SUBMISSIONS TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY

SULAIMAN ACHMAD

A BRIEF HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

When I was born at the trek by Jaffa's Beach in Simon's Town, my mother was a widow. She was a trekker and our existence depended entirely on trekking.

When I was about 7 years old my mother married a man who did not provide for her and the children to the extent that the authorities had to step in and remove the children and placed them in a place of safety.

I did not have a normal childhood, as there was seldom food on our table. My mother and I had no fixed address and we slept in old dilapidated buildings and often in the bush. .

I left school at the age of 8 tiU12 I worked as a trekker to assist my mother financially. I started traditional line fishing at the age of 12.

When I was 17 I traveled to Namibia, Angola and Las Palmas to earn a living as a crewman on the purse seine boats. The trawling season was for 7 months of the year. During the off season when we had to return home I continued to catch line fish and trek until the new season started.

My difficult upbringing made me determined to better myself and ensure that none of my dependents would ever suffer the way I did.

In 1968 the coloured people of Simon's Town was forced to move to Ocean View by the Group Areas Act. This made it very difficult for the traditional line fisherman and trekkers, as there was limited transport to and from Ocean View.

In 1970 besides line fishing and trekking I also started cray fishing in the off season. This enabled me to become an expert on these sectors of the fishing industry.

Between 1973 and 1977 with the money I earned in Namibia, Angola, Las Palmas and locally I purchased 14 west coast rock lobster permits. The total catch was 18 tonne.

In 1973 I also bought my first boats S.T. 49, S.T. 44. These were two rowing dinghies. In 1977 I bought a traditional line fishing boat the Ang Jerry.

The laws governing the harvesting of the rock lobster at the time required that I had to return the 14 ring net permits so that I could operate the Ang Jerry as a crayfish catching vessel using traps.

I also purchased a trek at Klein Vishoek beach from Mr. O Jaffa as he was financially unable to sustain it. This trek was in his family for over 100 years. I was also a crewman at his trek for a number of years.

In 1980 I bought a sardine quota from a Mr. Bunny Pendlebury. In 1986 I purchased a neglected traditional line fishing vessel the Ivy Doreen. I then refitted and overhauled it at a great financial cost. I then transferred it to a historically disadvantaged individual.

In 1988 I had a new boat built as an investment for my family, hereby creating employment for the local fisherman. In 2000 I started a new fishing business and later accepted 3 partners to build a new boat for the hake long line fishing. With this I created even more employment and once again proved that I am prepared to re-invest my money in the fishing industry.

As one whose entire life is totally committed to the fishing industry, I do not have the luxury of being able to spend my time on any recreational activities such as hobbies and sport.

Before the new fishing policy was implemented I was active in most spheres of fishing. With the new policy" where one is only allowed access to one species I now sit with the equipment that cost me a lot of money but which is of no use to me now. Contrary to my expectations of the new Government's black economic empowerment policy I am now worst off than I was pre 1994.

As a historically disadvantaged individual and because of my history, my investment of the time, and money I fail to understand why the following events have happened to me.

1. When I met the Minister and his party in Hout Bay, I requested that he visit our trek to see the problems we were experiencing, he replied by saying that I was the one who was taking them to court. One of his party then said I was not the one but I was on the list. What list was he talking about.

2. Of the crayfish allocated to me 2 tonne was taken away and given to new entrants in the industry.

3. My hand-line fishing license was withdrawn.

4. My trek permit was withdrawn. This after assisting Mr. Bruce Bennet from V.C.T. in conducting a survey over period of 18 months on the state of the white steenbrass stocks at Klein Vishoek.

In conclusion I can thus proudly state, that as a historically disadvantaged individual, who persevered and through hard work, determination and despite all the hardships and setbacks I experienced while growing up, that I am a self made businessman.

Everything I posses I either worked for or bought as nothing was ever given to me for free. I have also empowered and enlightened numerous local boat owners and their crews. Thus assisting them in becoming a successful part in the fishing industry.

