Transnet guards reel in fishing contest
A fishing competition turned sour when police and Transnet security guards prevented scores of fishermen from fishing along Durban’s North Pier.
|||Durban - A fishing competition turned sour when police and Transnet security guards prevented scores of fishermen from fishing along the North Pier near the Point Waterfront on Saturday morning.
About 120 fishermen had planned to participate in the competition, but their enthusiasm was short-lived when Transnet security guards would not allow fishing off the pier. Drama erupted because they refused to leave and the police were called to the scene.
When the Sunday Tribune arrived, fishermen carrying rods were exchanging harsh words with the cops and vowed not to leave.
KwaZulu-Natal Subsistence Fishermen’s Forum Spokesman Desmond D’sa said fishermen were being isolated and “harassed” while divers were allowed to fish.
“We are here to have a fishing competition, we are legal fishermen and we have been granted access by Transnet. The problem today is that our people are prevented from fishing, security staff are harassing people here.
“It is unfair because when we arrived we saw 20 divers go off the North Pier and they came back with big fish. It seems like only selected people are allowed to fish.
“Security guards are not producing any documentation that says we are not allowed to fish off the North Pier. We are waiting for them to produce documents stating we are illegal. We will then take these documents together with our permits to the High Court for review to challenge their decision,” D’sa said.
Fishermen and Transnet have not been seeing eye to eye since the port officials restricted fishing in certain areas, including the North Pier, citing tourism development and the need to preserve marine life.
“It seems there’s a clever plan by the new Transnet elite to steal the North Pier from poor fishermen and we can’t allow that. If Transnet is using threats and harassment to deny our people access, it means they are going to starve and join the poverty queue.
“This is something we cannot accept in a democratic South Africa. The port manager and harbour master don’t see fishing as important in Durban,” D’sa said.
Harbour master, Captain Alex Miya denied fishermen were granted permission to host a fishing competition on Saturday.
“They may have fishing permits, but these do not allow access to areas clearly communicated as restricted areas because of tourism development and for safety. We urge them to fish only within the designated areas. No one is allowed to fish along the entrance of North Pier.
“The security staff understandably made initial attempts to restrict the fishermen from entering the area in which angling is prohibited. Security staff and police are monitoring the situation without physically removing those in attendance,” Miya said.
The fishermen said they had been fishing for years, making a living from it.
“Police keep saying we cannot enter. They chase us. Only divers are allowed to walk on the pier and fish.
“We want access. We catch fish to make a living. We do it to pay school fees for our children and buy food because we are unemployed.
“We cannot allow the elite to make us even poorer,” said Michael Padayachee.
D’sa said five fishermen had been arrested. Police could not confirm this by the time of publication.
Sunday Tribune
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