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MosselbayonTheline | First With The News

Afro Fishing's application to add a fish meal and oil manufacturing plant to its sardine canning operation on Quay 1 of the Mossel Bay harbour, has caused quite a stir and public outrage - not in the least due to the way it was initially only announced in an unobtrusive municipal notice on a back page of the local community paper where very few people saw it.

While the environmental impact studies and public participation process is still ongoing, we spoke to Afro Fishing's managing director Deon van Zyl, to find out more about his plans.

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Deon van Zyl at Afro Fishing's premises on Quay 1 of the Mossel Bay harbour.

Deon is a qualified chemical engineer with an MBA (University of Cape Town). From Deon’s LinkedIn profile, he has mostly worked in the food sector of which more than 20 years was in the fishing and seafood industry.

He returned to South Africa in January 2018 and was recently appointed MD of Afro Fishing (Pty) Ltd in Mossel Bay.

Afro Fishing pilchards

Fish meal plants historically have a bad reputation - not only due to the air pollution and repellent odours, but also water pollution from the continuous dumping of thousands of litres of bloody waste and effluent into the sea. Overfishing is another major concern - especially these days when it is alleged that up to 90% of edible wild fish are indiscriminately caught to supply in the insatiable fishmeal market for animal feed and the aquaculture industry. It is alleged that millions of tons of fish are being harvested from the wild every year to produce fishmeal and fish oil to feed caged fish reared in underwater factory farms, which hugely increases the pressure on already depleted edible wild fish stock. Fish meal plants is also a water-intensive industry putting more strain on drought-ridden areas.  

In a pledge for transparency and to dismiss fears that the fish meal factory is part of a ploy to establish the groundwork for open sea fish farming, we asked Deon the following questions:

  1. After your extensive travels and experience, what made you choose Mossel Bay specifically for such a notorious endeavour? Especially in the light of all the ongoing court cases against fish meal factories and aquaculture sea farms in other harbour towns in the Western Cape?

DvZ - Afro Fishing (Pty) Ltd (AF) recently won the bid to lease the old I&J site adjacent to its canning operation with the strategy to grow the business into other related activities. The proposed fish meal and oil facility is a natural extension to the existing cannery as the same fishing vessels are used and both operations are in the small pelagic fishing sector. Yes, we are aware that fish meal plants have in the past generated negative publicity. AF is, however, requesting authorisation for a modern facility, using the best-proven practices and the best odour management system available.

  1. Who are the other directors of Afro Fishing and what experience do they have in fish meal plants?

DvZ - There are two other SA directors, Shemara Daniels and Johannes Augustinus Breed. They have extensive fishing industry experience plus they own freezing facilities, fish meal plants, fishing vessels and canneries in Angola and Namibia.

  1. Afro Fishing has been operating as a sardine cannery operation in Mossel Bay since 2007. Since 2016, it was forced to import thousands of tons of Moroccan sardines in order to meet market demands. This was mainly due to a combination of factors - a drastic reduction in the national total allowable catch (TAC) for sardines, shifting shoaling patterns caused by climate change and poor recruitment (number of fish surviving to enter the fishery or to some life-history stage such as settlement or maturity). Has the local situation re sardine stock changed since and how will an additional fish meal and oil manufacturing plant benefit the company and / or the town?

DvZ - The entire local canned pilchard industry does rely currently on a mix of freshly caught pilchards and frozen imported pilchards. Currently, the industry is going through a period of low TACs for pilchards. The biomass (total weight of sardine in the SA sea) as observed during annual hydro-acoustic surveys has reduced considerably. This is, however, a cyclical fishery and the biomass of pelagic species varies considerably over time due to many factors. Therefore, this fishing sector is regarded as a ‘boom or bust’ fishery. The main reason is that the species is short-lived and hence dependent mainly on the level of recruitment. * Recruitment means the count of eggs and larvae produced by the current stock and that will mature to become adults. This recruitment requires many environmental processes to come together to grow biomass. The Fisheries Scientists and DAFF have relatively conservative models to determine the annual TAC. The primary factors influencing small pelagic biomass levels are recruitment, predation and climate-related factors.

A fish meal and oil plant will benefit as it will diversify AF into other species, namely anchovy and red-eye herring and into other products and markets. The erection of a cold store will allow AF to process sardinella, another pelagic species fished in Southern Africa waters. Currently, AF only cans pilchards making the company vulnerable to the nuances of the pilchard biomass and a single product. Canning sardinella will also open other products and markets.

  1. What water will be used in the water-intensive industry - potable municipal water, seawater or will a desalination plant have to be used?   

DvZ - This is not a potable water-intensive industry. No potable water is added to the products. Water will be required for the boilers, but we will also be installing condensate recovery units to reduce the boiler water consumption. Some potable water is also used for cleaning. The expansion will however not use more water than the previous user of this site used.

Seawater is used for cooling. This is where the large volumes are. This cooling seawater is however returned to sea untainted.

Afro Fishing

 An aerial photo of Afro Fishing's plant on Quay 1 of the Mossel Bay harbour taken in 2010. 

  1. It is claimed that ten kg of edible wild fish is used to produce one kg of fish meal for animal food and to feed caged/farmed fish. Isn't that defying the purpose and contributing to the depletion of healthy wild fish species around the globe to fund a false economy that actually causes food scarcity under the noble banner of the World Food Programme? 

DvZ - The conversion factor in South Africa is closer to 4kg of industrial fish to produce one kg of fish meal. There is however also fish oil produced for other markets. The fish meal product is mixed with other ingredients to produce agriculture or aquaculture feed. It is important to note that only a fraction of a short-life species is harvested for this purpose. South Africa has a good record at fisheries management and no species has ever been depleted due to overfishing.

The biomass and distribution of pelagic species are assessed bi-annually using hydro-acoustic surveys. These surveys have been conducted without interruption for 35 years. This comprises a summer adult biomass survey and a winter recruit survey. This plus ongoing research of the small pelagic fisheries assist the department to develop, manage and revise the sector Operational Management Procedures (OMP). Data on catch statistics including landed mass, species composition, and catch position and date are also obtained by DAFF for the pelagic fishery.

  1. What fish species and how much will be used in the fish meal and oil manufacturing plant and how will it affect the food chain in Mossel Bay's prolific waters where the marine Big Five - whales, sharks, dolphins, seals and penguins - are still abundant? How can be assured that all other fish species are not being caught indiscriminately as well for fish meal and oil?   

DvZ - The intention is to harvest anchovy and red-eye herring for the fish meal and oil plant. The biomass of both these species is currently healthy. Once again only a fraction of the biomass will be allocated to catch as per the OMP’s referred to in the previous question. The TAC’s are established at levels that have a negligible impact on your big five or other eco-systems. 

The quantities will depend on the TAC allocated by DAFF and then the portion thereof AF is able to secure.

Yes, it is correct that sardines play an important role in regulating ecosystem functioning. It is for this reason that DAFF has closed off fishing areas with the aim of eliminating the impact on for example African penguin and Cape gannet breeding colonies.

  1. What are the fish meal and fish oil used for and to where and how will it be exported from Mossel Bay's harbour?  

DvZ - Fish meal is one of the ingredients blended with other ingredients to produce various animal and aquaculture feeds and hence controlled by the Department of Agriculture. Fish oil is mainly used as an Omega-3 source for various foodstuffs and health foods.

Both the fish meal and fish oil are packaged in containers and shipped to export customers. Initially, the containers will be road transported to PE for export. The Port of Mossel bay does have plans to become an import/export port. When that happens exports will be direct from the Mossel Bay harbour precinct.

  1. What will happen to the waste/effluent of the plant and how will it be treated not to cause further pollution to the ocean?

DvZ - There is no waste from a fish meal and oil plant. All the landed fish and blood water are reduced into the finished product.

  1. How many people are currently employed full-time at Afro Fishing and how many extra people will be employed full-time for the fish meal and oil plant? How can be made sure that local people get preference to outsiders flocking to Mossel Bay as soon as they hear of another industry? 

DvZ - Currently, AF employs 340 staff when we are running two shifts. The expansion plan is expected to increase the total to 500 plus.

AF has a policy of employing locally where possible. The intention is to also recruit locally during the construction phase as was done when the cannery was built.

