Leadership squabble causes a big stink for fishing communities

The livelihoods of the small-scale fishing community in Lambert’s Bay is hanging in the balance as the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) is withholding critical fishing permits citing disputes over the legitimacy of the board of directors of the local fishing co-operative.

This after a new board was elected when the majority of the members had expressed unhappiness over an interim board.

In November last year, former Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy finalised the process of awarding 15-year smallscale fishing (SSF) rights to fishers in the Western Cape, following a four year delay.

It was meant to signal the end of interim relief, and pave the way for grant of rights letters to be issued to 62 small-scale fishing co-operatives, with a total membership of 3 850 declared fishers.

At the time, Masifundise, an organisation which works with fishing communities, had indicated that for co-operatives to function there needed to be a lot of support and capacity building from an administration, conflict management and economic management point of view.

According to deputy chairperson of the new board, Alfredo Ceres, they elected a new board because they were unhappy with the manner in which the former board was doing things, citing issues including a lack of transparency.

“Since small-scale was implemented, members have not seen a cent, not even a loaf of bread’s money.

An interim board was chosen at the time. The board would serve for a period of three months after which an AGM was to be held on the department's instructions mentioned in a meeting. The board then went on and on, working with the permits without any of the members knowing about anything because meetings were never held. Members didn't even know who the marketers were. So the three month interim board period was over, and the department did not come out for a new AGM as they said... with the result, then a Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) registration was done by the interim board without the members' consent,” said Ceres.

He said the situation was dire, as the community was now not able to make a living.

“The board was then invited three times in January and February to explain to members what had happened. They did not respond. Then the members got fed up and asked for an AGM by the department. The department agreed, and the department fixed the date for 30 April 2024.

The interim board were notified by the department, they simply didn’t show up and the AGM proceeded with three officials from the department.

A new board was then chosen with a large majority (about) 102 members present,” Ceres added.

However, he said while the department was communicating with them regarding small-scale permits, of which they had already received two for white mussel and kelp, they were now stuck as they said the department had assisted the interim board with CIPC registration which held the certificate and refused to give it up.

Secretary of the interim board, Ernest Titus, said they were still the legitimate board and the members did not pay membership fees, which made their voting rights moot.

“On January 21 there was a meeting called to get clarity on leadership.

Where it was made clear (by an official) that we must go through the constitution thoroughly then we will understand what a co-op means. She also made it clear that the co-op is not responsible for any members fees and these fees must be paid. During a training session we agreed on R120 a month. We agreed to a date for March 23. We sent letters to all members who could not pay their membership fees to come and explain why they could not pay. Only one responded and paid his R1200 fee for the year.

On April 23 there was not an AGM because we asked the department for a postponement to sort out our financial matters and to give the members a chance to pay their fees so they can have voting rights, so there would be a fair chance for everyone at this AGM where a new leadership would be elected,” said Titus.

However, despite their request, he said the department decided to proceed with the meeting on April 30.

“It means that the meeting was not lawful because they never paid their fees. There was a request by CIPC to register the new board but they were rejected. We are still recognised as the legitimate board. The bigger issue (is) the department, while they know that AGM on April 30 was not valid, they still proceeded to accept their applications. We can resolve these issues on our own but the department must issue the permits,” said Ernest.

Both parties say they have adhered to all the department’s requirements in terms of permitting applications but now they are now in limbo as DFFE decided to freeze the permits.

The department said the co-operative needed to provide guidance on the way forward but it could not get involved.

DFFE spokesperson Peter Mbelengwa said: “The department received multiple West Coast Rock Lobster applications from two groups, each claiming to be the legitimate Board of Directors of the co-operative. In line with the permitting application process, the department has requested the co-operative to resolve this issue and provide clear guidance on its internal administration procedures to assist in the processing of the applications.”

He said the department is required to “address and engage with all identified small-scale fishers”.

“Furthermore, no formal handover process has been conducted, nor has the department been informed of any formal handover following an AGM, which would have clarified the legitimate authorised individuals within the co-operative.

“The department has organised several meetings for the two groups to address their issues, but both parties refused to meet. Communication from the lawyers of both parties soon followed, prompting the department to seek legal advice. The legal counsel advised that the department cannot intervene in the operational or administrative processes of the co-operative as a legal entity. As a final measure, the department arranged for a third-party mediator to provide conflict management training to the co-operative. However, only one party attended,” Mbelengwa said.

Cape Times