Mossel Bay fishmeal company put in its place by fearless local journalist.
In a victory for press freedom, Judge Siraj Desai of the Western Cape High Court has dismissed with costs the urgent application to gag the website mosselbayontheline.co.za and its owner, veteran journalist Elsa Wessels.
The Angolanbased South African businessman Johannes Breed and his Mossel Bay company Afro Fishing applied for the interdict early in December last year. At the time Noseweek reported on Breed’s desperate effort to stop all Wessels’s publications from reporting on the alleged ties between Afro Fishing and Namibia’s Fishrot Scandal.
Journalist Elsa Wessels
Wessels also owns weskusontheline.co.za and has an active Facebook page that gets thousands of hits daily.
The fishing industry worldwide was shocked when WikiLeaks started to download 30,000 confidential documents on the internet on 11 November. The bombshell was followed by a television documentary broadcast by the Dohabased news channel Al Jazeera that exposed bribery, fraud, money laundering and state capture in Namibia.
It showed that highranking political figures in the country were receiving millions of dollars from foreign companies in return for profitable rights in the local fishing industry.
But even before the broadcast, Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, the CEO of Iceland’s largest fishing and fish processing conglomerate, Samherji, had stepped aside pending the outcome of an internal investigation into the company’s business in Namibia. The Namibian Minister of Justice Sacky Shanghala and the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Bernhardt Esau, as well as exInvestec Asset Management Namibia managing director James Hatuikulipi, the chairman of stateowned Fishcor, resigned and were subsequently arrested, while Fishcor’s CEO, Mike Nghipunya, was suspended.
Hatuikulipi and Nghipunya represented Fishcor on the board of Seaflower Pelagic Processors (Pty) Ltd, a joint venture between Fishcor and African Selection Fishing (ASF), the Namibian arm of the Angolan based company, African Selection Trust (AST).
Johannes Breed of Afro Fishing in Mossel Bay is a director of both ASF and AST. Breed was unhappy when Wessels reported these facts, especially since Afro Fishing’s public participation process to establish a fishmeal processing plant in Mossel Bay was in its final stages.
Afro Fishing's existing sardine cannery on the Mossel Bay harbour
He rushed off to the Western Cape High Court to stop her. Wessels was only able to obtain legal representation the day before the case was heard, but Judge Desai agreed with her legal team and postponed the Fish factory in Mossel Bay matter for three days to enable them to compile a supplementary answering affidavit.
"Nothing I said in any of my online publications that the applicants rely on in their founding papers, carry the message or implications or innuendo that the applicants attempt to ascribe to it in their melodramatic ‘interpretation’ thereof,” Wessels states in the answering affidavit.
“The whole application is very untoward bullying and an abuse of the process of court by a financially very strong company bearing down on an individual investigative journalist,” says Wessels.
She also referred to the Noseweek “breaking news” article, “Fishrot stink wafts into South Africa,” saying there was no urgency in the matter as the link between Breed and the Angolan company had been in the public domain, published in many other publications long before Mosselbayontheline wrote about it in articles about Afro Fishing’s planned fishmeal factory in Mossel Bay.
The affidavit says the articles the applicants refer to carried very little of Wessels’s own creation or writing and consisted of links to earlier stories in other publications, written by other journalists about the Fishrot Scandal and Namibia’s fishing industry in general. Wessels also disputes that parts of one of the articles were defamatory as alleged by Afro Fishing’s Deon van Zyl in an affidavit before court.
“None of the underlined portions, considered individually or together as a whole, can by any stretch of the imagination be stated as defamatory. Alternatively, it is true and in the public interest for it to be published. I have nowhere in any of the articles I wrote made the astonishing and hyperbolic statements or accusations or imputations ascribed to my articles by the applicants or any innuendo to that effect.”
Mosselbayontheline's official reply to a letter published in the Mossel Bay Advertiser yesterday in which Afro Fishing's MD Deon van Zyl falsely accused us of various misconducts - while he also, unbelievably, accused us in an official government document of linking him to "gang wars in Manenberg" . . . ?
Just a rubber stamp - actually TWO - stand between a pristine coastal town with five Blue Flag status beaches and a risky R380 million pelagic fish meal and -oil processing plant with the potential to irrevocably turn Mossel Bay into just another polluted harbour town in dismal South Africa where not even the rivers can be maintained or the lights kept on . . .
It's been just under a year since Afro Fishing's unobtrusive and uninformative legal notice regarding a public participation process for a fish meal plant appeared on 22 February 2019 on a back page in the Mossel Bay Advertiser. Very few people saw the notice and/or realised the importance and implications of its content . . . and within the next few months, the final decision will be made by the Department of Environmental Affairs & Development Planning (DEA&DP) under MEC Anton Bredell and the Garden Route District Municipality.
Interested and affected parties who submitted their objections, comments and input during the public participation process that ended on 12 December 2019 were notified by email on Wednesday that the Final Basic Assessment Report (FBAR) for Afro Fishing's proposal was finally completed and submitted to the DEA&DP for decision making. Only once a decision is taken by DEA&DP, will the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) consider an application for an Atmospheric Emissions License (AEL).
Attached to the email from senior consultant Melissa Mackay of Cape Environmental Assessment Practitioners (Cape EAPrac) was a link to the submitted FBAR which will also be available on the Cape EAPrac website (www.capeeaprac.co.za) for information purposes only, as well as a copy of the Comments & Responses Table which includes comments submitted to Cape Eaprac to date, along with the specialist team's responses.http://mosselbayontheline.co.za/images/MOS569_Comments_and_Responses_27Jan20.pdf
It is this Comments & Responses Table with shocking and libellous retorts from Afro Fishing's MD Deon van Zyl and "panel of experts" that caused the latest public outcry over this highly contested fishmeal plant and questions regarding the legality of the entire public participation and basic assessment process.
Melisa Mackay and Deon van Zyl (middle) with some members of Afro Fishing's panel of experts during Afro Fishing's last public information meeting in Mossel Bay's town hall.
The abusive and derogatory nature, personal attacks and flagrant lies in some responses to the public's concerns and valid questions are reminiscent of the bully-tactics Afro Fishing used in December last year in an attempt to gag Mosselbayontheline and to prevent us from reporting on the international #fishrot scandal in African waters that shocked the entire fishing industry. As none of our articles was defamatory or factually untrue, Judge Siraj Desai of the Western Cape High Court dismissed Afro Fishing's urgent high court interdict application with costs.
However, in several of the responses to Interested & Affected Parties' concerns in the official Comments & Responses Table that now forms part of the Final Basic Assessment Report (FBAR), Deon van Zyl tries to discredit this journalist by referring to her as a local activist and falsely accusing her of linking him to gang wars in Manenberg . . . ?
We publicly challenge Van Zyl to reveal any such article?
Van Zyl accuses same journalist of providing "twisted reports that feed the narrative she wants" when most of the articles about the #fishrot scandal, Fishcor and the link with Afro Fishing's one director and alleged shareholder/affiliate/financer were written and published by national and international publications since 2017.
Van Zyl also mentions that he "confirmed" the names of Afro Fishing's directors Shamera Daniels and Johannes Augustinus Breed in an email in July 2019 . . . thereby actually admitting that he refused to give their names in both our oral and written interviews and basically were forced to confirm it after I researched them myself and named them, as well as AJ Louw, in the Q & A emails when he refused to answer the question.
