Sea change continues to make waves

SEEING the removal of 14 sunken boats littering Hout Bay later this month will be a “lifetime achievement” for harbour master Pumla Feni-Gala.

The fishing harbour’s boss said the Department of Public Works would be removing the boats as part of Operation Phakisa, and Hout Bay was first on the clean-up list because it had the most wrecks.

“Once the wrecks are gone, I will be able to allocate the spaces to the boats.

“Hout Bay boats come first. Operational boats on one side and non-operational boats on the other. For me, it is a lifetime achievement,” Feni-Gala said.

Feni-Gala, 41, from Indwe in the Eastern Cape, has a Public Management diploma, and said the jump from being a Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries inspector, based at Cape Town harbour, to becoming harbour master last year had been “good and not so different”.

Sea Fisheries inspection meant enforcing Sea Fisheries and Marine Resources regulations for more than five years, while being a harbour master was more about management and demanding in that “you have to be around all the time”.

It meant relocating to Hout Bay from Khayelitsha, a move her children initially complained about, because it was “boring without their friends”.

“I have to be on the clock for quick response, for a sinking boat or if there is a break-in on a boat.”

Monthly joint operations between SAPS, harbour staff, customs officers, the Neighbourhood Watch, Community Policing Forum and other law enforcement agencies, meant criminal elements using the harbour for smuggling purposes had been thwarted, said Feni-Gala.

The seal feeders and the teen truants who harass tourists for money and “take their bags” remain a sore point for Feni-Gala, who said she’d highlighted the problem with the SAPS and social develop- ment.“Those kids have parents, they’re supposed to be at school, they are under age, probably between nine and 15 years, and are always hanging around the harbour.”

She admits she had not previously entertained the notion of becoming a harbour master because it was regarded as a “man’s job”. “I thought this was a chance to change the mentality that there are certain jobs that can’t be done by a woman.”

And the change in job has worked. “I am willing to learn everyday and take the challenge as it comes and I’m not afraid to seek advice from superiors,” she said.

Her management style – being consistent and transparent, sticking to the law and patiently explaining the need for compliance – has led to greater co-operation between stakeholders, Feni-Gala said.