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Employees at Afro Fishing's sardine canning operation on Quay 1 of the Mossel Bay harbour. The impressive building and machinery were established in 2007 by Dewald Lourens who started the family-business against all odds in Mossel Bay.  

  1. Mossel Bay is traditionally a tourist town with tourism being the main/only? source of income to most local businesses. People fear the negative impacts of such an industry in close proximity to restaurants, guest houses and other tourist attractions will have a severely negative effect on their businesses and cause a much greater loss of jobs than the few hundred jobs that a fish meal plant can supply - again defying the purpose of job creation.  False or true? 

DvZ - Mossel Bay is not only a tourist town. Mossel Bay has a working harbour, a thriving fishing industry, tourism industry, a gas refinery, gas platform supporting industry, an agriculture sector and many other industries. The drive through Voorbaai certainly does not depict a town that is only based on tourism. The Municipal Precinct Plan and the Transnet National Ports Plan cater for all these industries and opportunities with the aim of maintaining sustainable economic growth and employment opportunities in all sectors, not just tourism.

  1. Air pollution: On certain days (depending on the wind direction), unpleasant smells from the cannery have been offending people in neighbouring buildings for years despite strict control. How will the latest RTO technology and equipment ensure that even worse odours do not occasionally occur?   

DvZ - There has not been a single complaint with the current canning operation and AF has always been regarded as a compliant and nuisance free neighbour. I can assure you all odours emitted comply with legislative thresholds. AF also burn ‘low sulphur fuel oil’ in our boilers precisely to reduce certain emission levels.

Please also note that we are a fishing operation located in the part of the harbour allocated and zoned for fishing and industrial activity.

  1. What are the overall benefits of such a fish meal and oil manufacturing plant to Mossel Bay? 

DvZ - Currently the port is operating at less than 20% of its capacity. The site designated for this project has been dormant for almost ten years. This project will develop this site, provide added harbour activity, contribute towards the Mossel Bay economy and most importantly provide much-needed employment opportunities.

  1. What are the worst-case scenarios to the environment?

DvZ - There is no worst-case scenario. There has never been an environmental disaster linked to a fish meal and oil facility. The intention is to expand and grow AF in a sustainable and environmentally compliant manner. There will be no flouting of regulations and environmental laws.

     14. On a more personal note: Are you a family man and do you plan to settle in Mossel Bay? 

DvZ - Yes, my wife Yvette and I have settled in Mossel Bay. Yvette is an architect. We have bought a property in the area. For this reason, I also want to build a facility that contributes to the economy of Mossel Bay and that does not become a nuisance.

PUBLIC CAN BUY PILCHARDS DIRECTLY FROM AFRO FISHING'S FACTORY SHOP IN THE HARBOUR

Deon van Zyl, managing director of Afro Fishing, invites the public to buy directly from their factory shop at discount prices. 

A modern sardine canning factory in Costa Rica that operates very similar to Afro Fishing's plant.    

afro

The public is invited to register and participate as an interested and/or affected party (I&AP) in the ongoing public participation process. Click on the link to read more and to register as an I&AP: 

http://www.cape-eaprac.co.za/…/MOS569%2…/MOS569.01%20BID.pdf

Also read:

 Fish meal and fish oil factory proposed on Quay 1 at Mossel Bay harbour

 

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Dìt is die probleme, frustrasies en vrese waarmee huiseienaars en -bewoners van Seemeeuvlug in Hartenbos vandag steeds spook - bykans drie jaar nadat erge grondverskuiwings die fondasies van talle huise in die Seemeeupark-spogontwikkeling laat verkrummel het sodat die huise onbewoonbaar geraak en ontruim moes word.

Baie van die huise in die drie Seemeeupark-uitbreidings - Rylaan 2, Tuscan Village en Seemeeuvlug -  is intussen gesloop en talle van dié ontredderde huiseienaars moes boonop self daarvoor opdok. 

Seemeeu Colin

Dit is 'n rillerverhaal wat talle pensioenarisse se lewe onherroepelik verander het en sommige haweloos, sieklik en bankrot gelaat het. Errol (72) en Dorothy (75) van der Westhuizen is twee van die huiseienaars wie se gesondheid onder die druk en stres geknak het. Errol het twee beroertes gehad nadat hulle in November 2016 twee weke kennis gekry het om hul huis in Seemeeuvlug te ontruim. Die hospitaalkoste alleen het R36 000 beloop en sedertdien moet hy chroniese medikasie vir hoë bloeddruk en cholesterol gebruik.

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Die meeste huiseienaars kom van Gauteng of elders in die binneland en het gesmag na 'n aftreehuisie by die see.

Toe hulle destyds erwe in dié weelderige ontwikkeling teen die hange van Hartenbos gekoop het, is hulle deur eiendomsagente en die ontwikkelaars verseker van 'n rustige aftree-bestaan in 'n veilige omgewing met 'n pragtige see-uitsig. Niemand het hulle vertel dat die ontwikkeling gebou gaan word op grond waar 'n ou, uitgewerkte gruisgroef vroeër op die plaas Vyf Brakke Fonteinen met sy ondergrondse fonteine bedryf is nie. 

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Petro Botes is een van die huiseienaars aan die westekant van Seemeeuvlug wat destyds derduisende rande en tyd bestee het om haar huis met sy mooi see-uitsig gerieflik en smaakvol in te rig. Sy was een van die 36 gelukkiges in Seemeeuvlug met sy 53 eenhede wie se huis nie onherstelbaar beskadig is tydens die hewige grondverskuiwings in 2015/16 nie. Sedertdien het sy stutmure langs haar huis gebou en saam met ander inwoners grond ingery om keerwalle met grasbedekking te bou vir die reënwater wat vanaf die hoërliggende Tuscan Village afstroom.

Petro Botes, een van die huiseienaars en woordvoerder van die Seemeeuvlug-huiseienaarskomitee, sê reguit hulle vrees die winterreën wat nuwe grondverskuiwings kan veroorsaak wat 'n domino-effek op die laerliggende Seemeeuvlug-uitbreiding kan hê. Oral op die grashelling wat eens egalig en gelyk was, is nou nuwe hellings en skeure namate die grond steeds stelselmatig skuif. 

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Desondanks kraak die stutmure toenemend weens volgehoue grondverskuiwings - veral ná reënbuie. Botes meen die grond is oral steeds onstabiel en die grondverskuiwing vind nou weswaarts in die rigting van George plaas. 

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"Oral waar vroeër gelyk oppervlaktes was, is nou holtes en heuwels soos die grondwalle afwaarts skuif vanaf Tuscan Village na Seemeeuvlug. Die waterpype bars aaneen - soms 5 keer binne 3 maande by dieselfde huis - soos die grondwal afskuif en drukking veroorsaak. Dan moet munisipale werkers elke keer die plaveisel kom oopkap om die pype te vervang.

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 "'n Ander kontrakteur moet dan weer die plaveisel kom herstel. Soms duur dit maande, sodat ons maar self die plaveisel regmaak. Deesdae sorg ons dat die waterpype eerder bogronds bly om te keer dat dit heeltyd bars."

Essie en Lucy Esterhuyse is nog twee inwoners wat moedeloos gesukkel is met ondergrondse lekkasies wat hulle by die munisipaliteit moes aanmeld om te voorkom dat hulle hemelhoë waterrekeninge kry. Hulle beweer swak pype wat nie aan SABS-standaarde voldoen nie en swak vakmanskap tydens die ontwikkeling om geld te bespaar, is deel van die probleem. Die lekkasie onder die grasperk is gelukkig herstel, maar niemand weet wanneer 'n pyp weer gaan bars of lek nie, of watter skade die water onder die grondoppervlakte teweeg gebring het nie.

seemeeu nuut12

Ook die palisade-heining rondom Seemeeuvlug is al plek-plek windskeef weens die grond wat skuif sodat inwoners dit met kabels moet vastrek om te keer dat skelms deur die openinge kan kom. Inbrake in die kompleks het skerp toegeneem - tot sewe verdagtes is al binne 'n week vasgetrek - en huiseienaars wat nie self daar woon nie, ly verdere skade deur booswigte wat leegstaande huise plunder en beskadig.

