Harbour control storm is brewing

06 September 2015 - 02:00 By BOBBY JORDAN

There's a stink hanging over South Africa's main fishing harbours - and it isn't just the smell of fish. Millions of taxpayer rands are being spent on military veterans guarding fishing quays at several Western Cape harbours, but nobody is sure what they are doing there - including many of the veterans themselves.In addition, a political tug-of-war has erupted over control of harbour management, prompting an intergovernmental legal dispute.Once the preserve of colourful trawlers and slap chips, the harbours are degenerating into a national joke.This week, the Sunday Times established that despite a multimillion-rand budget, a military veterans anti-poaching project at several fishing harbours is in disarray, with veterans claiming they have nothing to do.They have no transport, and knock off before dark - when most poaching begins. The project was launched in 2009 by President Jacob Zuma amid much fanfare.Also, key infrastructure is falling into disrepair due to a bureaucratic tangle involving all tiers of government involved in harbour management - local, provincial and national.block_quotes_start The people who pay the price are the fishermen in our coastal villages who miss out on job opportunities block_quotes_endSome fishing stakeholders claim harbours are being used to enrich politically connected cadres, citing a harbour security contract awarded in Hout Bay to local ANC leader Timmy Jacobs. Jacobs said this week the contract was no longer valid and had been unrelated to the veterans programme.Control of the harbours was a flash point during last year's elections and prompted a stand-off between the ANC and the DA that culminated in an intergovernmental dispute last month.An ANC document, prepared in 2013 for a harbour summit that never took place and circulated among the ANC's Western Cape provincial leadership, said: "We are extremely concerned that any decision to legislatively devolve the administration function of our 12 nationally proclaimed fishing harbours to the Democratic Alliance-led provincial government in the Western Cape will deal our potential for an election victory in the Western Cape a debilitating blow."Last month, Zuma said the government would set up a Small Harbours Development Authority, and was looking at declaring new harbours.Meanwhile, the DA-led provincial government is pushing ahead with its plan to devolve harbours to local government - and says it has the constitutional right to do so.This would place historic Kalk Bay and Hout Bay harbours under the control of the City of Cape Town.Last month, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille addressed sceptical fishermen at Kalk Bay harbour, confirming she had declared an official intergovernmental dispute.story_article_right1Kalk Bay fishermen who spoke to the Sunday Times said the move was yet another political ploy - and not aimed at improving conditions for working fishermen.ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said: "We reject the DA's attempt to take over the harbours and reward the elite. We will fight this issue. Zille's blame-and-complain politics are outdated."However, DA fisheries spokeswoman Zelda Jongbloed said the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries was neglecting the harbours."The people who pay the price are the fishermen in our coastal villages who miss out on job opportunities as a result. Give the DA a chance to show how it should be done," she said.Visits to three fishing harbours this week revealed widespread apathy among military veterans enlisted in the anti-poaching programme - with most pointing fingers at the department. Veterans in Hout Bay and Kalk Bay said they had been promised permanent employment but nothing had come of it.The department has not responded to queries about the programme for several weeks.However, commenting on the programme earlier this year, Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Kebby Maophatsoe said the veterans were being exploited and should be given more support.He said that at one stage a security company had been involved and had paid them little as "security guards"...

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