Fishers denied entry to Zokwana meeting

DISGRUNTLED fishers from as far as Port Elizabeth and the West Coast reacted angrily when they were denied entry to a meeting held by Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana at a venue disclosed only minutes before it started.

It was held within the Parliamentary precinct.

Zokwana had called the meeting to address the leaders of fishing organisations, who marched to his department’s offices on the Foreshore last week, demanding the immediate suspension of the West Coast rock lobster fishing rights allocation process.

Near-shore fisher Mita Afrikaner said she had come all the way from the West Coast for the meeting, only to be told that only those whose names appeared on a memorandum handed to the department last week were allowed to enter.

“My husband died at sea in 2009. I applied for his rights and it was granted only in 2016, but now the rights have been taken away. It is not right.

“That’s why I wanted to attend the meeting.”

Fisher Gilbert Kido said he was also denied participation at the meeting, even though he had come from Port Elizabeth with a delegation.

They had been invited to the meeting by the South African United Fishing Front as ongoing problems with the department’s policies were experienced across fishing communities.

The NPO’s chairperson, Pedro Garcia, who attended the meeting with Zokwana, said they had raised a number of issues relating to small-scale and near-shore fishers.

“No specific answers had been given.

“Discussions will continue at a meeting with the department’s deputy director-general, Siphokazi Ndudane, tomorrow (today),” said Garcia.

A department statement said the meeting was in line with a fishers’ demand for Zokwana to meet with them within seven days.

“The meeting agreed on peaceful and constructive dialogue and further agreed to establish working committees to address all issues raised on behalf of fishing communities.

“The meeting clarified issues that needed urgent attention and issues that needed regular interaction between the department and the fishing community leaders,” the statement read.

The follow-up meeting with the deputy director-general would address issues of communication, transformation of the sector and an urgent call for an investigation of cases where communities complained they had been robbed of their fishing rights by large fishing companies.

The department said that at the meeting Zokwana had also undertaken to publishing a notification by the end of September calling for nominations for the establishment of a Fisheries Transformation Council.