However, Mosselbayontheline is by far not the only Interested & Affected Party whose written submissions in the public participation process were met with such hostile, slanderous and disparaging retorts from both Van Zyl and Afro Fishing's consultant engineer, Chris Albertyn, who is also the founding member of Lethabo Air Quality Specialists (LAQS).
Here are some examples of the public's written comments and the responses by Afro Fishing's specialist team: (In some cases we protect the identity of the commentators due to the libellous and unacceptable nature of the response.) See them all here: http://mosselbayontheline.co.za/images/MOS569_Comments_and_Responses_27Jan20.pdf
1. Interested & Affected Party:
As reported in the Mossel Bay Advertiser of 7 June 2019, the practitioner concerned (Mr Albertyn) visited fishmeal plants in Portugal and Spain as a guest of the applicant, thereby exposing himself to possible undue influencing by the applicant’s Chief Executive Officer who lead the so-called “Fact-Finding“ excursion to Portugal and Spain.
Apart from referring to an unnamed factory in Portugal, it is of particular concern that he did not declare his overseas trip to Portugal and Spain, presumably paid for by Afro Fishing and/or the manufacturers/operators of the RTO (Dürr AG or Haarslev Industries A/S). The visit was ostensibly to expose him to RTO technology, similar to what is planned for the proposed new facilities at the Afro Fishing plant at Mossel Bay.
However, there cannot be any reason why he could not research the technology concerned on his own. It is also surprising that as a qualified engineer he did not mention RTO technology as the technology used elsewhere when he did his initial Air Quality Impact Assessment for the project (Final Report No REP 0002 / November 2018). The technology concerned has allegedly been available for approximately 15 years.
Furthermore, a visit of a day to each of the two plants (Annexure K8: Fact-Finding Feedback Report), was insufficient to make any proper assessment of any value of emissions or odours from the plant or to properly consult the communities affected by the plant. Page 152
RESPONSES
Lethabo Air Quality Specialists (LAQS) (Chris Albertyn):
LAQS hopes that Mr X is not suggesting that Mr Albertyn was bribed by Afro Fishing and/or technology providers to produce a report in Afro Fishing's favour because such an accusation is libellous. If Mr X has proof that such an arrangement existed he should lodge a complaint against Mr Albertyn with the Engineer Council of South Africa, the Engineering Council of the United Kingdom and the Institute for Professional Environmental Practice in the USA.
Their contact details are easily obtainable from the internet, a source of information that Mr X seems to hold in high regard. These bodies will investigate Mr X's claims and, if found guilty, reprimand Mr Albertyn or, if they deem any offence serious enough, scrap his registrations. However, should they find Mr Albertyn innocent, what will Mr X be prepared to forfeit in return? But then, as a retired person who was employed by a polluting industry (and defended it while employed as communication official), Mr X stands nothing to lose by making such loose allegations, does he? To whom should Mr Albertyn have declared his visit to two fishmeal factories in Europe?
Mr Albertyn made no secret of his visit to Spain and Portugal. He even had aerial photographs of the two sites available at the public meeting and showed these to all who were interested. Mr X, obviously, was not. Of course, Afro Fishing paid for the visit to Spain and Portugal, but only for the direct expenses, e.g. visa costs, transport, accommodation, etc.
LAQS did not levy any fees for Mr Albertyn's time spent during the visit. Does Mr X seriously expect Mr Albertyn to travel overseas at his own costs to investigate something without a means of recovering the costs? Mr Albertyn is, of course, more than willing to return to both factories and spend an extended period of time at each to, as Mr X puts it, "make any proper assessment of any value of emissions or odours from the plant".
LAQS will, of course, expect Mr X to carry the costs and will gladly provide him with a quotation for the costs involved. With all due respect, if Mr Albertyn only researched the technology on-line, which, incidentally, he did, and did not visit such a plant to verify issues identified during the internet search, Mr X would have accused him of not doing due diligence by confirming matters directly through a site visit. (Mr Albertyn does not necessarily believe everything he reads on the internet!)
This is how we reported on our Facebook page on 25 June 2019 about same issues:
Gekaapte media? Wyl besorgde inwoners nog wag op terugvoering van die openbaredeelnameproses oor die beoogde vismeelfabriek in Mosselbaai se hawe, het Afro Fishing sommer die plaaslike koerantjie se nuusredakteur en die konsultant wat die ONafhanklike omgewingsimpakstudie moet doen, op 'n oorsese reis na Spanje en Portugal geneem om na die jongste EERSTEWêRELDLAND-tegnologie in vismeelaanlegte te gaan kyk. Iets ruik NIE lekker nie . . . Die vismeelspan in Tarifa, Spanje. Deon van Zyl, grootbaas van Afro Fishing, omgewingskonsultant Melissa Mackay van Cape EAPrac, Nicky le Roux, nuusredakteur van die Mossel Bay Advertiser en Chris Albertyn, konsultant-ingenieur.
Key concerns with any new fishmeal development in Mossel Bay harbour are unpleasant odours and additional heavy traffic to and from the harbour area that will be in the road right next to my unit causing additional disturbances, particularly during the night. Currently, the harbour area has a moderate impact on the vicinity, traffic is manageable and unpleasant odours are limited.
Response:
Cape EAPrac: Please refer to the specialist Air Quality, Socio-Economic and Traffic Impact Assessments that are included with the Draft BAR. According to these specialists, the impacts are likely to Negligible to Moderate.
Afro Fishing (Deon van Zyl): Odours will be managed using the odour abatement methods detailed in the project design and process flow detail. This includes a Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO) plant. The RTO plant operates at maximum temperatures of 850˚C and will incinerate the particles that cause bad odours.
Previously the site was active for the fishing company I&J. Our intention is to continue with fishing and processing activities. The site is also earmarked by TNPA for commercial fishing and processing which allows for such activities. As a direct neighbour, you would have bought your unit knowing that the neighbouring section of the harbour was zoned for fishing and industrial purposes.
3. Interested & Affected Party:
Heritage Mossel Bay is of the opinion that the overall public participation process followed has been inadequate and that the basic assessment as carried out ultimately amounts to no more than minimum compliance with legislative requirements.
While notices / invitations to participate in the public participation process meet the minimum legislative requirements more effort should have been put into this aspect to ensure that public participation is as wide and thorough as possible on a project which may have grave consequences for the tourism industry of Mossel Bay, and therefore the creation and protection of jobs.
Reponses
Cape EAPrac: There has been public participation since February 2019 and has included notices, written notices, newspaper adverts, newspaper articles and email correspondence. The investigations into the proposal and its potential impacts have not been taken lightly and have examined the issue very closely. We disagree with your statement that the process has only considered minimum compliance.
LAQS:It appears as if Ms Wiggill does not trust the authorities to enforce the necessary measures to control the impact of the proposed factory. She is directed to the comments made by Dr Johann Schoeman, the Garden Route District Municipality's officially appointed Air Quality Officer.