I am well known and respected in the fishing industry allover the west coast as well as the east coast. Many of the people come to me for advice, this despite me not having any type of formal education. Most of my time is spent ensuring that my businesses operate successfully and therefore I do not have the time to further my education and thus I am still illiterate.

Since the implementation of the new fishing policy my investments on the fishing industry have taken a turn for the worst. Originally I had access to trekking, sardines, line fish, crayfish and tuna. To be successful one had to diversify as when one species migrated or when the season closed YQU could move on to the next species to keep going.

Since my involvement in these species I bought two traditional hand line-fishing boats. I also has a purse seine boat built with three partners I built a hake long line fishing boat. With the new policy my investments in fishing are now lying idle as:

1. My trek permit was withdrawn. My boats nets and other equipment are useless, as it appears that a decision regarding this matter is still far from conclusion.

2. A hand line-fishing license was not granted to me. I am a traditional fisherman who had a license for over 25 years.

I am disappointed and disillusioned by the decision to grant permits to new entrants [ski-boats] at the expense of the traditional fisherman and boat owners.

The coloured communities of fishing villages dominated line fishing, yet the coloured boat owners and fisherman are now being denied the right to fish.

The boat owners who lost their licenses have been fishing for over 50 years and as a bona fide fisherman I believe that I have a legitimate right to a hand line permit.

It is a fallacy that the traditional hand line boats are a danger to the resource. The real danger to the resource is the ski boats. The ski boats are able to gain access to the fish when the boats are stuck in the harbor because of inclement weather. The ski boat fisherman are able to get to the fish because they can hook up their boats to their towing vehicles and travel by road to the fishing grounds which are inaccessible to the traditional boats: With the speed the ski boats have they can travel up to 5 times faster than the traditional boats. They are therefore able to fish for up to two hours longer per day and still beat the traditional boats back to harbor. Thus they get the benefit of the best price for their catch. They are also allowed to use the launching facilities of various angling clubs, which is also very cost effective for them.

Mr. Wally Croom is the chairman of a ski boat organization of which 200 members applied for hand line permits. Of these 200 applications over 190 were successful. Contrary to this the Kalk Bay Owners Association made up of mostly coloured boat owners and only had 5 members being successful in their application for their license.

3. My application and appeal for a sardine quota was turned down due to an oversight by the person who filled in my application. My application was handled by someone else as I am illiterate and thus unable to do my own paper work. Now because of this the boat I had specifically built as a family investment for sardine fishing, which is valued at approximately R3 million only had a small crayfish quota, which is insufficient to keep it going financially. I am thus forced to shop around for catching agreements with so-called paper holders. Although I do not agree with this I am forced to accept this, as I have no other option under the new fishing policy. Coupled to this there are certain issues regarding the sardine industry that bothers me such as the verification and allocation of rights.

I personally know of historically disadvantaged individuals who are not traditional fisher folks who received large sardine and anchovy quotas in the medium term rights. When they were again granted this right in the long term they sold these rights to large companies involved in the sardine industry. I believe that this wrong as they were given these quotas to empower themselves, re-invest in fishing and create employment for other fisherman. I also feel that the ruling, which states that if one's application is unsuccessful and that you have to .wait 10 to 14 years to reapply. This is unfair as it automatically eliminates you for the next decade from involvement in fishing.

After the awarding of the quotas and seeing the business plans of those who were successful in their applications it would be interesting to know if the authorities are aware of how many quota and license holders are fully independent of the big companies and how many fishing companies are fully owned by people of colour, These questions pertain to the fields of fishing such as sardines, tuna, hake long line, hand line hake, squid and deep sea trawling.

Another effect of the fishing policy on fishermen would be the elimination of the traditional fishermen from the fishing business as they would be forced to sell out to the larger companies because it will become financially impossible to keep your business afloat. The maintenance of on vessels and equipment continuously drains your capital due to rising price of items such as harbor fees, slip fees, survey, insurance and maintenance. Yet, the paper quota holder who only joined fishing when the quota system was introduced has no outlay and gets his financial reward without taking any monetary risk.

I believe that the act, which limits one to one species, is a flaw in the policy. I feel that this is unfair and unrealistic as traditional fisherman who is invested heavily in fishing before the introduction of the present quota system will be severely prejudiced.

