Ten members of the Coastal Links executive committee and staff of Masifundise have embarked on a 13 day road show to fishing communities in KwazuluNatal and the Eastern Cape. The team set off on 29 July and will return on 11 August 2012.
The visit to various areas in the two provinces will give the executive a deeper insight into the challenges facing small scale fishers and the conditions in their communities.
Through this experience, the Coastal Links leaders and Masifundise staff will be in a better position to develop strategies that facilitate the building of strong organisation for the fishers that is able to advance their interests.
They are also going to promote a gender workshop to be hosted by Masifundise and Coastal Links in September.
The delegation will travel thousands of kilometres and meet with communities in Kosi Bay, Mabibi, Sokhulu and Amatikulu (in KZN) and Gcina, Lalini, PSJ Central and Mzamba (in the Eastern Cape).
Masifundise and Coastal Links expanded to these provinces last year after much preparatory work, In June last year, two field staff members were appointed – Mr Mcebisi Kraai in the Eastern Cape and Mr Samuel Masinga in KZN. Many community consultative meetings were held and two major workshops were hosted at the end of 2011, one in each province.
The road show will be used as a stepping stone to building on the gains made in the first year.
We will provide a report on our experiences as soon as the road show is completed.