Afro Fishing: The process followed was, in fact, longer than usual. Afro Fishing did do a pre-application in March 2019 already where 'Interested and Affected Parties' could already register. The process could just have been to make the project public during the formal public participation month in December 2019. Many newspaper articles regarding the project and application were published throughout the year. Many impact studies were performed which were probably not necessary but important for AF and the public to ensure we comprehensively understand the impacts. A task team was sent to Europe to be introduced to the odour abatement technology. It is our view that we certainly did not 'do the minimum' required. This is, however, a process and the application is by no means complete. There is still a long way to go.
4. Interested & Affected Party:
The cut-off date of 12 December 2019 for the submission of comment is too short and is unacceptable. I, therefore, insist that the comment period should be postponed until the "fish rot" investigation in Namibia has been fully investigated and dealt with at which time objections should still be submitted as the application and the outcome will have a material influence on the fishmeal facility in Mossel Bay.
Reponse:
Afro Fishing (Deon van Zyl):
The “fish rot” scandal in Namibia is totally unrelated to this project and investment. Just because a local activist (Mosselbayontheline - Elsa Wessels) incorrectly links Afro Fishing to this scandal does not mean it is true.
She has even linked me to gang wars in Manenberg - see her articles. This same activist continues to publish articles stating that I refuse to inform who the Afro Fishing directors are when I confirmed the directors in an email in July 2019. This same activist also provides a twisted report that feeds the narrative she wants.
She fails to inform that the Namibian scandal pertains to government officials and ministers who were bribed by an Icelandic fishing company for fishing quotas and that these same officials are now in jail. They have also had to resign from the boards they represented, etc.
She fails to inform that the scandal is not linked to Afro Fishing or the Namibian fishing company that shares a common director with Afro Fishing. She also fails to inform that the Namibian Fishing company that shares a director with Afro Fishing has a gazetted arrangement whereby they are compelled to employ 700 land-based employees.
The employment of land-based employees is why they were allocated their quotas and not any link to the corrupt Icelandic fishing company arrangement as Elsa Wessels is purporting.
The department officials anyhow have 112 days to record a decision regarding this application, so there is plenty of time for DEADP to determine for themselves whether Afro Fishing is linked to Iceland and corrupt Namibian officials.
Mossebayontheline takes note of the slanderous and false accusations made by Deon van Zyl and would like to remind him that we have the original emails in which he refused to name any directors and also asked me to remove AJ Louw's name from his reply when I myself researched the directors . . . with quite a few witnesses!
The fact that Johannes Breed and AJ Louw are mentioned in various international newspapers since 2018 regarding their 60% shares in the Seaflower Pelagic Plant in Walvis Bay while the beleaguered Fishcor in the #fishrot scandal owns the remaining 40% is in public interest - why kill the messenger?
Van Zyl is misleading the public by stating that the Namibian scandal only refers to government officials and ministers who were bribed by an Islandic fishing company for fishing quotas from 2014 to 2016, while the #fishrot investigation is still ongoing and includes ALL companies involved in fishing deals with Fishcor till 2019.
Namibian lawyer Marén de Klerk, who represents African Selection Trust with Johannes Breed and AJ Louw on Seaflower Pelagic's Board, is now also being investigated by Namibia's Anti-Corruption Commission regarding payments of N$90 million in dubious transactions from the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor).
Seaflower Pelagic Processing's directors are the axed Fishcor board chairperson James Hatuikulipi who has since been incarcerated, Fishcor chief executive Mike Nghipunya who has since been suspended, Angolan-based South African accountant Johannes Augustinus Breed, South African economist Adriaan Jacobus (AJ) Louw and lawyer Marén Brynard de Klerk, who has allegedly fled to South Africa.
This means that three of the five directors of Seaflower Pelagic, with AJ Louw as board chairperson, have already been linked to the #fishrot scandal.
ACC hunts in SA for Fishrot lawyer linked to N$90m
The N$90 million paid by Fishcor appears to have benefited the same clique that included former ministers Bernhard Esau and Sacky Shanghala and former Investec Asset Management Namibia managing director James Hatuikulipi, who allegedly pocketed close to N$103 million from Fishrot bribes. Noa said the latest suspect can run but not hide.
NAMIBIAN investigators are looking into N$900 million in fishing quotas allocated to the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) from2014 to 2019,of which at least N$100 million was kickbacks for “key people”.
The Namibian understands that the kickbacks – which could rise to N$300 million – do not include bribes of around N$150 million paid through a fishing quota donated by Namibia to Angola, devised to line the pockets of well-placed politicians and businessmen.
The handing of a fishing quota to the benefit of a foreign company contradicts a government commitment to “Namibianise” the fishing industry, critics in Namibia say.
Namibia’s fisheries minister, Bernard Esau, has handed the state-owned National Fishing Corporation of Namibia (Fishcor) a fishing quota potentially worth N$1.8-billion in a controversial deal that will benefit an international company, official documents show.
The Final Basic Assessment Report (FBAR) for Afro Fishing's heavily contested proposed R380 fishmeal and fish oil reduction facility in Mossel Bay's harbour has been completed. The estimated 400 people who registered as interested and affected parties (I&A) in the public participation process were yesterday notified by email that the report is ready for submission to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) for decision making. Only once a decision is taken by DEA&DP, will the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) consider an application or an Atmospheric Emissions License (AEL).
Melissa Makay, senior consultant of Cape Environmental Assessment Practitioners (Cape EAPrac) that was appointed by the Applicant, Afro Fishing (Pty) Ltd, to ensure compliance with the regulations contained in the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA, No 107 of 1998 as amended) and the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (NEMA:AQ, Act 39 of 2004) for a Basic Assessment (BA) Process.
The activity requires an Environmental Authorisation (EA) and Atmospheric Emissions License (AEL) in order to commence. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) and theGarden Route District Municipality (GRDM) are the respective competent authority to consider this application.
Lethabo Air Quality Specialists (LAQS) with founder member chemical engineer Chris Albertyn has experience in timber industries, clay brick manufacturers, galvanisers, tanneries, abattoirs, asphalt producers, automotive sector, bio-fuels, metallurgical smelters, hazardous waste incineration, petrochemical, to name a few.
LAQS is located in Jeffrey’s Bay in the Eastern Cape and has been in operation since 2005.
Afro Fishing's two directors, Johannes Augustinus Breed (37) and Shamera Daniels. Photos: Internet
Shamera Daniels, co-director of Afro Fishing with Johannes Augustinus Breed, has an impressive history in South Africa's fishing industry. Recently, the South African Pelagic and Fishing Industry and Association (SAPFIA), honoured her as their role model for Woman's Month 2019 - Women in the Pelagic industry:
In addition to running her own business, Shamera finds herself on the Boards of several renowned industrial bodies, including being Vice Chairperson of South African Pelagic and Fishing Industry and Association (“SAPFIA”), a member of SAMSA’s National Fishing Forum, Chairperson of the West Coast Rock Lobster Association, Co-Vice Chairperson of FishSA, and majority stakeholder and Managing Director of Soundprops 1167 Investment (Pty) Ltd and Suidor Fishing (Pty) Ltd. More recently, Shamera’s career has experienced exponential growth when she became the Majority Shareholder in Soundprops 1167 Investment (Pty) Ltd, a company wherein she has been an active director since 2009.