Unless a change is brought about with regards to the ruling of limiting people like myself to one species all traditional fishermen who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of the new fishing policy will be forced out of the industry and this will lead to the further demise of fishing communities.

During my 50 years of involvement in the fishing industry I have seen and experience the emergence of new developments. Fishing has become more scientific over the years and scientists now playa major role rightly or wrongly when decisions regarding fishing policy are made.

I have after numerous debates with some of the scientists regarding their findings come to the conclusion that their findings are not as accurate as they make them out to be.

A prime example of this is when there were poor catches of Cape Salmon for over 30 years in the False Bay area the scientists were complaining of depleted stocks and made proposals that this species be placed on the endangered list. After their proposals fishermen started catching these fish in large numbers in False Bay.

This phenomenon of fish disappearing and reappearing is not something new and has been happening all these years. This concerns not only Cape Salmon but also most of the other species targeted by the traditional fishermen.

One of the main causes of fluctuating catches is the method used by big fishing companies and the other fisheries. One of these methods include the use of drift nets on the West Coast. These nets are placed in the migratory path of haarders and-severely restrict the catches of haarders in other trek areas.

HAKE LONGLINE APPLICATION

I have made application for a quota in the Hake Longline Sector through my Close Corporation, Ang-Jerry Fishing CC of which my wife is also a member. This application was not successful as the Delegated Authority decided not to allocate rights to any new entrant applicants as they want to protect the hake stocks and indicated that the T AC is likely to be reduced and no new entrants will be accommodated .

Here again I want to remind the Portfolio Committee that through Ang-Jerry Fishing CC I have made huge financial sacrifices to be involved in this hake sector of the industry besides the investments I have made as described before. I initiated the construction of a fishing vessel which was designed and equipped to harvest hake longline and this vessel is named after me "Sulaiman". I joined joined up with 3 other shareholders to form a company called Arbah Holdings (Pty) Ltd to have this vessel constructed at a cost ofR3 m inclusive of all the equipment and fishing gear. When this vessel is in operation it generates employment for 22 crewmen.

Currently this vessel catches hake for only 2 rightsholders/shareholders viz Trawl Investments CC and I fortune & Crew (Pty) Ltd. At this rate it is definitely not sustainable to operate this vessel .

I wish to state that I did have a quota of 33,9 tons in the year 2000 . I was involved in the experimental fishing ofHake Longline and on the basis if this and the approval of Marine and Coastal Management, I decided to have this hake longline vessel constructed at a huge cost.

Before the allocation of the medium term rights, this quota of33.9 ton was taken away and since the I was never granted rights in this sector.

Presently in order to keep this vessel viable, we are forced to catch hake for other rightsholders in Saldanha Bay and Mossel Bay.

I wish to alert the Portfolio Committee of problems that occur in the Hake Longline industry where rightsholders have conflicts within their own organization regarding the ownership of quotas eg 2 shareholders have hake fishing rights but not the other 2/3 and disputes occur with the income generated by the catching operations .

ANOMALIES NOTED IN OTHER SUCCESSFUL MTRH

I have examined the list of successful applicants as contained in the list distributed by the Department entitled;" Successful Hake Longline MTRH Applicant and Quantum Allocated" dated 9 March 2006 and noted the following in relation to the vessels nominated:

Four applicants have yet to nominate a vessel.

I find it unacceptable that where one of the essential requirements is to demonstrate access to a suitable vessei; applicants can nevertheless be successful in their application form.

It is further noted that three of these applicants have received a sizable allocation at least double that of Trawl Investment and in the case of lntlanzi Fishing, four times the allocation. To achieve such a sizable quota without the ability to show access to a vessel seems counter intuitive.

The application form requires that access to a suitable vessel to be shown and I find it difficult to understand how this access can be demonstrated to the DA without, at the very least, being able to nominate one or more possible vessels it may be able to utilize on exploiting the allocation.

I submit that these four applicants can be excluded from the list of successful applicants on the basis that they were unable, in their application forms, to clearly nominate a vessel in which to exploit their allocation.