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Groot onsekerheid is nóg ‘n hartseer wat dié inwoners tref. Sommige van die eienaars wat nie voorheen deur die grondverskuiwing geraak is nie, loop die risiko dat verdere grondverskuiwings nou ook hul huise kan beskadig. Die inwoners was gevestig en wil nie trek nie. Boonop kan hulle ook nie bekostig om te trek nie omdat hulle hul spaar- of pensioengeld in dié aftreehuise belê het en sommige versekeraars weier om vir die skade te betaal. Boonop is hul eiendom nou waardeloos weens die risiko van verdere verskuiwings en kry hulle nie die eiendomme verkoop nie.

Die Mosselbaai Munisipaliteit het ook geen vorm van hulp aangebied ten opsigte van tydelike huisvesting of bystand tydens die eienaars se verpligte ontruiming nie. Pleks van hulp het sommige huiseienaars in September 2016 kort voor die Desembervakansie uitsettingsbevele gekry om hul huise binne 7 dae te ontruim. Geen bekostigbare verblyf in die omgewing was egter destyds beskikbaar nie.

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Antonio Da Silva en sy vrou Rhoda is nog twee pensioenarisse wie se drome, inkomste en gesondheid onherroepelik geknou is deur die grondverskuiwing kort nadat hulle hul huis in Oudtshoorn verkoop het en in Maart 2016 hul aftreehuis in Rylaan 2 in die Seemeeupark-ontwikkeling begin bou het - onbewus daarvan dat dit op 'n ou gruisgroef is. Hier sit hy op die wal wat 'n paar maande later deur die grondverskuiwing op sy erf gevorm is, asook diep slote. Antonio glo die grondverskuiwing het in Rylaan 2 begin en vandaar in 'n hoefvorm uitgekring na Tuscan Village en Seemeeuvlug. Huise in die deel van Seemeeuvlug wat destyds nie in die grondverskuiwing geraak is nie, begin nou toenemend kraak namate die grondwal afwaarts skuif in die rigting van George. Tog word nuwe huise steeds oral in dié omgewing gebou . . .   

Hul spaar- en pensioengeld moes sedertdien gebruik word om ten duurste elders blyplek te huur, hul meubels te stoor en mediese uitgawes weens stresverwante siektes te betaal. Sommige moes noodgedwonge by hul kinders of familielede gaan bly.

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Só het die huise in die Seemeeupark-ontwikkeling in 2016 gekraak en onbewoonbaar geraak weens 'n grondverskuiwing.

'n Skadevergoedingseis van R200 miljoen wat 62 van dié huiseienaars in November 2018 teen die Mosselbaai Munisipaliteit, die Wes-Kaapse premier en die Nasionale Huisbouersregistrasieraad (HBRC) aanhangig gemaak het, het tot dusver niks opgelewer nie en bowendien kan die saak jare lank sloer. 

Die Mosselbaai Munisipaliteit het aangedui dat hy die eis teenstaan omdat niemand die grondverskuiwings kon voorsien het nie en geotegniese verslae glo nie in 1999, toe die residensiële ontwikkeling goedgekeur is, van toepassing was nie. Die grondverskuiwing is ook in 2016 as 'n onvoorsienbare natuurramp (Act of God) beskryf. Geen natuurrampfonds of noodleningshulp is egter destyds aan die hawelose huiseienaars beskikbaar gestel nie. 

Huiseienaars meen egter dat kortpaaie destyds geneem is en die vereiste omgewingsimpakstudies en geotegniese grondtoetse nie gedoen is nie. In 'n verslag van die destydse munisipale ingenieur word glo ook spesifiek gewaarsku dat 'n sekere gebied rondom die gruisgroef nie geskik is vir residensiële ontwikkeling nie weens die steilte en onstabiliteit van die wal.

Botes meen  hoe langer die saak sloer, hoe groter is die kanse dat nuwe skadevergoedingseise kan volg weens die volgehoue grondverskuiwings wat nou ook haar huis bedreig.

"Die grond is steeds onstabiel. As dit nou weer moet reën soos in 2016, sal die stutwalle meegee en dan is Seemeeuvlug se huise daarmee heen," waarsku sy.

Mosselbaaiers wil nou boonop weet wie die skadevergoedingseis gaan betaal as die huiseienaars die hofsaak wen ná volgehoue bewerings dat die munisipaliteit nie destyds versekering gehad het vir openbare aanspreeklikheid nie.

Intussen lig die wenkbroue omdat daar steeds volstoom in die gebied rondom die gruisgroef gebou word - ondanks die hangende skadevergoedingseis en die ooglopende grondprobleme in die omgewing. Selfs 'n kerk word nou skaars 50m van die Seemeeuvlug-huise gebou . . . 

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Terwyl Seemeeuvlug se huise, waterpype en plaveisel toenemend kraak namate grondverskuiwings voortgaan, word talle nuwe huise en selfs 'n kerk 'n hanetree van hulle steeds gebou . . . ?

Dit wil voorkom of dié nuwe kopers nie ingelig of gepla is oor wat tans besig is om in die omgewing te gebeur nie, of iemand moes hulle die versekering gegee het dat hul eiendomme nie deur die grondverskuiwing geraak gaan word nie? 

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Nog 'n nuwe huis word gebou in Rylaan 2 - 'n hanetree van waar die grondverskuiwing in 2016 glo aanvanklik begin en in 'n hoefvorm na Tuscan Village en Seemeeuvlug uitgekring het. 

Inwoners wil nou weet hoe die munisipaliteit dié nuwe ontwikkelings in die omgewing kan goedkeur terwyl  'n skadevergoedingseis van R200 miljoen (wat dalk meer kan word) steeds hangende is.      

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Tussen die ontruimde huise in Seemeeuvlug lig die plaveisel oral op namate die grondwal geleidelik afwaarts skuif en ondergrondse drukking veroorsaak. Waar die oppervlak tussen die huise voorheen gelyk was, is nou oral nuwe hellings en slote wat vorm. 

 

 

Barbara Roets woon al sedert 2006 in Seemeeuvlug en is moedeloos gesukkel met waterpype wat die afgelope tyd gedurig bars waarvoor inwoners in baie gevalle boonop self moet opdok. 

 

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 'n Lugfoto (in rooi omkring) wys die uitgebreide gebied in die groter Seemeeupark-ontwikkeling wat deur die grondverskuiwing in 2016 geraak is. Die verskuiwing vind nou glo in die rigting van George plaas en bedreig nou huise aan daardie kant van die ontwikkeling.    

Maroela Media het onlangs berig dat Mosselbaaiers dalk sal moet help opdok vir die R200 miljoen skadevergoedingseis as die Seemeeupark-huiseienaars die hofsaak wen omdat Mosselbaai Munisipaliteit destyds glo nie versekering vir openbare aanspreeklikheid gehad het nie.

https://maroelamedia.co.za/…/miljoene-geeis-na-grondversku…/

 

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Die huise in Tuscan Village is feitlik teenaan die ou gruisgroef gebou . . . 

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Só kraak die mure van huise in Seemeeuvlug nou wat destyds nie deur die grondverskuiwing geraak is nie . . . 

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Nuwe huise word oral in Rylaan 2 gebou - skuins oorkant die pad waar huise in 2016 weens die grondverskuiwing ontruim en gesloop moes word? 

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Nuwe barste en krake vorm voortdurend in huise in Seemeeuvlug weens die onstabiele grond wat steeds skuif . . . 

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Toestelle wat die grondverskuiwing in die Seemeeupark-ontwikkeling moet meet, is onbeskermd op grasperke geplaas waar dit versteur kan word deur oningeligte tuindienste-werkers en ander faktore. Inwoners het nou houers oor die meters gesit om dit te probeer beskerm. Hulle glo die grondwal is steeds besig om te skuif - dié keer in die rigting van George.  

Intussen het die drie verweerders in die saak aangedui dat hulle die skadevergoedingseise gaan teenstaan en dat daar geen rede tot kommer is dat die nuwe huise en kerk wat nou oral in die omgewing gebou word, deur grondverskuiwings geraak sal word nie. 

Mosselbaai: Geen rede tot paniek in Seemeeupark
Deur Jackie Kruger 03 Julie 2019

Daar is geen rede tot kommer oor eiendom in die groter Seemeeupark-gebied in Mosselbaai in die Suid-Kaap nie.
Belanghebbendes in die eiendomsbedryf sê ’n grondverskuiwing in 2016 het slegs huise in ’n klein, beperkte gebied in die Tuscan Village- en Seemeeuvlug-kompleks geraak.