Barnabas Xulu, Zuma/Hlophe lawyer, ordered to repay state R20 million in legal fees
By Marianne Thamm• 31 January 2020
Barnabas Xulu during the Judicial Service Commission tribunal which is investigating a complaint of judicial misconduct against him on October 3, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images / Fo
GOEIE nuus is dat die Kleinbrak-rivier steeds sterk vloei 'n volle tien dae nadat die mond inderhaas meganies oopgemaak is om vloede in naasliggende woonbuurtes te voorkom. Inwoner Wessel Johannes Maree het vanoggend om 06:33 die sterk invloei van seewater in die rivier op kamera vasgelê.
Die welkome (en vreemde!) reënbuie vroeër vandeesmaand het wel verligting van die voortslepende droogte gebring, maar is nog lank nie genoeg om die damme te vul nie. Die watervlak van die Hartebeestkuildam in die Hartenbosrivier is tans maar 2,68% - nog minder as die 3.04% verlede jaar dié tyd. (Die monde van die Hartenbos- en Grootbrakriviere het ongelukkig kort ná dit ook meganies oopgemaak is, weer toegespoel . . . )
Ook die Wolwedansdam se watervlak is tans maar 66,72% en hoewel die streng waterbeperkings in Mosselbaai ná die goeie reënbuie afgeskaf is, het die munisipaliteit gewaarsku dit sal weer ingestel moet word as die damvlak onder 60% daal
Blydskap en dankbaarheid oor die welkome reën is wyd op sosialemedianetwerke betuig. Die voortdurende droogte, waterbeperkings en strafheffings vir oormatige waterverbruik het mense weer bewus gemaak van hul afhanklikheid van water en die belangrikheid daarvan om ons natuurlike water- en hulpbronne te beskerm.
Te midde van die vreugde en dankbaarheid oor die reën, was daar egter ook kommer oor toenemende olie- en rioolbesoedeling op Mosselbaai se strande, terwyl oningeligte mense ook met nette die broeivisse in die Kleinbrakrivier gevang het nadat die riviermond meganies oopgemaak is. Die oogmerk is om die besoedeling in die rivier te bekamp en die soutbalans te herstel sodat die natuurlike visbroeiplekke ook kan herstel . . . Deur die volwasse broeivisse in die rivier te vang nadat die mond oopgemaak is, is nie net onwettig nie, maar ook strydig met die doel om die visgetalle te laat groei.
Ons het die maand se gebeure rondom die Kleinbrak-rivier en die besoedeling volledig op ons Facebook-blad gepubliseer, maar omdat Facebook-plasings so vlietend is, publiseer ons dit ook hier datumgewys in volgorde van gebeure van onder tot bo:
Beautiful sight: The welcome rain of the past week transformed the Kleinbrak river into its former beauty and the mouth is still open after it was mechanically breached last week to prevent flooding - and to restore the salt balance.Wessel Johannes Maree of the Kleinbrak Conservancy took the photos/video of the happy sight.
Olie-lekkasies op strande en skerp olie/dieselreuke in woongebiede soos Bayview kom deesdae al hoe meer voor. Die olie-lekkasie by Transnet Spoorvrag se Voorbaai-depot is vanoggend met spesiale omgewingsvriendelike middels behandel om die olie veilig af te breek tot water, terwyl pype en 'n wal ook aangebring word om die olie-skeiergebied af te sper om toekomstige lekkasies te voorkom.
As die oliespoor gevolg word, is dit egter duidelik dat dit nie olie van dié depot is wat sporadies op die strand by Bayview beland nie. Volgens mnr. Albertus Hanekom, Transnet Spoorvrag se trajekbestuurder op die terrein, beland besighede in Voorbaai/Bayview se afvalwater toenemend in sentrale dreinstelsels. Die oorsaak van gister se olielekkasie by die monding van die Blinderivier by Danabaai kon ook nog nie met sekerheid vasgestel word nie. Die Mosselbaai Munisipaliteit het berig dat alle betrokke owerhede, asook PetroSA, in kennis gestel is van die lekkasie en skerp reuk in die rivier.
Die voortdurende lekkasie van diesel/olie by Transnet Spoorvrag se Voorbaai-depot in Bayview - veral ná swaar reën - word hopelik vandeesweek permanent opgelos deur die behandeling van die water met 'n omgewingsvriendelike middel wat die olie afbreek, en deur die olieput-skeier deur middel van twee pypleidings en 'n wal-afskorting af te sonder.
Mosselbayontheline het verlede jaar ook met foto's en 'n video berig oor die onaanvaarbare lekkasie van olie, wat ook 'n skerp dieselreuk het, in die omgewing van die olieput-skeier. Mnr Albertus Hanekom, Transnet se trajekbestuurder op die terrein, het vanmiddag vir ons foto's gestuur om te wys hoe die oliewater vanoggend behandel word om dit af te breek tot suiwer water. Die wal en pypleiding sal in die volgende paar dae aangebring word om verdere lekkasies te voorkom.
Hanekom beklemtoon egter dat dit nie diesel/olie van Transnet se perseel is wat sporadies op strande in die omgewing uitspoel nie, maar dié van ander besighede in Voorbaai en omgewing wat in die sentrale dreinstelsels beland. Mnr Warren Manual, senior omgewingsbeampte by Mosselbaai munisipaliteit, het gister kort voor ons besoek ook die terrein besoek en volgens Hanekom het hy saamgestem dat die sporadiese strandbesoedeling by Bayview waar die afgelope vakansie ook rioolvuil op die strand beland het, nie van Transnet afkomstig is nie. Die oorsprong van gister se oliebesoedeling in die Blinderivier by Danabaai kon ook nog nie vasgestel word nie.
Die omgewing van die "stinkriviertjie" by Bayview met groot petroltenks op die agtergrond vanwaar besoedelde water en riool glo sporadies op die strand en in die see beland.
Terwyl almal JUIG oor die mond van die Kleinbrakrivier uiteindelik weer OOP is en die watervlak van die Wolwedansdam die naweek van 42,7% tot 60,45% gestyg het, plunder inwoners die vis wat see toe probeer swem ondanks wetstoepassers wat hulle sedert gister probeer vasvat . . . Die doel is om die balans van die rivier en die natuurlike visbroeiplekke te probeer herstel.
Over the last couple of days, anglers have been illegally catching fish at Kleinbrak Estuary, as shown in the video.
Legislation states that anglers may not attempt to catch fish in the mouth of a blind estuary, four days before and four days after it has opened. The use of gaffs is also illegal.
These larger fish, are breeding stock, and this illegal fishing of them can affect their reproduction numbers.
Fisheries inspectors have been made aware of the situation and are attending the site of these infractions.
The breaching of the Kleinbrak river mouth also evoked some shocking and saddening human behaviour from those one would expect to love and conserve the marine life ...