At least one vessel is UP for sale

The vessel MRV Oosterdam is publicly known to be for sale. Two successful applicants have nominated this vessel for the exploitation of their allocations.

I submit that as the ability to nominate a vessel is an essential requirement to the success of an applicant's application; the sale of the MRV Oosterdam requires the Appeal Authority and or the Portfolio Committee to re-examine the application of these two applicants if required, remove them from the successful list of MTRH applicants.

Maximum catching capability of the vessel "Shivon" and " Seapride".

The Shivon is nominated as the catching vessel for five applicants. In total, this results in the Shivon catching a total of 407.007 tons for the first two years of the long-term rights period (until the matter comes up for review). The Seapride is nominated by four applicants and so would be exploiting a total allocation of 247.902.

These large-sized allocations for a single vessel are very large when compared to the allocation received by Trawl Investments. Where the Department states its policy objectives of transformation and encouraging HDl's within the industry, such large discrepancies between the vessels means that some vessels will be overworked and will be hard-pressed to meet their catching requirements, other vessels (such as the Sulaiman) will be left in the harbour unutilized. Again this is counter intuitive and should be re-looked at.

Black-owned vessels:

The only black-owned vessels, other than the Sulaiman owned by Arbah Holdings, are those ofMVH Largo ( nominated by Mossel Bay Indigenous), Sean Paquitto ill ( nominated by Activest Twenty (Pty) Ltd) and Hermans ( nominated by Impala Fishing (Pty) Ltd.

These vessels have all been allocated a sustainable allocation indicating the Department's support for these vessels. The Suiaiman is the one exception, as a newly constructed vessel, its needs are to go out to ~ regularly. This is clearly not possible on the allocation received from the DA . I request that all 4 shareholders in Arbah Holdings, the owner of, "Sulaiman" be allocated hake longline fishing rights. Furthermore, the Sulaiman is the only black-owned vessel which operated from Kalk Bay harbour.

I wish to point out that Kalk Bay Harbour is the first linefish harbour in South Africa and from this harbour only approximately 130 ton is allocated for hake longline out of a global allocation of 8 to 10 thousand tons .

Kalk Bay Harbour

The oldest traditional line fish vessels in South Afiica which eminates , from Kalk Bay harbour have lost their linefish rights. These vessels were specifically designed and built for linefish viz Ang-Jerry , Taj Mahal , Ivy Doreen, Marilyn Dawn, Gwendolene , Charlene, Zay- Y aan and Me 2 and more. The saddest part of all of this is the fact that they are all owned by Historically Disadvantaged persons . I can accurately state that the majority of these linefish licences are now in the hands of white persons living in Durbanville, Bellville and other areas, those persons who have taken early retirement packages and they are purported to be the important role players in the line fish industry .

Conclusion

I emphatically want to make it clear to the Portfolio Committee that if you want to survive in this industry , my experience as a traditional fisherman for the past 30 years as a Fishing Vessel owner, you must he involved in a multi specie operation.

I can state that there were a number of the small boatowners who have lost out financially because they were only involved in one sector of the fishing industry .

I cannot agree with the new fishing policies that you are entitled to be in one sector of the fishing industry . If the right persons were involved initially with the drafting of the fisheries policies, we would not have found ourselves in this situation today .

I, Sulaiman Achmad find myself in a situation today whereby I have lost my pelagic rights, linefish rights, beach seine rights and tuna pole rights.

With this fishing policy that is in place I now only have a West Coast Rock Lobster fishing right despite all the huge investments I made in the fishing industry taking into account my time , money and experience I have spent. I consider myself to be one of the forerunners in this industry .

I wish to state that I am well known by all the officials within the Department of Sea Fisheries and by the scientists who have obtained valuable and important information about the trekking from me.

The Portfolio Committee must be made aware that this industry is still dominated by the whites. Take the situation in Mossel Bay for example where there is a pilchard run . There are approximately 30 to 40 fishing vessels and only 2 or 3 vessels are owned by non whites or previously disadvantaged persons .