Huiseienaars in die groter Seemeeupark-gebied het bekommerd geraak nadat die berig “Provinsie, stadsraad staan eis oor grondverskuiwing teen” Maandag in Die Burger verskyn het. Luidens die berig eis 62 huiseienaars van die gebied R200 miljoen by die Wes-Kaapse provinsiale regering, die Mosselbaaimunisipaliteit en die Nasionale Huisbouersregistrasieraad (NHBRC).

Die huise wat in 2016 deur ’n grondverskuiwing geraak is, is egter in ’n klein deel van die gebied. Die belanghebbendes sê hulle het vroeër gesprekke met die Mosselbaai-munisipaliteit gehad en volgens ’n ingenieursverslag is dit hoofsaaklik Tuscan Village, Seemeeuvlug en ’n paar erwe langsaan wat in ’n steengroef gebou is wat daardeur geraak is.

Die gebied is aan die begin van Wassenaarstraat teenaan die N2-snelweg en ’n gedeelte van Rylaan 2.
Onlangs is twee nuwe huise reg voor Tuscan Village gebou sowel as ’n kerkgebou oorkant die straat van die
twee komplekse.

Beleggersvertroue het dieselfde jaar as die grondverskuiwing nog in Mosselbaai toegeneem en die aansoeke van bouplanne by die Mosselbaai-munisipaliteit het in 2016 tot 3 961 van 2 050 die vorige jaar gestyg.

Nieteenstaande die grondverskuiwing wat in die klein gebied voorgekom het, is daar grootskaalse ontwikkeling in die res van die Seemeeupark-omgewing waar daar geen gevaar hiervoor is nie.

Die Wes-Kaapse provinsiale regering het vroeër by navraag aangedui dat hy, die munisipaliteit en die NHBRC die eis gaan teenstaan en hulself gaan verweer. Hulle kan egter nie kommentaar lewer nie omdat die saak voor die hof is.

Só is in 2016 berig: 

Kommer oor Seemeeupark se grondverskuiwing
Deur Jackie Kruger 06 Oktober 2016

’n Proses om dele van die woonbuurt Seemeeupark in Mosselbaai as rampgebied verklaar te kry weens natuurlike
grondverskuiwings wat voorkom, is nog aan die gang.

“Dit is moeilik om te sê wanneer ’n besluit verwag kan word,” sê Harry Hill, waarnemende munisipale bestuurder van Mosselbaai.
Altesaam 30 eiendomme is vroeër in ’n hoërisikogebied geïdentifiseer en inwoners het opdrag gekry om die persele
te ontruim. Die eiendomme wat ontruim moes word, moet gesloop word. Huise in minstens twee woonkomplekse,
Seeumeeuvlug en Tuscan Village, word geraak.

“Die eienaars van die betrokke eiendomme moet ’n slopingspermit by die munisipaliteit kry en tot dusver is nog net twee permitte uitgereik,” sê Hill.

Dit het onlangs op ’n vergadering wat die Mosselbaai-munisipaliteit met die benadeelde huiseienaars en inwoners gehad het aan die lig gekom dat vroeëre wetgewing nie vereis het dat ’n geotegniese verslag opgestel word wanneer grond ontwikkel word nie.

Goedkeuring vir die ontwikkeling van die grond is in 1999 verkry. Van die inwoners het vroeër laat blyk dat hulle regsadvies gaan inwin en bekommerd is oor die koste van die slopings.

Volgens die ingenieursmaatskappy Kantey & Templar, wat in opdrag van die munisipaliteit ’n geotegniese verslag opgestel het, beweeg die huise horisontaal in ’n suidoostelike rigting.

Groot krake kom plek-plek voor. Die grondverskuiwing gebeur vinnig en van die huise het in een maand tussen 80 mm en 125 mm geskuif. Die geotegniese risiko is baie hoog. Infrastruktuur van die Mosselbaai munisipaliteit is ook beskadig.

 
Lees ook ons opvolg-berig hieroor: https://web.facebook.com/mosselbayontheline/posts/2503507399880512?
 

In nog 'n onverwagse nadraai van Sondag se reënstorm wat groot skade in veral die Hartenbos-omgewing aangerig het, word in 'n dringende verslag aangeraai dat nog sowat 20 huise in die Seemeeupark-ontwikkeling dadelik ontruim word omdat die onstabiele grond dit te gevaarlik maak om langer daar te woon - veral in reëntoestande.

In ons vorige plasing het ons juis gemeld van Seemeeuparkers se voortdurende vrees vir enige reënbuie omdat daar steeds sigbare grondverskuiwings plaasvind wat voortdurend waterpype laat bars, mure laat kraak en plaveisels oplig.

Die onafhanklike verslag wat deur drie kenners van Gauteng opgestel is, is verlede week aan die Nasionale Huisbouersregistrasieraad (NHBRC) gestuur. Ná die naweek se reënskade sal dit na verwagting vandag reeds met die betrokke regeringsamptenare en die Mosselbaai Munisipaliteit bespreek word.

Die verslag, wat ook onder ons aandag gekom het, is opgestel deur 'n ingenieursgeoloog van die Universiteit van Pretora, prof. J Louis van Rooy, in samewerking met ʼn grondkundige, dr. Johan van der Waals, en ʼn hidroloog, dr. Riaan Titus nadat hulle van die Seemeeupark-ramp in die media gelees en hul eie ondersoek kom doen het.

Hulle het bevind dat van die huise in Seemeeuvlug wat nie in 2016 ontruim en gesloop is nie, om veiligheidsredes dadelik ontruim moet word omdat reën en verandering in die grondwatertoestande 'n katastrofale hellingversaking tot gevolg kan hê.
Volgens die verslag dui die historiese en huidige getuienis duidelik daarop dat die grond steeds onder die fondamente van die huise skuif wat dit lewensgevaarlik kan maak indien nog swaar reën sou uitsak.

Mosselbayontheline het reeds breedvoerig berig oor die rampspoedige grondverskuiwing wat in 2016 talle pensioenarisse verplig het om hul nuwe aftreehuise te ontruim en te sloop nadat dit verbrokkel en onbewoonbaar geword het.

Talle is haweloos gelaat en het 'n skadevergoedingseis van R200 miljoen teen die betrokke owerhede aanhangig gemaak.

Die saak sloer sedert verlede jaar terwyl geotegniese toetse en ondersoeke steeds aan die gang is.
Die verslag se bevinding is 'n verdere trauma vir die inwoners wat steeds daar woon en teen wil en dank bly hoop het hul huise sal nie verder deur grondverskuiwings geraak word nie - veral omdat nuwe huise en selfs 'n kerk sedertdien 'n hanetree van hulle gebou en bemark word.

Die Seemeeupark-ontwikkeling is destyds op die terrein van twee ou, ongerehabiliteerde gruisgroewe gebou. Die grondverskuiwing in 2016 het plaasgevind kort nadat van die huiseienaars in hul nuutgeboude huise ingetrek het.

Maroela Media het berig die verslag het bevind die ontwikkeling is op 'n mislukte hellingstruktuur geleë en dat daar steeds hellingbewegings plaasvind.
“Die bewyse dui op die moontlikheid van ʼn voortdurende stadige afwaartse beweging, ʼn moontlike verhoogde hellingbeweging as die grondwatertoestande vererger, of ’n skielike groot katastrofiese hellingversaking,” skryf Van Rooy in sy verslag.
“Dit kan ook veroorsaak word deur ’n skielike toename in grondwater op die terrein of omgewing.”

Hoewel die onafhanklike span nie die helling geotegnies ondersoek het om wetenskaplike bewyse en geologiese besonderhede ter ondersteuning van hul bevindings te verskaf nie, meen hulle die omstandighede is voldoende bewys dat die helling misluk het en steeds gevaarlik onstabiel is.

In die lig daarvan word aanbeveel dat van die oorblywende bewoonde huise dringend ontruim word ongeag die uitslag van verdere ondersoeke of ander prosesse wat die besetting van die huise motiveer.