Robin Fick of the Midbrak Conservancy/Bewarea wrote:
I have just returned (21h30) from the Little Brak River assisting DEFF as when the mouth was opened, it was a free for all netting fish swimming in the channels to go to sea. I cannot understand human behavior when they know it is illegal to net these fish in these circumstances. Sea patrol will be on duty for the rest of the night as we heard through the grapevine that there will be netters taking their chances later tonight. Several vehicles turned around in the car park when they saw our vehicles. Anyway papers were served on the couple of the netters that were caught red handed.but unfortunately the bulk were missed or hit the road when we arrived. As members of the public provided us with photos and videos of the netters, the matter will be taken further. Opening the mouth to save peoples houses from being flooded resulted in killing fields for our marine life. Tragic.
to go to sea. I cannot understand human behavior when they know it is illegal to net these fish in these circumstances. Sea patrol will be on duty for the rest of the night as we heard through the grapevine that there will be netters taking their chances later tonight. Several vehicles turned around in the car park when they saw our vehicles. Anyway papers were served on the couple of the netters that were caught red handed.but unfortunately the bulk were missed or hit the road when we arrived. As members of the public provided us with photos and videos of the netters, the matter will be taken further. Opening the mouth to save peoples houses from being flooded resulted in killing fields for our marine life. Tragic.
Kleinbrak river mouth is finally OPEN - Moné Cairncross captured the happy moment!
The mouth of the Kleinbrak-estuary is being opened mechanically as a precaution to avoid possible flooding in the neighbouring Riverside and Powertown areas . . .
Water, water all around after a heatwave! What a beautiful sight!
Welcome rain in the Mossel Bay region raised all the dam levels significantly . . . Larry Daguiar reported that 90 mm fell in the mountains and that the Little Brak River (Moordkuil) is flowing strongly over the lower causeway. Brandwag River will be flowing later on this afternoon. The mouth wil need to be monitored as if these flows continue, there will be flooding in Riverside and Power Town. The situation is being monitored . . . The underneath video which was shared on the FB page Midbrak Conservancy was taken on the farm Wolwedraai where 65mm was measured earlier today - 10km from Grootbrak on the Friemersheim road. "We are so grateful, the Wolwedans dam has visibly risen!"
Foefieslaaid-vreugde tydens gister se amptelike opening van die veelbesproke Mossel Bay Zipline by die Poort - die langste foefieslaaid ter wêreld oor die see.
Die weer het gelukkig saamgespeel om dié luisterryke geleentheid behóórlik te vier en tientalle mense het van 10:00 af met kameras en selfone by die Poort saamgedrom om die gebeure gade te slaan.
Die teenwoordigheid van die SAUK EN Mosselbaai se noodreddingspanne het tegelyk opgewonde afwagting en senuagtige gekorswel veroorsaak en toe burgemeester Harry Levendal boonop mik om die kabel pleks van die seremoniële rooi lint te knip, was die giggellaggies éérs aansteeklik.
Toe munisipale bestuurder Thys Giliomee die verantwoordelikheid aanvaar om eerste die 1,1 km glykabel aan te durf en dit oënskynlik ongeskonde en vrolik oorleef, was die ys gebreek en het die ander munisipale amptenare en genooides feesdriftig (sic) hul beurte afgewag om geharnas en gehelmet die sprong te waag.
(Snaaks dat die omstanders Saterdag nooit die glykabelryers hoor GIL het nie . . . was hulle dalk te skaam, te ordentlik, te bang of voorgesê om nie te raas tydens die amptelike bekendstelling nie? )
* Die Foefieslaaid-rit oor 1,1 km kos R450 per persoon. Ritte kan aanlyn hier https://mosselbayzipline.co.za/ of op die perseel bespreek word, en is soos enige ander adrenalien-gedrewe buitelug-aktiwiteit onderhewig aan matige weersomstandighede.
* Vereistes: Nie swaarder as 120 kg nie, nie langer as 2m nie, nie swanger nie en nie jonger as 8 jaar nie.
* Ná vele terugslae en duur tegniese oponthoude kon die foefieslaaid gelukkig betyds open vir volgende naweek se DIASFEES 2020 by Santosstrand. Alle vertonings is boonop GRATIS en gewilde sangers soos Demi Lee Moore, Juanita du Plessis, Vernon Barnard en ander sal vanjaar vir die eerste keer hier optree. Kyk onder foto's hieronder vir die volledige Dias 2020 verhoogprogram.
Albert Wiffen, mede-eienaar van Mosselbaai se langste foefieslaaid ter wêreld oor die see wat Saterdag amptelik geopen is, is self te lank om te kwalfiseer vir dié bloedstol-blitsrit van 1,1 km oor die rotsagtige kuslyn by die Poort . . . hoekom lyk dit so asof hy verlig is daaroor? ;-)
Clinton Lerm, eienaar van SA Forest Adventures en mede-eienaar van Mossel Bay Zipline, spreek die gaste toe tydens die amptelike opening van Mosselbaai se langste foefieslaaid oor die see (1,1 km).
Eerste rit! Dis NIE so maklik om 'n foefieslaaid-ryer oor 'n afstand van 1,1 km op 'n kamera te probeer vasvang nie - veral as jy nie kan sien WAAR hy is wanneer jy probeer inzoom nie! 😊
Woeste branders . . . Vier dae ná die amptelike opening het André du Plessis van Mosselbaai dié video geneem van 'n Chinese toeris wat tydens hoogwater en rowwe seetoestande 'n tandem-rit met 'n instrukteur waag . . . SJOE!
Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai on 24 December 2019 ruled in favour of press freedom when he denied with costs an urgent application from Afro Fishing in Mossel Bay to gag Mosselbayontheline.
Afro Fishing MD Deon van Zyl on their premises on Quay 1 in the Mossel Bay harbour.
This followed an urgent application brought by Afro Fishing and one of its directors, Johannes Augustinus Breed, to force Mosselbayontheline by means of a high court interdict to remove certain articles from our website and Facebook page pertaining to the ongoing international #fishrot scandal and the connection between Afro Fishing's director /possible shareholder and/or funder connection with the beleaguered Namibian state-owned fishing company Fishcor.
James Hatuikulipi, the former chairperson of the Fishcor board of directors, is one of the so-called #fixrot 6 who was arrested last month on various allegations of fraud, bribery, money laundering, tax evasion and receiving kickbacks worth millions of dollars in exchange for availing Namibian fishing quotas to international companies and business people in the fishing industry. The six, including Namibia's former minister of fisheries Bernhardt Esau and former minister of justice, Sacky Shanghala, are held in custody awaiting trial in February 2020 while the investigation continues.
Mosselbayontheline reported comprehensively in various articles since February 2019 about Afro Fishing's heavily contested application to add a R350 Million fishmeal an oil processing plant to its existing sardine cannery on Quay 1 of the Mossel Bay harbour. We also questioned the inadequate notification and processes followed to duly inform the public of these extensive plans, and the impartiality and professionality of the consultant appointed to perform the public participation process and environmental impact studies.
Afro Fishing's persistent refusal to reveal the names of the new director(s), shareholders and "foreign investors", forced Mosselbayontheline to do our own investigation in order to report that Johannes Augustinus Breed (37) is the only new director appointed after Afro Fishing changed hands in 2017. With the exception of Shamera Daniels, five of the six former long-term directors resigned with the take-over in 2017.
