HLANGANANI FISHING BUSINESS FORUM

Introduction

Hlanganani Fishing Business Forum was formed on the 7 September 2006. It was a great experience of culmination and difficult participatory processes of uniting the entities and individuals in the fishing industry. This forum is formed to help all the entities that have a problem with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and Marine and Coastal Management. This forum is a non-profit organization. Its purpose is to serve on a consolidated front, as the voice of the small fishing companies and individuals fisher people. Hlanganani will liaise with the appropriate Policy Maker presenting its insights on issues affection its members within the fishing Industry facilitating the process of co Management between the people, small entities and Government.

Objectives

v To assist bona fide fishing individual applicants and the small entities that has been excluded from the long term fishing rights due to incorrect assessment.

v To present unified front on issues to facilitate the principles of Co Management of the fishing industry with the Department of MCM. Some of the issues to be discussed would be TAC (total allowable cash), Zone allocation, permits, levies, compliance issues and policies.

v To capacitate its members with relevant Skills, Development and Training.

v To create and provide the necessary skills, infrastructure and business networks, so that its members retain sovereignty in their business ventures, facilitating authentic empowerment.

v To discuss and consider with relevant structures, environmental factors influencing the fishing sector.

ALLOCATION OF LONG TERM FISHING RIGHTS

Comments and Questions

The Minister of Environment Affairs convened numerous public meetings with prospective fishing right applicants. It was indicated that the focus of the rights allocation process would centered on the people from disadvantage communities. It was also suggested that prospective applicants had to form legal entities joining with white companies or person, who have access to infrastructure and finance. Some of people were previous medium term right holders in the Limited Commercial (Small scale). As Hlanganani FBF and other organizations if any need an explanation from the cabinet and the deat and the MCM of why you agree and issuing the new entrance application forms although they know the fact that there will be no new entrant would be accommodated in some species. Through the idea of the Minister of forming entities they formed these entities and apply as entities not as individual in the long term allocation. The department didn’t explain to those who were individual small scale right holders to which category will they apply if they form the entities. During the appeal process the department came up with this idea that: these individuals who were Medium Term Limited Right Holders that had formed the entities were supposed to apply as an “ELECT” Category, although the category was not known to them.

It is our concerned that the promises made at the Woodstock hall have not been fulfilled.

Questions

1. Why did the Government invite people and small business entities to apply for various fishing rights knowingly that in certain sectors no new entrants would be allowed?
2. Why were the application forms still complicated as oppose the promise heralded by the Minister (Many successful applicants had lawyers and consultants to do their application)?
3. Why were companies that complied with all BEE criteria scored less than companies that were a 100% black owned?
4. In the first place they never explain the category so which category are they referring to?
5. Why were small Black Economic Empowerment companies who were operating in the medium term excluded from being allocated fishing rights without any physical verification has been done to determine if they are active or not in the industry?
6. Why the departments of MCM still not allocate fishing rights in sectors that affecting the bulk of HDI and Small Fishing Companies?

Empowerment

Many BEE companies and individuals that got fishing rights had given up their sovereignty through marketing and processing agreements to show “ investment” making them nothing more than paper quota holders. This prejudices BEE companies and individuals who have managed their own business well during the medium term fishing rights utilization.

Re-distribution

It is of great concern that the bulk of fishing rights and wealth still remain with pre-apartheid companies. BEE companies that did receive rights were very few, only in certain sectors and were allocated with minimal and unviable volumes.

Transformation

Transformation was prioritized over redistribution, larger companies especially those that had rights pre-apartheid era have the capacity and economic financial flexibility to take on and train additional people while a smaller company cannot. As a result smaller companies were at a disadvantage position from the onset of the application process.

Verification

There was very little physical verification, across the board of companies and individuals applying for fishing rights. We suggest that RVU should visit companies and assess their business on site of their operations interims of the criteria set. Sovereignty should be prioritized in the assessment of these companies.

Scoring

We feel scoring was not fairly conducted. There were companies given high scores that had sold their fishing rights purposely to show investments by means of harvesting and processing agreements. This does not allow transformation or hands on involvement by such entities that are what we call ‘paper quota’ holders.

Compliance

It is a great concern that government produced a very clear policy that who ever is interested to apply should comply with it. For example no late submission will be considered. On the day of the submission at Woodstock about 57 confirmed applicants submitted their applications after the allocated time constraints. About 20 of those were considered and some allocated rights. How the technical management committee allowed that to happen if they complied with the policy?

Quantum and TAC

Department of Marine and Coastal Management should be scientifically aware of the amount of fish available at sea versus amount of fish prepared for allocation before letting the poor people apply for the rights there after inform them that the TAC or Quantum does not allow the department to allocate rights. That spells out the incompetence, corruption and favors. In that score, judicial commission of enquiries should be set up to investigate the corruption and other unforeseen and unacceptable behaviors if there are any, conducted by the Technical Management Committee.

Whoever found guilty of such performance shall be held liable of the damage caused to the stakeholders and government expenses.

Recommendations

This forum is a people’s fishing forum of South Africa that is keen to co-manage and facilitate the business performance, upliftment and development of its members by networking, liaison and lobbing of the relevant Resources, Facilities and Infrastructure.

If the government can be of great source of revenue by providing necessary fishing rights these members will never be a liability but an asset the government will be proud of in this country.

Conclusion

This has resulted in a number of families and companies been detrimentally affected by these decisions in terms of loosing jobs and of course children stop schooling and become street kids.

We are the citizen of this country therefore we have a right to benefit in any resource of our choice that is our understanding. It should be much comprehended that people of this country shall learn to share the limited resources and try to involve those who were not. In that score only the government can enforce that to happen. The evolution of this country rely solely to those who do want to be the liability but to be the asset by getting rights they applied for purposely for the creation of jobs at the end of the day. We want immediate and urgent intervention by the Government so as to address these issues and set up judicial commission of enquiry that will trek why most applicants were unhappy with the results, yet the fishing giants are silent and continue with fishing business.

To investigate how much financial impact caused by these delays to the small fishing businesses that had rights in the medium term. How much costs the new entrants from the Disadvantaged Communities were involved with and where did they obtain money for application.

To conduct an urgent investigation to why small companies and individual applicants from the Previously Disadvantaged Communities were not allocated rights yet were invited to submit their applications. For whatever unnecessary expenses discovered by the commission such as hiring lawyers, consultants etc due to complications of the application forms, the affected members shall be reimbursed.

We want the government to allocate viably fishing rights with immediate effect in a fair manner that is satisfactory to all fishing applicants, particularly the black citizen of this country who were deprived of these fishing rights. Even the Minister still talks about the medium term right holders he doesn’t care about the new entrants who cried about the long term rights, he do not even call or listen to them, or address the issue.