Response to a personal attack aimed at Mosselbayontheline in the Mossel Bay Advertiser of 1 February 2019 which was not allowed . . .
Mosselbayontheline sent the underneath responses to a libellous letter for publication to the Mossel Bay Advertiser, but were told that it cannot/may not be published . . . ?
Mossel Bay Advertiser
Dear Editor
I was shocked and disappointed to see how the Mossel Bay Advertiser allows a resident to openly launch a lengthy, personal and slanderous attack on someone without even contacting the person for comment?
I have also tried in vain to comment online on the Letters' commentary field . . . the reply either has been removed deliberately or it does not function properly? I trust you will allow me to fully respond to Deon van Zyl's prominent and libellous letter in last week's MBA? Ironically, Van Zyl makes himself guilty of exactly the flagrant lies, crimen injuria and distortion of facts of which he publicly accuses me?
Mosselbayontheline follows with interest the slanderous, derogatory 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 of Afro Fishing's directors and also asked me to remove AJ Louw's name from his reply after I had to research and name the directors myself, which he then basically was FORCED to CONFIRM . . .
The fact that Johannes Breed and AJ Louw are prominently mentioned in various international newspapers as recently as 2019 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 and was in public interest - why kill the messenger?
The #fishrot investigation is still very much ongoing, and in the latest development lawyers are also under scrutiny for their involvement in ALL the fishy deals involving fishing quotas in Namibia . . . ? The fact that the international #fishrot scandal coincided time-wise with the deadline for Afro Fishing's public participation process is/was entirely beyond our control - why the paranoia?
The fact that even a high court judge dismissed Afro Fishing's attempt to gag Mosselbayontheline from informing the public of what is truly going on in the national and international fishing industry says it all . . .
"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."
Even more disturbing: We also read with interest the same slanderous, derogatory and false accusations in Deon van Zyl's response to public comments in the official Comments & Responses Table of Cape EAprac which on Wednesday was submitted to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) as part of the Final Basic Assessment Report (FBAR) for Afro Fishing's proposed fishmeal plant. In his response to the comments of Interested & Affected Parties, he called this same journalist a "local activist" who "linked him (Van Zyl) to gang wars in Manenberg" . . . ? Where THAT came from, only Van Zyl will know . . .
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). These libellous and disparaging responses and personal attacks from a "panel of experts" to members of the public's valid concerns in an official document are not only unprofessional and unacceptable but also raise serious questions and concern regarding the legality of the entire public participation and basic assessment process.
One cannot help wondering why Afro Fishing's directors/shareholders and financiers could not be made public from the beginning and why we are so targeted for informing the public of what is truly happening in the fishing industry and along Africa's coastline. Ironically, the latest scandal involving SA's fishery industry was exposed yesterday . . . Kill ALL the messengers?
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editor: mosselbayontheline.co.za
Above letter was apparently refused due to its length and links to websites as proof
SECOND ATTEMPT:
Dear Editor
Mosselbayontheline follows with interest the slanderous, derogatory and false accusations made by Afro Fishing's MD Deon van Zyl in last week's Advertiser. We would like to remind him that we have the original emails in which he refused to name any of Afro Fishing's directors/shareholders (in both the oral & written interview) and also asked me to remove AJ Louw's name from "his" reply after I had to research and name the directors/affiliates myself, which he then basically was FORCED to CONFIRM in the final email . . .
The fact that Johannes Breed and AJ Louw are prominently mentioned in various international newspapers since 2017 until as recently as yesterday 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 and was in public interest - why kill the messenger? THREE of Seaflower's five directors have since been implicated in the #fishrot scandal and the investigation is still very much ongoing. Contrary to Van Zyl's statement, the investigation includes ALL fishy deals involving fishing quotas in Namibia to date . . . ?
The fact that the international #fishrot scandal coincided time-wise with the deadline for Afro Fishing's public participation process is/was entirely beyond our control - why the paranoia?
The fact that even a high court judge dismissed Afro Fishing's attempt to gag Mosselbayontheline from informing the public of what is truly going on in the national and international fishing industry says it all . . .
One cannot help wondering why Afro Fishing's directors/shareholders and financiers have never been made public from the beginning and why Mosselbayontheline is so targeted for informing the public of what is truly happening in the fishing industry along Africa's coastline. Ironically, the latest scandal involving one of Seaflower Pelagic's directors was exposed yesterday . . .
Kill ALL the messengers?
It IS in public interest to know:
Afro Fishing's MD, Deon 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 and business people 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.
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!