Dit is nog onbekend hoe die Mosselbaai munisipaliteit en die NHBRC op dié dringende aanbeveling gaan reageer. Beide is respondente in die sloerende regsaak, terwyl die Wes-Kaapse provinsie die derde respondent is.

Só het ons in Julie nog berig oor inwoners se vrese en klagtes oor volgehoue grondverskuiwings:
http://www.mosselbayontheline.co.za/…/r200-miljoen-skadever…

Lees die verslag hier of onder foto's: http://mosselbayontheline.co.za/index.php/slope-letter

 
 
 
Meer foto's en videos in ons vorige berigte: 
 

 

 

 

Related Articles:

Inwoners en besoekers aan Mosselbaai het 'n paar dinge in gemeen: Almal is lief vir dié Suid-Kaapse kusdorp met sy gasvrye mense, matige klimaat, asemrowende natuurskoon, ryk marienelewe en heerlike vakansiegees dwarsdeur die jaar.

finals34

Dit is dus geen wonder dat die meeste inwoners hard werk en betrokke is by 'n magdom verskillende organisasies en gemeenskapsprojekte om die dorp en sy mense te beveilig, te bemagtig, te bewaar, te verbeter en te bemark nie.

Die vinnige tempo waarteen 'n pragdorp kan verval tot 'n vuil, verwaarloosde misdaad-hool is egter landwyd sigbaar en kan waarskynlik met enige dorp gebeur as inwoners nie paraat en ingelig is en BETYDS saamstaan nie.

mooifoto2

Dit kos net 'n paar politieke skuiwe en onbedagte nywerheidsontwikkelings om 'n ongerepte kus- en toerismedorp tot 'n besoedelde nywerheidsgebied te verdoem.

Volgehoue planne om Mosselbaai met die beleërde George-munisipaliteit te laat saamsmelt waar die Valke alweer klopjagte weens beweerde bedrog en onreëlmatighede uitvoer, laat lankal die gevaarligte brand.

Voeg daarby die visie om Mosselbaai die Suid-Kaap se broodmandjie en 'n tweede Kouga of Saldanhabaai te maak, soos verwoord deur Memory Booysen, burgemeester van die Garden Route Distriksmunisipaliteit, en dis tyd om wakker te skrik. WEET Mosselbaaiers hoe lyk dit deesdae op Kouga en Saldanhabaai?

 

Navrae oor die beoogde vismeel- en olieverwerkingsaanleg van Afro Fishing op Kaai 1 van die Mosselbaaise hawe ONDANKS heftige openbare besware en 'n petisie, het niks opgelewer nie behalwe dat die plaaslike koerant se nuusredakteur en die omgewingskonsultant wat 'n ONafhanklike omgewingsimpakstudie moet doen, die baas van Afro Fishing vergesel het op 'n oorsese besoek aan Spanje en Portugal om te kyk hoe die stank van 'n vismeelfabriek met die nuutste tegnologie oorkom kan word.

http://www.mosselbayontheline.co.za/index.php/public-outcry-against-fish-meal-plant-in-mossel-bay-harbour

https://www.petitions.net/say_no_to_a_fish_meal_and_fish_oil_factory_on_quay_1_in_mossel_bay_harbour#form
 — in Hout Bay.

ONafhanklik en ONpartydig? Mosselbaaiers wag nog om te hoor van die uitslag van die openbaredeelnameproses, toe verskyn 'n artikel in die plaaslike koerant oor dié wonderlike nuwe stankbestrydingstegnologie en hoe Mosselbaai die EERSTE in die land gaan wees om dit toe te pas? Met 'n boodskap dat inwoners nou weer moet deelneem aan 'n ander openbaredeelnameproses wat dieselfde omgewingskonsultant nou loods.

Wat van die hordes ander besware? Waar gaan al die VARS vis in Mosselbaai vandaan kom om VISMEEL te maak en waarvoor word vismeel gebruik? Troeteldierkos en as voeding vir akwa-boerdery (seevishokke). Terwyl dit alom bekend is dat tot 90% van die wêreld se natuurlike eetbare visspesies deesdae uitgeroei word om vismeel te maak om gehokte vis te voer?
Is Afro Fishing se beplande vismeel en -olieverwerkingsaanleg eintlik net 'n voorloper tot 'n akwaboerdery-bedryf in Mosselbaai se waters?

Vrae wat gevra moet word is:

1. WAAR is die uitslag van die eerste openbaredeelnameproses wat in Maart verstryk het?
2.Hoe kan 'n omgewingskonsultant wat 'n ONafhanklike studie moet doen, die eienaar van Afro Fishing vergesel op 'n oorsese reis en steeds OBJEKTIEF bly?
3. Hoeveel water word gebruik by so 'n vismeel- en olieverwerkingsaanleg en waar gaan dit vandaan kom? Munisipale drinkwater?
3. Wie gaan keer dat ander eetbare visspesies nie OOK in Mosselbaai se water gevang word om tot 1000 ton VARS vis per dag te prosesseer vir oneetbare vismeel nie?
4. Wat word met die uitskot en afvalwater van so 'n aanleg gedoen? Afro Fishing het op die oomblik 'n permit om sy afvalwater in die see te stort, maar die uitskot van 'n vismeel- en olieverwerkingsaanleg is 'n perd van 'n ander kleur en sal rampspoedige gevolge vir die marienelewe inhou.
5. Die vismeel en olie is glo vir die buitelandse uitvoermark, so al Mosselbaai se vars visspesies word uitgeroei om vismeel te maak sodat die buiteland nóg pille (pellets) van bedenklike voedingswaarde vir troeteldiere kan maak en gehokte vis te voer? Maak dit nie dan meer sin om die vismeel plaaslik te gebruik vir die voer van gehokte vis (akwaboerdery) wat OOK ondersoek word nie? Of is dit eintlik die plan? En mense moet eerder dié gehokte vis eet wat vol groeihormone, antibiotika en chemiese plaagdoders geprop is as die ware jakob? 
6. Kan Mosselbaai se infrastruktuur (paaie en padverkeer) so 'n nywerheid akkommodeer - veral in seisoentye?
7. WIE gaan die reuk/lug/waterbesoedeling (selfs al word die beste eerstewêreldland-tegnologie gebruik) en die ander aspekte van die bedryf monitor en polisieër? Die bestaande departement van landbou, bosbou en seevissery wat akwakultuur-bedrywighede in die land moet beheer/bestuur word juis verbind met al die perlemoensmokkel- en bendesindikate wat die Wes-Kaap lam lê? Blote SPRAKE van 'n akwaboerdery in Mosselbaai se seewaters sal 'n instroming van bendelede en smokkelaars tot gevolg hê soos wat lankal handuit geruk het in Gansbaai/Hawston en elders. 
8. Die werklike impak van so 'n ongetoetste aanleg in die kleinste werkende hawe in die land op toerisme, besighede, die seelewe en inwoners se lewensgehalte sal eers bepaal kan word wanneer dit waarskynlik te laat is. Is Mosselbaai met sy ryk marienelewe en ongerepte natuurskoon wat duisende toeriste lok regtig die regte plek vir so 'n riskante eksperiment?
9. WIE gaan regtig ENIGE baat vind by so 'n vismeel- en akwaboerderybedryf behalwe die eienaars en amptenare van die plaaslike en provinsiale owerhede/politici? Die handjievol werknemers wat in diens geneem word, is 'n druppel aan die emmer vergeleke met die verliese wat sulke nywerhede veroorsaak aan bestaande besighede, toerisme en die hele HART van 'n kusdorp . . . wat nog te sê die marienelewe?
10. Hoe gaan dit omgekeer word as die toestemming reeds gegee en die skade klaar aangerig is? Ervaring het bewys dat dit feitlik onmoontlik is om sulke ondeurdagte besluite oor vernietigende nywerhede te beveg . . . as dit eers daar is, raak jy nooit weer ontslae daarvan nie ondanks uitgerekte en DUUR hofsake?

Gaan Mosselbaaiers stilsit en wag tot dit te laat is? 
For evil to prevail, it only takes good (wo)men to do nothing?

Inwoners sal MOET betrokke raak en hul menings begin lug oor besluite en nywerhede wat hul sakke en lewensgehalte raak en 'n bedreiging is vir die prag-omgewing wat hulle juis gelok het om hier te kom woon.