Afro Fishing's two directors, Johannes Augustinus Breed (37) and Shamera Daniels. Photos: Internet
Breed, a chartered accountant, is also a director of eight other South African companies in the fishery industry since 2018. These are Afro Fishing Vessels (Pty) Ltd; Big O Trading 315 CC; K201844187 (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd; Mossel Bay Processors (Pty)Ltd; Mosselbay Pelagic Processors (Pty)Ltd; Princess Brand (Pty)Ltd; Vitoria E Certa (Pty)Ltd and Vitoria Fishing(Pty)Ltd.
Breed is also the managing director of the Angola-based company African Selection Trust (AST) which owns African Selection Fishing Namibia, which in turn has 60% shares in the Namibian company Seaflower Pelagic Processing (Pty)Ltd while Fishcor owns the remaining 40%.
Mosselbayontheline merely quoted leading newspapers in Namibia and elsewhere in which were reported that Breed as well as the South African economist Adriaan Jacobus (AJ) Louw and lawyer Marén de Klerk, represent AST on Seaflower Pelagic's board of directors.
We furthermore quoted articles mentioning that Louw is also the owner of African Selection Fishing (ASF) and that his partnering with Fishcor in 2017 to establish Seaflower Pelagic Processing caused a public outcry because local companies were overseen.
Seaflower Pelagic Processing's directors are the Fishcor board chairperson James Hatuikulipi, Fishcor chief executive Mike Nghipunya, Angolan-based South African accountant Johannes Augustinus Breed, and two other South Africans, economist Adriaan Jacobus Louw and lawyer Marén Brynard de Klerk.
Photo below:Adriaan Louw, Chairperson of the Seaflower Board (third from right), accompanied Pres. Uhuru Kenyatta in March 2019 on a familiarisation tour and visit to the multi-million rand Seaflower Pelagic Processing facility in Walvis Bay during the Kenyan head of state's official visit to Namibia. https://informante.web.na/president-kenyatta-visits-namibias-flagship-fish-processing-facility/
In the light of the ongoing #fishrot investigation and allegations that Fishcor (and AST by implication) received money and a fishing quota worth N$1,8 billion over a 15-year period from the axed Namibian minister of fisheries Bernhard Esau, Mosselbayontheline recommended that Afro Fishing's Public Participation Process be postponed by all relevant authorities, including the Mossel Bay Municipality, until the #fishrot investigation has been completed.
The deadline for the public participation process was 12 December 2019. Mosselbayontheline stated that the public cannot be expected to make calculated and informed decisions regarding such a risky industry if they are not duly informed of all relevant aspects regarding the company, its directors, affiliates, shareholders and financiers, as well as their association with other companies in Angola and Namibia.
Our request entails full disclosure of all links between Afro Fishing in Mossel Bay and other companies in the fisheries industry in Namibia and Angola in which Afro Fishing's directors and/or financiers and shareholders may be directly or indirectly involved. Afro Fishing is in possession of all relevant information and documentary evidence in this regard and is requested to disclose it.
If there is nothing to hide, such full disclosure of all facts, documents and finance-related information can surely prove their innocence, not so?
Mossel Bay Municipality's function in the Public Participation Process
Mossel Bay Municipality has not reacted to this at all to date, as far as we are aware. The municipality, as the local level of government, is subject to the provisions of the constitution and all applicable legislation relevant to this process. It is a public body that is accountable to the Mossel Bay public and indeed the public in general.
We certainly expect a public statement from them in this regard, as well as public assurance that a proper and full investigation into the funding and shareholding of Afro Fishing will be launched. This is easy to do: the directors and shareholders of Afro Fishing should only be required by the Mossel Bay Municipality to file affidavits giving full disclosure of who the shareholders are and where they get their funding from, and also to disclose any possible link to any of the companies involved in the Namibian/Angolan #Fishrot scandal - directly or indirectly.
Should this not be done, it is probable that any approval by the Municipality of Mossel Bay of the application can be taken on review to the high court and be set aside, in which case the municipality might be ordered by the court to pay the expensive legal costs that will have to be incurred to ensure that the municipality performs their functions fully, forensically and transparently.
In Public Interest
Judge Desai's ruling that our articles were not defamatory or malevolent is a welcome break for press freedom and investigative journalism in South Africa where severe budget cuts/constraints in the mainstream printed media caused serious voids in this field. Our alternative defence was, notwithstanding, that the information is factually correct and true, and that it is in public interest that residents have the right to know who Afro Fishing's directors, shareholders and financiers are and what their involvements entail in fishing industries in Namibia, Angola and elsewhere.
Judge Desai has not yet submitted the reasons for his judgment - it will probably be done early in 2020.
Mosselbayontheline is immensely grateful for the sterling performance of our legal team, adv. Theo Nel of the Cape Bar and attorney Hugo van Heerden of Hayes Incorporated in Cape Town who, on very short notice, assisted us in our quest for freedom of the press.
Adv. Theo Nel of the Cape Bar (left) and attorney Hugo van Heerden of Hayes Incorporated in Cape Town.
Also, check our Facebook article and photos of Mossel Bay's pristine beauty and prolific marine life worth preserving:
Ons hoop om die hele vakansie nét vrolike vakansiefoto's te plaas, want niks is lekkerder as om gelukkige mense te sien wat vreedsaam kuier en Mosselbaai se mooi en lekkertes geniet en BEWAAR nie . . . !
BERNHARD Esau, the former Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, who along with five others are implicated in the fisheries bribery scandal, was taken to a Windhoek hospital after encountering sudden serious problems with his health while in custody at the Seeis Police Station.
Esau along with former justice minister, Sacky Shanghala, former Fishcor chairperson James Hatuikulipi, Esau’s son-in-law Tamson Hatuikulipi, Investec Namibia manager Ricardo Gustavo and James Hatuikulipi’s nephew Pius Mwatulelo, will enter the New Year in custody after High Court Judge Kobus Miller set aside their application to have the charges against them declared null and void last Friday.
Judge Kobus Miller has dismissed with costs the urgent application brought by the Fishrot six who wanted a court order that would set aside the warrants of arrest, the decision to prosecute them and the decision to postpone their case to 20 February 2020.
The High Court yesterday reserved its judgement in the landmark fishing bribery case, as the accused seek their release from custody on technicalities.
20 December 2019
Six men challenging their arrest on allegations of receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks, in exchange for availing Namibian fishing quotas to an Iceland seafood company, will spend Christmas behind bars after the High Court yesterday reserved its judgment in their urgent application to be released.
Judge Kobus Miller indicated he would deliver his judgement on 27 December, dashing any hopes former ministers Bernhardt Esau and Sacky Shanghala had of spending Christmas with their families.
The unlawful warrant stems from the arrest of former fisheries minister Esau, who was released from custody on a Sunday after the state and his lawyers agreed that the warrant was illegal.
South African advocate Thembeka Ngcukaitobi argued that when Esau was re-arrested with his co-accused, “no new facts have been produced”.
“Instead, the affidavit in support of the warrant of 26 November regurgitates the affidavit of 23 November 2019. This leaves the inescapable conclusion that the application of 26 November was simply a trick to circumvent the order of 23 November 2019,” Ngcukaitobi said.
He said the allegations in the affidavit used for the arrest warrants did not set out a convincing basis for the need to arrest the applicants, and the officials had not disclosed that the investigations had been ongoing since 2014.
“In none of the affidavits filed in support of the application of the warrants of arrest is any allegation made for the case that it was necessary particularly at this stage to arrest the applicants,” Ngcukaitobi said.
