The first case presented at Masifundise and Coastal Links Fisher People’s Tribunal, titled “The Broken Promises of the SSF Policy,” was key in highlighting the ongoing rights violations faced by small-scale fishers. Despite years of marginalisation under colonial and apartheid policies, fishers continue to struggle for recognition and fair treatment within South Africa’s fisheries sector. They fought for and achieved the Small-Scale Fisheries Policy (SSFP), intended to safeguard their rights, but the Policy’s implementation has failed to promote and protect their livelihoods.
Fisher representatives from across the country’s four coastal provinces testified about the government’s failure to uphold their rights. They pointed to the misaligned regulations, a flawed verification process to recognize bona fide fishers and challenges with the establishment of cooperatives and the push for commodification of the fisheries, that have undermined the Policy’s benefits.
Andre Cloete, a fisher leader and activist from Papendorp, Western Cape (WC), shared how the SSFP was meant to address fishers’ struggles, but the regulations that followed contradicted the policy’s principles. He emphasized that “The regulations don’t speak to the policy, what the policy said does not reflect in the regulations, the regulations are coming from the government, the policy comes from the people, coming from the fishers.”
Maria Hoffman, from Pearly Beach in the WC, highlighted the gender inequities in the Policy implementation, particularly the exclusion of women from fishing activities due to a limited basket of species that benefit women. She pointed out the need for more sustainable species that women can harvest, as current provisions prevent their full participation in the sector.
Zingisa Ludude, from Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, discussed the impracticalities of the cooperative model, noting that distant communities were forced into cooperatives, making the effective function of the co-op very difficult. She added “Distant communities were clustered into distant cooperatives, which created an impossible situation, in which they were unable to travel and join with others to create co-ops.”
Randall Bentley, also from the Eastern Cape, further criticised the flawed verification process, which allowed outsiders with influence to enter cooperatives, undermining the authenticity of small-scale fishers’ representation. He also pointed out that “The government then comes in and gives 2 hours of co-op business training over 2 days. That is a total of 4 hours training and then told to go forward and do business. There is no practical assistance thereafter. We are then sent to other places if we need help”.
Sabelo Mzileni from North Coast, Kwazulu Natal, highlighted the severe impact of the Policy implementation failure on fishing communities. He explained that unemployment has risen sharply, as many fishers are now unable to earn a livelihood due to restrictions on fishing. This directly affects their ability to provide for their families, as they depend on the sea for food and income. These policy failures not only threaten food security but also undermine the cultural rights and traditional way of life for these communities, exacerbating their overall struggle for survival.