Om balans te hou, plaas ons soos gebruiklik meer inligting en belangrike besonderhede onder die pragfoto's van 'n pragdorp. Moenie net die prentjies kyk nie - raak betrokke?

Lees die verslag en registreer hier as belanghebbende: 
http://www.cape-eaprac.co.za/…/MOS569%2…/MOS569.01%20BID.pdf

Lees gerus ook hier wat werklik in die internasionale vismeel - en akwakultuurbedryf aangaan:

https://ecohustler.com/…/shocking-waste-hundreds-of-wild-f…/

https://ecohustler.com/…/shocking-waste-hundreds-of-wild-f…/

 

MEER foto's and besonderhede op ons Facebook-blad: https://web.facebook.com/mosselbayontheline/posts/2442453212652598?

Related Articles:

Western Cape gangs and Chinese triads control the illicit abalone trade and use it as a political weapon, JOHN GROBLER has established in an 18-month-long and ongoing investigation.

John Grobler

A DECADE of debilitating mismanagement of South Africa’s fisheries sector under former president Jacob Zuma has driven the illicit abalone trade in the Western Cape deep into the arms of Chinese transnational organised crime, seemingly for political purposes.

Gansbaai

Coastal communities . . . Gansbaai harbour

From a cottage industry 10 years ago, the abalone-for-drugs trade has grown into a multibillion-dollar component of international organised crime, with South Africa’s most notorious gangs now controlling the poaching – and nine Chinese triads the international trade into Hong Kong – by using an ancient, trade-based financial settlement system known as “Chinese Flying Money”, fei qian (Mandarin) or fei ch’ien (Cantonese).

This financial system is what ultimately identifies the abalone and drugs racket as Chinese organised transnational crime. Both the Chinese and the local syndicate launder their money by preference via properties, bought via front companies or in the name of other relatives, and sometimes cheaply as payments in a non-linear fashion.

Both also never get caught and appear deeply embedded in both South Africa and China, with political contacts reaching into the highest echelons of power in these countries.

None of this is really news, but what is notable is the extent to which local and international crime has integrated abalone and drugs into a vertically integrated business model by exploiting South Africa’s fragile race politics.

perlemoen Vrye Weekblad

SHUT . . . The abalone farm in Port Nolloth was closed down when the new Chinese owners were caught with illicit abalone.  JOHN GROBLER

The Numbers

On the white-sanded beaches and craggy bays from Cape Agulhas to Cape Columbine, the word is that The Numbers, the prison-based gang of the 26s, 27s and 28s, is now in charge. On certain days, whatever comes out of the sea – abalone, lobster, periwinkle – ̶ belongs to them, a former poacher explains.

The various abalone-bearing areas have been divided up among The Numbers’ associates, but ultimately, all answer to the 28s, as they all risk spending time behind bars sooner or later.

So just call me Jason, he grins from beneath the beard and oversized cap.

Like everyone else, he doesn’t want to be named when talking about the 28s, South Africa’s most feared prison gang, which now rules the Cape beaches from within the deepest confines of the prison system. The 28s run the jail system – and, over the past few years, also the Western Cape’s illicit abalone-for-drugs rackets.

Poaching of the slow-growing mollusc prized in Asia for its buttery taste is now dominated by gangs of young black divers who descend in broad daylight and in large numbers on the craggy beaches to strip out whatever abalone they can find without the police lifting as much as a finger.

Where they come from and who they work for is also no secret, said Jason. “We all know they are fresh from the Eastern Cape,” arriving by taxi from the Western Cape’s impoverished neighbouring province.

In Masakhane, the township outside Gansbaai and the epicentre of the Overberg coastal zone at the heart of the poaching industry, one can see them getting off the taxis, making their way to what appears to be kinsmen' homes.

The Democratic Alliance has been complaining for years that even though up to 500 000 young job seekers arrive in the Western Cape every year, no additional law enforcement resources are being made available to address the attendant rise in violent crime.

Perlemoen Vrye Weekblad1

DELICACY . . . The mollusc has a buttery taste. JOHN GROBLER


Political weapon
What is new is abalone poaching emerging as a political weapon to conduct a poison-the-well policy. Once a sort of cottage industry for the impoverished communities of fishermen between Cape Columbine and Cape Agulhas, it has become the weapon of choice in a secret war to challenge what is perceived as the economic and political dominance of white people in the only province that the ANC has never been able to win since 1994.

By effectively allowing the abalone resource to be hijacked by local and Chinese criminal interests – at a huge social cost to local communities – the abalone industry has been de facto, if not de jure, privatised by a process of political legitimisation into the hands of local and Chinese organised crime, it emerged from an 18-month-long investigation.

Ernie “Lastig” Solomon is believed to be the boss of the 28s and the acknowledged king of the Cape abalone poachers – so famous a movie was made about him.

He does not want to discuss his role in any abalone poaching, claiming to news website IOL that this was all in his past. He could not be reached for comment from Namibia, but according to the IOL profile, was only willing to speak as the self-styled “king of the Khoisan”.

This is highly politically significant: as so-called king of the Khoisan, Solomons does not feel answerable to modern laws imposed in the wake of colonisation. He appears to be saying “I am claiming what is ours” ­– and the ANC government appears to be accepting that claim.

Though official production is valued only at R218 million a year, the fisheries sector directly employs 27 000 people while another 100 000 depend on it as a resource in one way or another. Most of this is in the opposition stronghold of the Western Cape, where Zuma had held not-too-secret talks with the various heads of the Cape Flats gangs in the run-up to the 2006 elections, including with Solomons.

This process of criminal indigenisation started in 2007. That year, corruption-tainted Zuma took over as president and proceeded to dismantle key parts of the regulatory infrastructure and specialised law enforcement units that had protected marine resource until then.

In hindsight, Zuma and the gangs appear to have found common cause. By moving political control of the fisheries sector out of the environment and tourism ministry to an expanded agriculture ministry under Tina Joemat-Petersson, the Western Cape fisheries sector became part of Zuma’s corrupt patronage network – and worse, as the drug trade flooded the small coastal communities.

It was brutal financial carrot-and-stick politics, and the stick got used first. Artisanal fishing communities who for decades had depended on making a living from the sea suddenly found themselves denied a right to basic survival. That they were the poorest of the otherwise wealthy Western Cape and most likely to be sympathetic to the ANC seemed not to matter.

The carrot was political access: parliamentary reports dating back to 2012 cite the coastal communities' main complaint as being used as political fronting, their names employed by the politically well-connected to land those rights for their own pockets only.

In effect, Solomons and his ANC associates are manipulating the awarding of fishing concessions to their own advantage, acting like a pair of pliers squeezing the impoverished coastal communities into political obedience. Access to the current list of concessionaires is impossible by design.

Perlemoen Vrye Weekblad2

RAID . . .  Police in front of a warehouse believed to be an illegal abalone processing facility on Bellville South. 
SAPS

Thrown open to the wolves

Over the past decade, the cottage industry that was local poaching was thrown open to the wolves, especially after the joint SANParks and SA Navy patrols were closed down, as was every other specialised law enforcement unit that posed a political threat to Zuma.

It gets worse: on the ground, the carrots are sugar-coated with drugs, as abalone is often paid for partly in drugs. Little, if any, detectable cash flows between the various players, who instead use a form of trade-based financial settlement. This has defeated any attempts thus far at cracking the syndicates.

That there was a lot of cash in abalone is evident from the false economy it has created: during official crackdowns in December last year, local businesses saw turnover crash and petty crime surge, said a local tyre dealership owner.

The attraction is easy cash: a diver delivering 20kg of abalone for one dive earns R20 000 for a few hours work per month; and the owner of a ski-boat heading up a 28-sanctioned crew R200 000 or more per month, according to the former poacher.

Where and how the cash comes from has, until now, largely remained a mystery. The secret of their trade is the ancient, trade-based financial settlements system known as fei qian or "Chinese Flying Money".

“How do the poachers get paid for hundreds of tons of abalone?” asked Marcel Kroese, a former head of enforcement at the directorate of agriculture, forestry and fisheries and now an international fisheries consultant. In his past experience, they only found small amounts of cash in illicit abalone busts, which was odd for a black market, cash-based business.