In his view the respondents had not shown that arresting the accused was the only way to ensure their attendance at court, and therefore the arrest warrants were unlawful.
The six accused are Esau, Shanghala, former chairperson of the Fishcor board of directors James Hatuikulipi, Tamson Hatuikulipi, Ricardo Gustavo and Pius Mwatelulo. They were not at court yesterday.
Advocate Piet van Wyk, who argued on behalf of the state, insisted yesterday that the urgent application by the Fishrot Six to have their arrest warrants set aside was baseless.
Van Wyk argued that the application had no urgency and that the applicants would be afforded substantial redress in the normal course of the legal process.
“This we say that the redress here includes the avenue to enrol their abandoned bail application and that, should the criminal trial eventuate, they may raise all the concerns they have with regard to the warrants of arrest,” he said.
Judge Miller, who reserved judgment on the matter until 27 December, asked Van Wyk why there would be a need for a bail application if the warrants were unlawful in the first place.
Van Wyk said in his view the warrants were lawful and the applicants had recourse to other routes if they want to regain their liberty.
“Urgency is a condition imposed by reasons of circumstances beyond his or her control. It is thus our contention herein that this matter is in no way urgent, in that the applicants from their papers filed of record herein do not at all allege nor explain which conditions, if there is one, nor do they explain any facts or circumstances beyond their control. This apparent absence of what they ought to have explained has indeed a consequence that this matter stands to be dismissed,” said Van Wyk.
He also said the applicants must explain why their application was delayed until now.
Van Wyk also responded to Ngcukaitobi, who had said there was no indication why the warrants for the arrest of his clients had been necessary.
“The Windhoek magistrate, as is also set out in his affidavit, fully complied with these jurisdictional requirements to authorise the warrants of apprehension and the relief sought in this application should be dismissed with costs,” Van Wyk said.
Impermissible
Ngcukaitobi suggested that the second arrest warrant issued on 27 November was replicated from the initial warrant issued on 23 November, and that amounted to contempt of court.
“This is impermissible,” he said.
Ngcukaitobi argued that if a warrant was set aside, it would be acceptable to apply for a second time but that should be based on new facts.
“No new facts have been produced. Instead, the affidavit in support of the warrant of 26 November regurgitates the affidavit of 23 November 2019. This leaves the inescapable conclusion that the application of 26 November 2019 was simply a trick to circumvent the order of 23 November 2019,” he said.
He said the allegations in the affidavit did not set out a convincing basis for the need to arrest the applicants, and the officials had not disclosed that the investigations had been ongoing since 2014.
“In none of the affidavits filed in support of the application of the warrants of arrest is any allegation made for the case that it was necessary particularly at this stage to arrest the applicants,” Ngcukaitobi said.
In his view the respondents had not shown that arresting the accused was the only way to ensure their attendance at court, and therefore the arrest warrants were unlawful.
Freedom is key
Another argument made by Ngcukaitobi was that there was a duty of disclosure where warrants of arrests were concerned. In this case, he argued, the duty was higher because it concerned the deprivation of liberty and a violation of rights contained in the Namibian Constitution.
“It is plain that the investigation was not yet completed at the time the matter was referred to the prosecutor-general - indeed it appears that reliance was placed solely on the 'whistleblower' report to take far-reaching decisions including the arrest of the applicants.
“The affidavit in support of the warrant should have reflected the incomplete stage of the investigation. That would have enabled the magistrate to apply his own discretion whether to authorise an arrest for an offence under the Act. The failure to disclose this fact vitiates the warrant as it breaches the duty of utmost good faith,” he said.
However, according to Van Wyk, there was no duty on the Windhoek magistrate to disclose why the first warrant was set aside.
Details wat Afro Fishing (Pty) Ltd en sy ondersteuners ignoreer
Die “details” deur ‘n “panel of experts” t.o.v. Afro Fishing (AF) se “state of the art”, vismeelverwerkingsaanleg en soos in die Mossel Bay Advertiser (21/11/2019) breedvoerig uiteengesit, noodsaak ook kritiese vrae vanuit ‘n ander perspektief.
Vergun my om dus van hierdie selektiewe inligting te verskil.
• Om die V & A Waterfront met Mosselbaai se hawe aan die Indiese oseaan te vergelyk, is om appels met appelliefies te vergelyk. Indien die beheer van slegte reuke in Kaapstad se hawe so effektief is, waarom spog AF dan so met hul nuwe tegnologie, skynbaar soorgelyk aan die vismeel fabriek in Peniche, Portugal? Is dit omdat daardie aanleg aan EU standaarde voldoen of omdat dit waarskynlik belange in die visbedryf van Angola (voormalige Portugese kolonie) het?
• Die beleggging van R300 - 350 miljoen kom glo uit die “buiteland” . Steeds word die plaaslike publiek in die duister gehou van watter land(e) en wie die belegger(s) in hierdie maatskappy is. Wie is almal direkteure, hoeveel aandeelhouers en watter land(e) is die kopers van AF se vismeel- en -olie?
• Weereens, hou AF ook die geykte wortel, “werkskepping”, voor as die heilige graal tot “ekonomiese vooruitgang” vir Mosselbaai. Geen belofte egter van aandele vir die eintlike vissers (wie se kwotas gebruik word) en werknemer verteenwoordiging op hul Direkteurs-vergaderings nie. AF belowe werk vir “560” persone: gaan hierdie mense nou voltyds vir 52 weke per jaar betaal word, terwyl AF skynbaar net 4-8 weke intens gaan funksioneer? Watter voordeel hou AF se profyt vd kusdorp en die brëer gemeenskap in, bv. donasies vir nodige fasiliteite ens?
• Wie se brood man eet, die se woord man spreek. Opvallend is die afwesigheid van onpartydige mariene bioloë of -ekoloë op AF se “expert” paneel tydens die inligtingsessie. Alleenlik betrokke is ingenieurs, lug- en omgewing-spesialiste (lg.is net gemoeid met die onmiddellike omgewing op die hawe van AF se nuwe gebou en as hul PPP fasiliteerder).
• Met “state of the art” tegnologie, word hedendaags verwag dat enige industrie se nuwe geboue “groen” status nastreef, en alleenlik gebruik maak van hernubare energie en water, en nié skadelike fossiel-brandstof en produkte soos polypropylene gebruik nie, maar biobaseerde verpakking. Hieroor is die “details” van AF stom, waarskynlik omdat die plaaslike munisipaliteit dit nog nie vereis nie?
• Skynbaar beskou AF die besoedeling van ‘n slegte visreuk as hul industrie se enigste plaaslike probleem om op te los. Met breedvoerige “details” hoe hul fabriek gaan funksioneer, word die gemeenskap wol oor die oë getrek. Is die eienaars van AF bewus van die krisis weens Aardverhitting se oorsake en verwoestende gevolge op land en in die oseane, of is hulle ook Trumpiaanse ontkenners? Wat in Mosselbaai en die see daar gebeur, beinvloed ook die hele land en ganse planeet. Plaaslike owerhede behoort alleenlik omgewing vriendelike industriëe te werf en toe te laat.
