the Weekend Argus that being a diesel fitter for submarines was a very important role, All the mechanical staff had an important role to ensure that naval officers were safe out at sea.
“I started my apprenticeship in 1984 as a diesel fitter in the ICE workshop (Internal Combustion Engines) and Motor transport depot at Dido Valley,” said Amlay.
“Those years it was almost impossible for a person of colour to pass a trade test. My colleague and I became artisans as time went by and served as apprentices. Our contract was done and we had no job as there were no vacancies.
“We were then told the other alternative is to work at the submarine workshop or leave. We obliged and I was sent to the hydraulic workshop to work masts, rams, pumps etc and my colleague went to the fitters.
“For five years we slogged in dangerous and dirty conditions. We were in contact with the guys of the ICE and they had problems with the artisans working on the diesel engines.
“After much persuasion, we were eventually asked to do the work and the navy and management were pleased as we were ready to work overtime and all night to finish the work.”
Amlay recalls the time he and colleagues worked on the decommissioning of the vessels, which could no longer go out to sea.
“We would carry on until the submarines were decommissioned and two were cut up for scrap (Maria van Riebeek and Emily Hobhouse).
“The Arms Deal was in full swing and guys were sent on courses all over the world. We went to Germany for 40 days. People don't know that those sailors lives depended on our workmanship.
“We were taught to do the job first time right, meaning no matter how many times we had to do it over, it had to be perfect. Then the navy would test every piece of equipment we worked on vigorously. We took great pride in our work and that's why we are a sought-after people worldwide as we are multi-skilled.”
Amlay had to be medically boarded in 2007 and he began working at his family's museum from which had been forcefully removed and later returned via a land claim.
“It became my job, not my passion which I have come to find in the museum now,” he said.
“It is just great to share our history, because our history has never been told but it was told by others who fabricated and sensationalised to sell their stories. The information we share is first-hand information from our elders and our forefathers.
“The museum is my grandfather's house which was taken away and given to the navy as offices.
“It was later abandoned and my family requested the government to give it to us. They said we could lease it. My aunt moved in and we put in a land claim 40 years ago.
“My family originally came from Persia then settled in India and then came to Simon's Town as businessmen.
“Despite being a learned Sheikh, Achmat Goolam Amlay, he could not be imam at the Simon's Town mosque because the Indians were considered as lesser beings by the British and Dutch during the 1700s, 1800s and 1900s.
“My grandfather, Achmat Dawood Amlay, was one of the top 100 most influential Indians in South Africa in the early 1900s and he became one of the first people of colour in South Africa to become a councillor.
“He was a member of the then reputable Black Sash and South African Party and was instrumental in stopping the blacks from Luyolo village going to Transkei and they were settled in Nyanga and Gugulethu.”
Amay said every six years a submarine would undergo refurbishment which would include repainting it, changing of pipes, as well as engines and electrical work.
“About 300 people were to work on these refits daily,” he added.
“Due to sanctions, every piece of equipment had to be fixed or manufactured locally or modified to naval specifications as we could not source anything from overseas and even on the black market it was expensive, so we had to improvise.
“Every piece of equipment or item would be tested to specifications in the workshops and then again in the presence of the navy who signed it off.
“Then it was fitted on board and then connected to the systems. We would test it and again in the presence of the navy.
“After 18 months of refitting, the dockyard would hand over the sub to the navy but it would only be ready after Harbour and Sea trials (HATS and SATS) were completed.
“Then we prepare for the next refit.”
The Navy said by 2015, the Assegaai had needed hull maintenance and the boat was closed to visitors. By the time it was closed after four and a half years, the submarine had received over 56 000 visitors from 110 countries or dependencies, more than 16 000 of whom had commented positively in the visitors book.