Fisheries & Oceans Governance Under a Ramaphosa Presidency

Subsequent to President Ramaphosa's 2018 State of the Nation Address on Friday last week, his mention of the need to reduce the size of his Cabinet has led to some interesting speculation about the possible reconfiguration of the environment-related government departments.

In 2009, President Zuma split fisheries and oceans management between two separate departments (DAFF and DEA, respectively) despite all expert and academic advice that to do so would cause more harm to fisheries and oceans governance. Not to mention that splitting oceans and fisheries governance would be in direct contradiction to the domestic and international recognition that oceans and fisheries governance required integration, not disintegration.

Ideally, I believe that an efficient and effective administration responsible for regulating the environment (within the context of the Bill of Rights) would entail the creation of a single super environment ministry with deputy ministers responsible for overseeing -

• fisheries, ocean governance and aquaculture;
• water, human settlements and sanitation; 
• forestry and terrestrial park management; 
• agriculture and land affairs. 

Each of the above departments will be led by a director-general as opposed to the current departmental branches that report to directors-general who by large lack the sector expertise to actually provide technocratic leadership.

We already have a suite of overarching environmental laws under the NEMA statute umbrella that provides overarching environmental, protected area and biodiversity regulation. This bureaucratic structure would also be able to give effect to the important prerogative of implementing an ecosystem approach to environmental management.

Financial savings from the consolidated bureaucracy can instead be used for actual enforcement, monitoring, research and management.