• Wie enige impakstudie op die plaaslike marine lewe en omgewing gedoen het vir AF se voorgenome verwerking van “1, 000 tons per day of raw fish” (d.w.s. 2 miljoen pond gewig of 1 000 een-ton bakkie vragte per dag) en daarvoor die groen lig gegee het, is onbekend. Skynbaar word direkteure van AF se “... extensive fishing industry experience plus they own freezing facilities, fish meal plants, fishing vessels and canneries in Angola and Namibia” (van Zyl in ‘n onderhoud 24/7/19), belangriker geag as die navorsing deur wetenskaplikes.
• Volgens AF is ansjovis: “in abundance in SA waters” en “omdat dit so olierig en klein is met ‘n kort lewensduur, kan dit net ge-oes” en reduseer word tot vismeel en -olie. (Terloops, die Italianers is bekend vir hul ingelegde la alice / anchovies as delicatessen). Vismeel word intensief vir akwakultuur gebruik, so ook antibiotika om die gehokte seevis gesond te hou, maar dra by tot die besoedeling van seewater en die vergiftiging van diere en mense weens die antibiotika weerstandige bakterie in seekos (The Conversation, 1 Dec 2019)
• Ongelukkig is AF se aannames van ‘n oorvloed ansjovis ietwat opportunisties. Hierdie vissies se bestaan is nie eksklusief vir vismeelfabrieke bedoel nie. Volgens o.a. SANBI en mariene navorsers by UCT, het pelagiese vis ‘n belangrike doel in die oseane en is nie so “oorvloedig” soos party vissers beweer nie: “Pelagic fish form an important link in the marine food web where they transfer energy produced by plankton to large-bodied predatory fish, seabirds, and marine mammals”. “Sardinops sagax, and other small pelagic fish such as anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) ... are important forage fish for larger forms of marine life.... the main prey of a variety of predators such as yellowtail, hakes, tuna, and sharks; marine mammals such as seals, dolphins and whales; and seabirds such as African penguin and Cape gannet...
The ocean is affected by multiple anthropogenic stressors including climate change, the effects of which are already evident in many ocean ecosystems.... changes in the Benguela have already been observed, with a turning point in the early 1990s leading to a warming of the waters on the west coast of South Africa.
Fishing pressure and environmental shifts outline the role that maintaining high fishing pressure on the west coast played, while the stock had shifted south and east ... a decline in the relative abundance of adult anchovy and sardine after 2000 (e.g.,Coetzee et al., 2008; Mhlongo et al., 2015) led penguin populations to plummet.... The Agulhas Bank is an important area for the spawning of small pelagic fish and other species. • Vergelyk bv. die SA wes- en suidkus van 2019 met die VSA se weskus in 1960: weens hoë aanvraag vir vismeel en -olie en geblikte vis, asook die verlies aan habitat is die sardyn (Sardinops sagax caerulea), aan die Kaliforniese kuslyn reeds in die vroeë 1960’s tot die punt van uitwissing gevang.
Onder die beskerming van ‘n streng moratorium in 1967 op die kommersiële vangs van sardyne, het hierdie vis populasie eers 20 jaar later tekens van herstel begin toon.
• Selfs, in die dokument: (Annexure K4: DAFF Final Sardine TAC & Achovy TAB Adjustment 2019 (verskaf deur EAPrac Environmental Consultants) word gemaan: The pelagic industry... should continue to take appropriate steps to attempt to keep the sardine by-catch as low as possible by avoiding areas where a relatively high proportion of sardine is found mixed with anchovy schools. Wie of wat speel waghond in die nag vir die vangs van AF en ander industriëe se sardyne, ansjovis en ander pelagiese visspesies?
• Weereens, was inwoners en getroue belastingbetalers tydens ‘n eensydige inligtingvergadering deur AF se gekose “panel of experts”, onderwerp aan die tirannie van selektiewe inligting, beloftes en gemanipuleer met “high tech” fasiliteite om hul guns te wen. Oogverblindery. Géén onverbonde mariene bioloog was as ‘n “expert” teenwoordig nie. Géén wetenskaplikes om die gehoor oor die jongste navorsing en verifieerbare feite in te lig, en om vrae te beantwoord oor mariene ekologie, -omgewing, -bewaring of die huidige situasie rondom ons kuslyn nie.
• Publieke deelname prosesse (PPP) is selde ‘n wedersydse gesprek waar beswaar-makers ernstig opgeneem word, maar bloot ‘n lastige formaliteit vir die aansoeker om af te handel. Die publiek se kommentaar is ook net ‘n prosedure vir die betrokke outoriteite wat alleenlik aansoeke mag oorweeg maar dit selde afkeur, indien ooit. Politieke partye wat globaal die waarskuwings van klimaatweten-skaplikes bly ignoreer en nie bereid is om bv. die VVO se COP25 voorstelle in hul lande en munisipale areas toe te pas nie, behoort by die stembus uit gestem te word.
• Hou in gedagte. Wêreldwyd word die oseane as bloot ‘n gratis oes- en roofgebied deur die visindustrie beskou, net ‘n permit en kwotas deur owerhede is nodig. Hierdie industrie het géén uitgawe om die see se ekologie gesond en ‘n volhoubare vis voorraad te verseker nie. Op die vastelande moet die landbou-industrie egter duur grond voorberei, groot onkoste aangaan om dit te beplant en instand te hou voordat voedsel ge-oes kan word, mits die weer saamspeel. Selfs ons Nasionale parke is nie beskikbaar vir die blom- en vleisindustrie om met toegekende kwotas, jaarliks daar te gaan gratis oes en roof nie.
Elsa Lamb, 7 Desember 2019 .
Bronne: February 2018: Journal of Marine Systems Untangling a Gordian knot that must not be cut..... Artikels deur navorsers by: Marine Research (MA-RE) Institute, UCT; Department of Biological Sciences, UCT Centre for Statistics in Environment, Ecology and Conservation (SEEC),
UCT Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Canada 01 December 2019: The Conversation What we found about bacteria that resist antibiotics in seafood
14 Mei 2018: Daily Maverick – amaBhungane: Namibian fishing industry cries foul as quota handed to international interests https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-05-14- amabhungane-namibian-fishing-industry-cries-foul-as-quota- handed-to-international-interests/
24 July 2019: MosselBayontheline.co.za: Interview with Deon Van Zyl Fish Meal Plant – the A-Z of what Afro Fishing’s plans are
21 November 2019: Mossel Bay Advertiser: Details on proposed Fishmeal plant (?) 22 November 2019: Please Comment on Fishmeal plant (C Carstens) 25 February 2019: Plans for Fishmeal factory in Harbour (N le Roux) 07 June 2019: Best practices, Latest technology investigated (Nle Roux) Cape EAPrac Environmental Consultants:http://www.cape-eaprac.co.za/ Annexure K4: DAFF Final Sardine TAC & Achovy TAB Adjustment 2019
6 December 2016: Farmer’s Weekly: Mussel farming on the West Coast
28 November 2019 KykNet: Mosselboer Ons Boere, Ons Inspirasie........ Shellfish farming: Google : q=shell+fish+farms+on+west+coast+of+france&oq=shell+fish+farms+on+west+coast+o f+france&aqs=chrome..69i57.46929j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 2019:
