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Feike has seen correspondence dated from December 2024 confirming that Minister Dion George had in fact revoked the authority of the DDG to decide exemption applications in terms of section 81 of the MLRA. We are trying to obtain confirmation from Minister George when in fact he had revoked this authority.  On 31 March 2025, a new set of delegations was issued by Minister George, confirming that he retains the sole power to decide any exemption application.  There are a number of significant changes to the delegations, including concerning section 28 matters.  We are also aware that despite these changes, the DDG had continued to issue decisions in terms of section 81 of the MLRA.  Members of the fishing industry are urgently advised to study any recent decisions (from approximately August 2024) taken in terms of section 28 or section 81 of the MLRA and see who took those decisions. If the decisions were taken by the DDG, it is extremely likely that these decisions h...

12 months ago, South Africa saw the appointment of its first fisheries minister from the opposition Democratic Alliance party as a consequence of the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU).  Admittedly, there was a substantial amount of hope that the decades of mismanagement, bad policy, destructive fisheries management and corruption at the Fisheries Management Branch located at Foretrust Building, Foreshore, Cape Town would come to an end.  That hope was not blind hope. It was based on the fact that while in opposition, the DA had espoused the type of policies and action needed that would certainly see the rapid righting of the rotten fisheries ship that is the Fisheries Management Branch.  12 months later and that hope has been dashed as the DAs Dion George has actually just continued with the same bad policies and incompetent / corrupt staff that he inherited from his ANC predecessors. In fact, George has been doubling down and issuing even worse decision...

 What is going on with fisheries control, Minister George? Your FCO's are randomly issuing fines to skippers of fishing vessels demanding they pay "admission of guilt fines" for the most mundane non-existent issues.  FCO's are supposed to foster a relationship of co-operation with the fishing industry as opposed to creating a hostile environment where it appears that FCO's are out looking for bribes. What else could explain why FCO's are issuing fines in cases where a tuna pole vessel's newly painted lettering mistakenly reads "TB" as opposed to "TP"?  Or issuing a fine to a tuna long line vessel because it has wooden bamboo poles on board because the FCO does not know that bamboo poles are also used to gaff tuna caught by long line to be brought safely on board the vessel? (Not to mention that the tuna long line conditions do not contain a definition of what is "tuna long line gear" and there is no criminal prohibition for ha...

On 6 May 2025 (almost week after Minister George was required by the Western Cape High Court to publish his appeal decisions), Dion George issued his revised squid appeal decisions. The original appeal decisions taken by Barbara Creecy were reviewed and set aside by the Courts last year (as were dozens of hake long line and small pelagic decisions, but we digress).  The squid appeal decisions are problematic for at least 2 reasons and once again demonstrate a Minister who lacks access to proper advisors and importantly demonstrates that the DA (As a political party) simply have no clue about fishing, policy and growth in this sector. And this is incredibly tragic given that, as an opposition party, the DA did actually have substantive policy and ideas to fix and grow fisheries ! Reason 1: Firstly, the Minister has allocated a total of 6 rights to new entrants but allocated them each a crew allocation limited to 4 men - also called the TAE or total applied effort limit.  What t...

 On 28 January 2025, Dion George's fisheries department decided to terminate the annual fishing authorizations for 178 abalone divers based on some mysterious "investigation" his department undertook in 2024 and concluded in December 2024.  Not only did the department terminate the right of these divers to earn an income in 2025, they did so without ever first affording the divers any due process - not once did the department first consult any of these divers and ask them to explain the allegations of wrongdoing they were purportedly found guilty of in January 2025.  And then the department failed to even tell these divers what the charges are that they faced. Only now in April has the department begun informing individual divers what the allegations of wrongdoing are and every single one I have seen is bogus and they are all very similar.  Almost all divers are accused of misrepresenting the diving zone from where they recorded a particular catch in 2024. But when o...

Being the first DA appointed Fisheries Minister, we held out much hope that Dion George would significantly move away from the catestrophic policies and incomptent management that has defined fisheries management in this country for some 15 years now.  ANC fisheries policy since Joemat-Petterssen has been defined by corruption, incompetence, typical redistribution of a contracting quota pie to more and more "fishers" with the consequnce that nearshore fisheries have essentially all collapsed and of the 22 healthy and functioning commercial fisheries we had back in 2005, we are down to 13 at best today. And yet we have 1000's more quota holders!  The DA of course supposedly prides itself on its strategies of "growth", competence and collaboration with industry / fishers to grow the SA economy. Minister's George's leadeership since 3 July 2024 has been a copy-and-paste of the incompetence and dithering that has defined ANC mismanagement of our fisheries si...

On 28 January 2025, Dion George's fisheries department issued a decision to refuse to grant abalone fishing exemptions to 179 historic divers because they had apparently committed multiple serious violations of the MLRA.  Additionally, 83 exemption holders were found to have committed "minor" violations of the MLRA and were instructed to pay "admission of guilt fines" or not have their fishing permits issued. And they were told (dishinonestly) by fisheries staff that the payment of admission of guilt fines would not reflect on their criminal records and these fines "have nothing to do with prosecutors and magistrates"! These are obvious lies that unlawfully coerced many exemption holders to admit to crimes they never committed in order to desperately secure access to their fishing permits so as to earn a living.  The decision of 28 January 2025 was apparently the consequence of a 6-month long investigation into compliance conduct by abalone exemption h...