South African Maritime and Aeronautical Search and Rescue Act, 2002 (Act No. 44 of 2002) 1. Definitions

 

In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise, any word or expression to which a meaning is ascribed in the Conventions bears the same meaning and—

 

"aircraft"

means any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from the reactions of the air other than the reactions of the air against the earth's surface;

 

"Department"

means the Department of Transport;

 

"Director-General"

means the Director-General:  Transport;

 

"executive committee"

means the executive committee of SASAR contemplated in section 5(2)(a);

 

"head of SASAR"

means an official of the Department appointed in terms of section 5(7)(a);

 

"International Civil Aviation Organisation"

means the specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for formulating standards and recommended practices for the purposes of civilian international air transport, established in terms of Article 43 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, in Chicago on 7 December  1944;

 

"International Maritime Organisation"

means the specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for formulating standards for civilian maritime transport and for the safety of life at sea, established in terms of the Convention on International Maritime Organisation, in Geneva on 6 March 1948;

 

"Minister"

means the Minister of Transport;

 

"regulations"

any regulation made under section 23;

[Definition inserted by section 1 of Act No. 5 of 2013]

 

"person"

includes any institution or organisation equipped to assist in a search and rescue operation, an organ of state, a government and an agency of the government of a foreign country;

 

"prescribed"

means prescribed by regulation;

 

"rescue"

includes the provision of the initial medical treatment of a person rescued;

 

"rescue co-ordination centre"

means an institution responsible for promoting the efficient organisation of search and rescue services and for co-ordinating the conduct of search and rescue operations within a search and rescue region;

 

"rescue subcentre"

means a suitably appointed unit tasked to carry out duties of a rescue co-ordination centre in instances where the rescue co-ordination centre cannot exercise direct and effective control over search and rescue  facilities in certain parts of a search and rescue region;

 

"SASAR"

means the South African  Search and Rescue Organisation established by section 4;

 

"search and rescue region"

means a region contemplated in section 11 (1)(c) in which the co-ordination of search and rescue operations is effected by a single rescue co-ordination centre;

 

"the Conventions"

means—

 

"this Act"

includes the regulations;

 

"vessel"

means any water-navigable craft of any type, whether self-propelled or not.