In the Tuna sector there are only about 6 fishing vessels owned by HDIs .

In the squid sector, the Portfolio Committee should investigate the number ofHDls involved in this sector.

With the loss my fishing rights as stated above, I was forced to resort to take legal steps to obt{rin my fishing rights at enormous costs, which was against all my wishes .

I have learnt from various sources that I was a target for some of the white officials and scientists within the Department of Sea Fisheries .

All of what I have described above, I am sure was never the policies of the new dispensation under this ANC government.

Thank you for giving me this hearing

Sulaiman Achmad

On behalf of Ang-Jerry Fishing CC

04 May, 2007

Re: WRITTEN SUBMISSION ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY

This submission will prove that trekking (net fish) has been a tradition passed down from generation to generation. A traditional means of fishing that has sustained the predominantly coloured community for over 200 years. A tradition that worked and works in harmony with the environment.

I believe that before we can discuss the criteria for issuing quotas, the barriers in its selection and the formation of a Fishing Charter, we need to understand the past and present dynamics and peoples within the fishing industry. We need to acknowledge the traditional fishermen who were raised by the sea. For us the sea is not only a means for securing our daily bread and butter, but the sea is our greatest teacher. The sea taught us respect, patience and compassion. All these derived life qualities are evident in the tradition (profession) of Trekking, which I will illustrate.

In my illustration you will meet the traditional fishermen, the beaches (points) from where they trekked and a general understanding as to the workings of trekking. You will clearly see the dehumanizing effects of the Apartheid regime with its Bantu education policies and the Group Areas Act, which has raped us of our God-given rights to a dignified life. You will clearly see that the present day democracy has inadvertently perpetuated the evils of Apartheid on the coloured traditional fishermen.

BRIEF HISTORY OF TREK FISHING

Trek fishing or Seine-netting from shore-based boats is a family business passed on from generation to generation. The method of Trek fishing from the beach has not changed over the centuries and is still regarded as a way to gather food. The traditional fishermen, who have had the trek right for generations, have played an integral part of sustaining and developing their community.

TREK FISHING PROCEDURES

A shoal of fish is spotted from an observation post on the hill or a promontory above the bay by the 'uitkyker' or 'wagter'. Blue water or sometimes light yellow, indicated haarders; elf gave a bluish tinge; a dark colour showed a compact shoal and an experienced fisherman could estimate the number of fish. When the spread of colour moved within range of the trekkers, a signal would be given by a blow on a whistle or flag, and the boat with the net piled in readiness in the stern sheets, sets out from the shore with one end of the net secured to the shore by a rope manned by all available sometimes even including members of the passing public. The net is thrown out over the stern and the boat manoeuvres in a circle in accordance with instructions signaled from the look-out post. The other end of the net also has a hauling rope which is brought ashore. The net is pulled in and the enclosed fish are hauled to the shore.

There are no motors aboard to frighten the fish and trek netting operations are confined to sandy beach areas, free of rock which could foul and damage the nets

'Voortrek' man was entitled to at least 4,000 fish. This position was rotated in turn. Failing his taking this amount, the catch was abandoned to the 'agter trek' and trekked again. Usually the 'agtertrek' man netted the fish that escaped from the 'voortrek' nets. The sale of the catch was shared with the Captain, the owner, the boat and the net taking two shares; the rowers and the man on the shore and the owner gets an additional share for selling the fish. The fish hawkers and representatives from the fishing companies bought the fish at a price determined by the size and type of fish.

BOATS

There seems to be no 'Cape' design boat. Tradition prevailed with changes being made as the conditions warranted them. Usually a rough shelter or shack would house the man who knew how to build and repair the local boats. It is often a part-time occupation and the average fisherman would usually be able to carry out all the major repairs using his own hands, tools and local resources. The local part-time expert often became permanent and a family affair would evolve of a partnership of brothers, father, and sons.

TREK BEACHES

Buffels Bay: The base for Henry Emery from St Ives, Cornwall. He took it over from Mr. McKellar who had also operated lime kilns at Buffels Bay. The rights passed to the de Villiers brothers and when they left, the son of Henry Emery took it over. In 1978 his great grandson, Victor Lawrence still operated from Buffels Bay.