Following the money as a means of identifying the main players yielded zero results. “We could not ever find the money,” he said, making water-proof court cases a major challenge.

 perlemoen Vrye Weekblad4

KINGPIN . . . Alleged former gang boss Ernie "Lastig" Solomon, right, and controversial businessman Jerome Donkie Booysen, bottom left, attend the funeral of well-known defence lawyer Noorudien Hassan. 

ESA ALEXANDER

Drugs
Instead, payment was made in non-traceable shipments of precursor drugs used to manufacture tik, a cheap and highly addictive form of speed. Precursor drugs like ephedrine are often shipped to Walvis Bay and then trucked down to Cape Town to be cooked up in backyard labs and, from there, finding their way via the 28s and their associates in the poaching syndicates into the local communities.

People mostly pretend not to see the poachers. Farmers along the craggy Overberg coastline area say the poachers made it clear they would burn down their houses if they were obstructed in any way. Many are elderly, isolated and afraid and know the police offer little, if any, protection from the poaching gangs.

This culture of fear has integrated organised crime into the very fabric of the local community, with everyone dependent on the trade in one way or another: from the lookouts and the garage owner selling them fuel to the granny storing a night’s catch in a backroom freezer.

In effect, this has pushed the artisanal fishing communities into the arms of organised crime, as epitomised in that photograph of Brett, former fisheries minister Zokwana and ANC MP Tebele. It is a picture that, at the very least, Solomons has shown to many people upon whom he wished to impress his political legitimacy.

perlemoen Vrye Weekblad3

MILLIONS . . .  Abalone discovered in April in Table View, Cape Town. SAPS

Corruption

“It’s just shocking how open the corruption has become,” said former head of fisheries Shaheen Moolla, now MD of the highly influential fisheries advisory consultancy Feike. “But what do you expect when the DG [director-general of fisheries] admitted in Parliament that the department is basically in a meltdown?”

The turmoil in the directorate has in fact been a god-send to the fishing industry, both legal and not, as everyone is now bribing their way around regulations, said Moolla – and it has been like this since his stint as head of fisheries. “Even where we have gone to the minister with hard evidence, nothing ever gets done. Corruption is [now] at substantive levels,” he said. This corruption, he concurs, has its roots at the political level and has opened the front door to the likes of Solomons.

Solomons, local sources say, has big political ambitions and wants to become the ANC coordinator for the Overberg area.

So has the ANC’s alignment with the 28s produced the desired political Western Cape results in the May 8 elections? The results suggest not: both the DA and the ANC have lost voters, mostly to former Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille's new GOOD party.

The only real winners have been the shadowy Chinese gangs known to have been at the heart of the drugs-for-abalone interface since the early 1990s.

In State vs Miller, the court set out in its 2017 ruling how the Chinese had operated a smuggling pipeline via the in-bond cold stores in Cape Town harbour (and likely also the Walvis Bay facility in Namibia) by using a specific set of numbers of 3, 4 and 7 to identify what amounted to production lines of poached abalone.

The Institute for Security Studies' Peter Gastrow in 2004 identified them as the 14K and Table Mountain Gang in 2004, believed to be the same group an earlier investigative article on the same topic had traced to a cluster of luxury homes in Plattekloof – all with a fantastic view of Table Mountain. As in the Miller case, all operations are run via brief-case companies set up in employees’ names, a common feature to a mysterious business empire that investigators believe to be worth several billion rand by now.

But linking these companies to actual acts of organised criminal behaviour in any court of law by way of a financial paper trail is well nigh impossible because it is all built on a cash-only system hidden behind a facade of legitimate operations.

Zuma’s political gutting of the various specialised law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies to enable massive looting is a matter of record. While there are still many really dedicated people left in the ranks, there is no political direction, says Moolla. The only specialised agency, the Hawks that handle abalone cases related to organised crime, are hobbled by a shortage of experienced staff and lack of resources.

But there is new light at the end of the tunnel: President Cyril Ramaphosa, when announcing his 2019 Cabinet in the last week of May, moved fisheries back into the environment and tourism portfolio and appointed rising ANC star and technocrat Barbara Creecy as minister.

This implies that at the very least, quotas for harvesting any marine resource will have to meet the quite strict environmental standards before being set and awarded.

But will she be able to stop the culture of corruption that has engulfed the fisheries sector? Its anaemic contribution to the gross national product relative to the country’s 2 850km-long coastline is a clue to a larger but hitherto ignored reality: a large part of it appears to have disappeared into the international black market, the largest of which is Hong Kong, where just the illegal abalone trade is conservatively estimated to be worth R1,5 billion a year.

If the associated drug trade is included, this implies a Chinese syndicate turning over several billion dollars per year that has the entire Western Cape political elite in its pocket.

What is needed, according to Feike’s Moolla, is political inclination to deal with the problem, the manpower and political will. But Creecy is up against it: no-one knows the abalone poaching industry better than the Chinese. “They told us often, ‘Your officials are very cheap, so easy to bribe,’ ” says Moolla.

And until that changes, nothing will break the Chinese chokehold over South Africa's abalone resources.

The former poacher has the best advice, though: “We always made sure they never owe us more than R10 000 because that’s what it cost to hire a Chinese hitman in those days. Because then it became cheaper to whack you than pay you.”

It’s advice that Creecy would do well to heed in dealing with Chinese interests, both on and under the table.

https://www.vryeweekblad.com/gesondheid-en-omgewing/2019-06-07-abalone-gangster-trade-flourishes-amidst-the-tentacles-of-corruption/

PLEASE NOTE: This is an English translation of a Vrye Weekblad article offered to readers for their convenience.

Read the Afrikaans article here:

Perlemoen: Rampokkerbedryf floreer in die tentakels van korrupsie

https://www.vryeweekblad.com/gesondheid-en-omgewing/2019-06-07-perlemoen-rampokkerbedryf-floreer-in-die-tentakels-van-korrupsie/?fbclid=IwAR0BRfVG0mlypClwXYaDq18QT_rvbiLzad_tt_eEnT49nQkdmwuDAR0Sjr4

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MIN mense sal kans sien daarvoor om elke dag vanaf jou voorstoep met sy pragtige see-uitsig vas te kyk in die stof, gewoel en geraas van 'n oorlaaistasie vir swaar voertuie reg voor jou huis  . . . en dan praat ons nie eens van die brand- en misdaadgevaar en vernietiging van die strandveldse fynbos in die bewarea nie.

 

Tergniet9

Dit is die groeiende frustrasie  en probleem waarmee huiseienaars in Wag 'n Bietjie-singel in Tergniet nou sit nadat hulle meer as tien jaar gelede dié kuserwe oorkant die groenstrook en Erf 271 gekoop het.

Johan Grobler was een van dié huiseienaars wat in 2005 en 2006 twee erwe aangeskaf het nadat hy destyds verseker is dié groenstrook op die padreserwe sal nooit ontwikkel of bebou word nie. Die paar trokke wat elke dan en wan goedere op Erf 271 oorgelaai het, was destyds so sporadies dat dit skaars opgemerk is. 

Nou is Impalaweg en dié pad voor hul huise egter 'n besige "hoofweg" en word dié oorlaaisone boonop vergroot en afgemerk as 'n amptelike stilhougebied sodat enige voertuie en trokke dag en nag daar parkeer en boonop die gebied as 'n vullishoop en toilet gebruik, wat die situasie onveilig en onhoudbaar maak.

Tergniet4

Boonop is daar blykbaar al jare lank 'n dispuut tussen die Garden Route Distriksmunisipaliteit en die Mosselbaai munisipaliteit oor aan wie dié betrokke Erf 271 nou eintlik behoort. As dit wel aan die GRDM behoort, sal dit uiters vreemd wees dat een enkele erf langs die Tergniet-kuslyn nie onder Mosselbaai se jurisduksie val nie . . . ?

Inwoners wil ook weet watter reg die Mosselbaai munisipaliteit dan het om besluite oor Erf 271 te neem as dit wél aan die GRDM behoort en hoe lank dié interregeringsdispuut nog gaan sloer. 

Tergniet5

Talle briewe, versoeke en vertoë aan die Mosselbaai Munisipaliteit om dié oorlaaisone na 'n ander onbewoonde gebied te verskuif, het tot dusver geen oplossing gebring nie. In briefwisseling met die munisipaliteit wat in ons besit is, word bloot genoem dat 'n lugfoto van die gebied toon dat dié oop stuk grond op die padreserwe al in 2004 as 'n oorlaaisone gebruik is en dat kopers destyds hul huiswerk moes gedoen het om te weet van die oorlaaisone. 


