Fishing delegation travels from Port Nolloth to Cape Town in vain

A group of poor fishermen from Port Nolloth were turned away empty handed after travelling 700km to consult the Department of Agriculture‚ Forestry and Fisheries in Cape Town – only to be bundled onto the bus back home.

Not only did the trip cost them more than R6‚000 – a large sum for the subsistence fishermen – but they did not even make it through the door of DAFF's foreshore head office.

"They said they can't tell us anything‚" said the group’s spokesman‚ Walter Steenkamp.

The fishermen had hoped to draw attention to their plight: they are stranded due to a delay in government's long-awaited small-scale fishing implementation plan. Despite favourable crayfish-catching conditions along the west coast‚ they are currently not allowed to go fishing – because government has yet to publicly announce the final list of small-scale rights holders.

In the meantime‚ they have no other means of income.

"We feel it’s unfair towards the fishing community that not one of the officials can make the effort to give us five minutes to hear what our problems are. Possibly we could have come up with a solution‚" Steenkamp said.

The Northern Cape is the pilot province for government's small-scale fishing policy‚ which aims to secure fishing income for largely impoverished coastal communities by setting up community cooperatives. However‚ the policy is currently beset with problems – related mostly to disagreements over the final lists of small-scale fishing beneficiaries.

Craig Smith‚ DAFF's head of small-scale fishing‚ yesterday acknowledged that he had been approached to meet with the fishermen‚ but said he had been powerless to address their concerns about the stalled process.

Ironically‚ late yesterday Smith received news that the Northern Cape's small-scale beneficiaries list has been finalised. He said this would be communicated to the disgruntled group as soon as possible.

"We agreed that we wouldn't meet [the fishermen] – but we later became aware that the Minister [Senzeni Zokwana] has signed off on the Northern Cape final list. It means we can go ahead‚" Smith said‚ adding that meetings and workshops would now be scheduled to start setting up the community cooperatives.

The implementation plan is likely to face several challenges‚ such as complaints from fishermen left off the beneficiaries list.

The Northern Cape provisional list contained several questionable decisions‚ according to Steenkamp and his colleagues. Excluding fishermen from the list would have dire consequences for the individuals concerned‚ the group said.

"They set up this system to uplift us‚ but we are worried that we are now worse off than before. We have become beggars‚" said Jennifer Caroulus.

Another fisherman‚ Eliaz de Klerk‚ said the community was tired of unfulfilled promises‚ and feared the fishing resources would not be shared equally. He said his family was disappointed in him‚ because he was unable to provide income. "At the end of the day‚ you look like a liar in front of your own kids. It is heartbreaking. Politics is a dirty game. It is unfair‚" De Klerk said.