Steen bras Bay: The base for the Muller family. With the building of the East Dockyard the family was granted the sole rights to use Frank's Bay and Fisherman's Beach at Froggy Pond. The lookout was below the present-day Arum Road in Murdock Valley.

Jaffa's Beach: This is where I, Sulaiman Achmad, was born on Cole Point Road, 200km away from Jaffa's Bay. I was raised with the Jaffa family and started trekking with them from the age of five.

Long beach: Used by the Emery, Lawrence and Cotton families. George Cotton was the first man to land three large Blue Fin tuna from his nets. His sons, Cc;>rnelis and John Cotton are still operating there. Cornelius has had over 40 years of spotting from the hill above the beach or on the wall next to the railway. A look-out hut can still be found off Paradise Road.

Klein VishoekjBr.eda's Beach: rights owned first by the Bruyns family who salted harders and mackerel which were dried and hung on 'stelassies', put into old trap-balies' and salted. They were first sold to farmers in Paarl, Wellington and Worcestor areas by wagon and later by rail. The rights were bought by Gysbert van Reenen van Breda in 1888 and the business was sold in 1959 to the Marine Oil Refiners. Henry Lawrence had rights to trek at Klein Vishoek. The Simonstown Municipality revoked Henry Lawrence Klein Vishoek trek rights because he already had a right at Buffels Bay. The Klein Vishoek rights to operate were given to the Oesman Jaffa to compensate him from the force removal at Jaffa Bay.

This glimpse into the daily lives of the traditional fishermen clearly illustrates a tradition - a specialist skill that was taught by a father to their son (s); a skill that has sustained families and communities for over 200 years. Perhaps, no history was recorded in the conventional school curricular, but we, fisherman have a rich history of sharing of skills and resources. The points from which we trek today, were earned from our forefathers. The Apartheid regime tried to dehumanize us, by displacing us from our heritage, from our livelihood but today we are proof of a surviving and sustainable heritage and livelihood.

My story - Sulaiman Achmad

I was born in a little house in Cole Point road, next to the Jaffa family, which was 200m

away from Jaffa's beach. Incidentally, the beach was named after the Jaffa family, due to their years of trekking and line fishing. I lived with my uncle Achmat Achmat who was working with the Jaffa brothers. One fateful day on sea, the weather turned treacherous and their boat capsized, Achmat Achmat was the sole survivor from crew of seven, including the skipper Tahudien Jaffa. After Tahudien's death, his brother Oesman Jaffa, continued with the fishing operations, namely trekking and linefishing. At that time I was 5 years old.

********SEE NEWSPAPER CLIPPING OF BOATING ACCIDENT***********pagesl-3

Today, the only remains of Jaffa bay is a name plague on one of the streets in the Navy Base. *********see pix***********. Because of the Group Areas Act we were forced to move from Cole Point road to Oceanview, which is approximately 12kms from Jaffa's Bay. Each day, we had to travel from Oceanview to Jaffa's bay to work. Many fishermen could .not afford the travelling cost and were slowly forced to stop fishing. After 80years of trekking, the Navy closed Jaffa's Bay to expand tt)e docks for a submarine basin.

The Simonstown Municipal compensated Oesman Jaffa by giving him the beach rights to operate in Kleinvishoek. Because of the Group Areas Act, Oesman moved to no 21 Jordaan Street, BoKaap, Malay Quarters. After a few years, the travelling distance, cost and his old age were taking its toll, and he started handing over the operations to me. He entrusted me with the family tradition, his livelihood because I have always worked side by side with him and hi~ family. In fact I was raised with the Jaffas'.