Tergniet lugfoto

Inwoners se besware dat daar in 2004 nog geen huise of ontwikkeling in die gebied was nie, dra blykbaar ook geen water nie. Omgewingsbewaarders en -kenners se besware dat dié groenstrook 'n biome van skaars inheemse fynbos is wat toenemend deur die swaarvoertuie vernietig word en erge stofbesoedeling veroorsaak, het tot dusver ook op dowe ore geval. 

Christo Botha, 'n ander huiseienaar wat in 2008 sy erf gekoop het - juis oor die stil omgewing en onbelemmerde see-uitsig - meen dis onregverdig om nou te sê kopers moes destyds geweet het van die informele "oorlaaisone" as geen agent of iemand hulle daarvan vertel het nie.

 

"Hoe moes ons destyds daarvan geweet het? As ek geweet het hulle beplan 'n groot, formele stilhouplek en oorlaaisone reg voor my huis, sal ek mos nooit hier gekoop het nie?"

 

"Boonop was ons erwe baie duurder as dié agter ons - juis oor die see-uitsig en omdat ons verseker is dat niks op die groenstrook gebou of gedoen sal word om ons uitsig en die rustigheid van die omgewing te belemmer nie!" 

 

Tergniet Johan en Christo

Christo Botha (links) en Johan Grobler op Christo se stoep met die onbelemmerde uitsig oor die see en groenstrook wat huiseienaars in Wag 'n Bietjie-singel destyds oorreed het om juis hier te kom koop en aftree. 

 

Boonop is die area op die padreserwe nou vergroot tot 30 m x 18 m en lê teer en olie oral op die oppervlak waar fynbos vroeër geil geblom het.

Tergniet3

In die jongste terugvoering van munisipale kant is gesê dat die oorlaaisone op die padreserwe nie geskuif of verklein gaan word nie, maar dat kennisgewingborde oorweeg sal word wat die maak van vure, rommelstrooiery en leeglêery verbied soda wetstoepassers kan optree. Huiseienaars meen egter sulke kennisgewingborde sal geen impak hê om leeglêery en misdaad te bekamp nie en die brandgevaar is ernstig omdat mense wat daar parkeer gedurig hul sigaretstompies daar rondstrooi. 

 

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Inwoners meen nie net word hul privaatheid geskend deur mense wat dag en nag reg oorkant hul huise parkeer en die area bespied nie, maar hul veiligheid en gesondheid word ook bedreig deur só 'n openbare stilhouplek weens die voortdurende geraas, stof en besoedeling van swaarvoertuie op hul drumpel.

Tergniet10

Die oorlaaisone is vroeër vanjaar met die aanvang van die padbouwerke in Klein-Brakrivier tydelik verskuif na 'n area naby die tennisbane in Klein-Brakrivier. Johan en ander huiseienaars het in dié tyd uit desperaatheid die oop sone voor hul huise met pale en kleeflint afgesper om te keer dat voertuie langer daar parkeer. Hulle het ook die vernielde plantegroei en fynbos wat deur die swaarvoertuie platgetrap was, probeer herstel.

Dié "onwettige" strukture is intussen deur die munisipaliteit verwyder en die gebied word nou afgesper met houtpale. 

Tergniet2

Hieronder is uittreksels uit korrespondensie tussen die huiseienaars, Mid-Brak Bewarea en die betrokke munisipale departementshoofde en raadslede oor die kwessie:

11 Apr 2019:  

Dear Midbrak Conservancy: 

The letter request of 11 March refers. Since then we have instructed HENRA to relocate from Erf 271 and re-establish somewhere else, and they also cleaned up as was confirmed by Warren. See attached, the disturbed area on Erf 271 has been established long-long ago, prior to 2004, before roads / houses were established in Wag-n-Bietjie Singel. Meaning that this cleared area has been there at least 15 years, and residents that bought & build in surrounding streets knew about the cleared space & activity.

So we are not clear as to why this has become a ‘’problem’’ all of a sudden?  This space is one of the last remaining disturbed spaces suitable for heavy vehicles to operate, without having to navigate the smaller/narrower streets. So we are in support of this specific space being utilised, instead of a new space being established informally by suppliers elsewhere.

Feedback on the letter points raised

  1. We take note, MBM is always appreciative of efforts by the public to get involved in environmental matters, however MBM sometimes needs to take a pragmatic view of certain issues. As indicated in the attached aerial maps the area has been in its current disturbed site since at least 2004. The Botanical Survey conducted by Dr Mark Berry, also identified it as a disturbed area and it was not included in the areas that were deemed as being conservation worthy.  
  2. We are in no position to comment on this suggestion
  3. Within the road reserve, the public has the right to stop. The Survey conducted by Dr Mark Berry suggested that erf 271 is still performing an ecologically important function irrespective of the disturbed areas. The argument of the truck stopping/reversing in the disturbed area is thus not necessarily directly contributing to the further degradation of the erf. The Road reserve is 30m wide and at that point approx. 18m measured from the asphalt edge.
  4. There is a need to ensure that the extent of the already disturbed portion of erf 271 is not increased, by the truck stop activity. So we will consider the option of demarcating the Road Reserve boundary in order to stop this.

We noticed that since the letter residents (we assume) have planted the poles and danger tape without consent from the Municipality. Please note that this is in violation of our Street-By Laws and will be removed shortly. Our Greatbrak Superintendent will plant wooden poles 1m high, painted white on the road reserve to ensure activity does not go past this boundary. We hope this resolves the matter. We will monitor the activity going forward.

29 April 2019:

Christo Botha skryf: 

I live in 77 Wag n Bietjie Crescent, overlooking Erf 271. 

There are 5 households involved, being numbers 71, 73, 75, 77 and 79.  All overlooking the gap in 271. I have been given proxy to discuss this issue with you by all of the above, as we live here and are all affected.  

   
I have read your latest e-mail and gather you intend to demarcate an area of 30 meters by 18 meters, which we all find unacceptable as it will simply result in a ‘truck stop’ which we have to face daily.  Over and above the fact that cars stop there during the night and criminals can easily use it as a vantage point to watch movements in households.

I have personally asked a guy to please move as he was parked there at 23h00 at night for longer than an hour. We all know the hazard of fire as the whole area is covered in twigs and dead leaves. These days people stop and relieve themselves in the bush, as it seems convenient to park there. The pics you show, taken in 2004 is not relevant as no houses were built at that time. 

I understand that it is a reserved area and yes, people can pull off, but why in front of  5 households? Why not move the gap 200 meters towards Groot Brak where there are no houses?  

Why such a large area of 30 x 18? A car only needs maximum of 4 meters from the asphalt to park safely. The area you want to demarcate is big enough for big trucks which simply just destroy the fynbos.

We, as residents, with the help of conservancy are more than willing to replant, at our cost, to close the gap. 

There are no signs stating ‘no dumping’ ‘no overnight’ ‘no smoking’ or whatsoever.

We all bought here because of the view and the greenbelt and were all told there will never be built, but now we have to face cars, trucks just simply parking, dumping stuff, using it as a toilet and rubbish bin.  Not very pleasant or safe.  

I would like to arrange an appointment to come and discuss this matter on behalf of the 5 households concerned. Kindly let me know at your earliest when is a suitable date and time.

Thank you 

Kind regards. 

C.Botha.   

Reply:

Subject: RE: Continued abuse and degradation of erf 271

Dear Mr Botha

  • Please note that feedback was a combined effort between our HOD, our Director and ECO Warren.
  • We are not in support of ‘’shifting’’ the spot because the cleared area have been there since 2004, long before residents.
  • The aerial photo of 2004 is relevant because owners that have bought/build there should/must have made themselves aware of surroundings
  • The road reserve remains the road reserve, we cannot narrow a reserve to suit individual liking, we need to consider the greater community/building activity also.
  • Yes, the possibility of notice boards can be discussed, so that Traffic can intervene when required, our HOD will consider this.
  • You may schedule an appointment through Ms Helene Bailey to coordinate a suitable time for all CC’d.

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