Response to a personal attack aimed at Mosselbayontheline in the Mossel Bay Advertiser of 1 February 2019 which was not allowed . . . 

 

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."

https://amabhungane.org/…/namibian-fishing-industry-cries-…/
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/…/2018-05-14-amabhungane-n…/

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.

http://www.mosselbayontheline.co.za/…/afro-fishing-s-md-lin…

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?

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/…/2020-01-31-barnabas-xulu…/

http://www.mosselbayontheline.co.za/…/afro-fishing-s-md-lin…

https://www.mosselbayadvertiser.com/…/reaction-to-so-called…

Kind regards,

Elsa Wessels

0842401540

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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 . . . 

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