******see pix********NEWS CLIPPING OESMAN WITH SULAIMAN******** page 4

Since, the age of five I have been at sea trekking with the Jaffa family. I did not have any formative schooling education, because in those years, the school was owned by the Catholic missionaries, it was too far to travel and not conducive to learning. Much later a Muslim primary school opened and I was already working on the sea supporting myself and my family. I worked diligently for years, first as a trekker then developing into a profitable and sustainable fisherman, employing more than 25 and up to 50 persons at a time. **** see extracts of wage book*********** page 5

Sometimes, we had to wait months for a shoal of fish, sometimes some years were good, it was all part of the natural cycle, we survived. I earned the fishing rights to catch - sardines, tuna pole, pilchards, linefish, crayfish and trekking. In 1977 I bought

a 14m linefish boat (Anne Jerry) and a linefish licence from Louis Williams. (Since 1957, Louis Williams held the linefish licence and boat.) From 1973 to 19771bought up to fourteen (14) rowing dinghies (small boats) with crayfish rights. I transferred the 14 crayfish catch to the one boat, Anne Jerry. In 1980 I bought the rights of Sardines, from a white fisherman, Bunny Bentalberry and then transferred it to my boat, Anne Jerry.

In 1977, Oesman Jaffa, officially retired and transferred his trekking rights to me. I compensated him with a gift and he asked me to always look after his family, Today, Tahudien Jaffa (the fisherman that drowned in 1948) son, Ebrahim, works for me.

In the 1980's I applied for a Tuna pole licence and it was granted to me by the Marine Department. At that time I was the only non-white fisherman to be granted a Tuna pole licence. From the 1970's to the 1980's I operated my Linefish, Sardines, Crayfish and Tuna Pole licence from my boat, Anne Jerry. Over the years I paid over R500 000 for my crayfish rights and fishermen that applied after me received more rights without paying for it.

******** see list from the Department, illustrating the number of permits.-purchases and rights granted, from 1984 ************** page 7 - page 1 6

On the last pages you will clearly see that I have also operated a Sardine licence. I was one of three non-whites, who purchased a Sardine licence.

Through the years, I developed my formative trekking skills into a thriving business. And, when the new democratic government came into power 1 lost all my fishing rights, except my crayfish rights. I believe that there are a few people in power trying to tarnish the reputation of our good democracy. The then Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Pallo Jordan, visited my beach, to ascertain the extent of my plight and reassured my rights as a traditional fisherman. After, his transfer to Min of Arts and Culture, no other Minister or government official listened to our presentation and only relied on the presentations by the white scientists and fisherman

I am proof of an activist that has consistently fought for the rights of the marginalized and disadvantaged. *****see letter of parliament contribution********** page 17

I would like to illustrate, without prejudice, that more white fishermen received fishing and trekking rights than the coloured and black fishermen, namely the Hutchings at Smitswinkel Bay.

****see Trust payouts of 1994***** page 18 - page 53

On the Trust paid out you will see the fishermen Tim and Ken Hutchings, they are the sons of the scientist, Ken Hutchings, who works at the Sea Fisheries. Their application for a medium term trekking right was approved. You will clearly see on the pictures below that their trekking point, resembles a holiday resort and mine on Kleinvishoek a shack, because of the imposed impoverishment by the new dispensation. You will also read in the minutes of a workshop held on the .13 and 19 of February 1998 between all the fishing stakeholders, including Government. Researchers, Nature conservationist and fishermen that the treknetters were unfairly chosen as the only fishery sector to be investigated on False Bay and that the others were excluded.

**********see minutes of workshop****************

In a separate incident. I have know Alfred Kingba personally for years, he comes from a fishing family, and used to catch Linefish and Sardines, never a trek fisherman. He gave up fishing when he was younger to work for a golf club. He worked there for approximately twenty (20) years. He owns no equipment and has no crew. No evidence is found on the trust papers of him trekking. Today, he is granted medium term rights to trek. I believe he has been used as a front by Kenneth Kingma. Alfred is a coloured nephew of Kenneth Kingma, who treks at Smitwinkel bay.

*********Please see pictures of Smitswinkel bay, looking like a holiday resort (page 54) and the all white crew, (page 55)taken last year ***************

********Please see a recent picture illustrating my dilapidated working shed.********** page 56

I have enclosed all documented proof for your understanding and hope that our rights as traditional fishermen will be upheld.

Kind regards,

Sulaiman Achmad