Cape Town - It is a case of ‘’one man’s joy is another’s sorrow“ in Strandfontein where the community is rejoicing over the upgrades to Fisherman’s Lane, yet anglers are crying foul as they claim to have been sidelined.
Construction on the pavilion started last week and the anglers say they are not catered for in the plans, saying this is another attempt by the City of Cape Town to continue victimising them.
They say the design is not what they had pitched in the public engagements with the municipality.
“We wanted to have designated facilities where we can freely and safely operate from, separate from the holiday spot as cleaning and preparing fishing is a delicate process.
“We wanted to have parking closer to the usual fishing area. How can you expect us to leave our vehicles that far, and to carry the stock back, especially in the evenings or early mornings? Once you’re behind the dunes no one sees you, and your vehicle stands unsupervised. This was a chance for government to rectify this and provide facilities for us but no, they once again overlooked our ideas as the small-scale fishing industry,” said angler Abbas Moerat.
Sias van Zyl, another angler, said like all developments it has its pros and cons “but unfortunately this is against the anglers. It’s designed to negatively affect our livelihood. It’s adding to the general nightmare experienced by the fishers along the False Bay coast. There are certain areas where we’re not allowed to access the stock and certain restrictions are posed against us as opposed to the well-established business. They would be telling us about extinction and all, something they can’t put on statistics. We want free access to the beaches with proper facilities and support, like all other business sectors.”
Natasha James, the spokesperson for Fishermen United, said it is no surprise that the government has once again failed to live up to the expectations of the community, especially the fishers. She said lack of facilities and support systems is an issue affecting most of the small-scale fishing industry and it is reasonable that Strandfontein anglers wanted to benefit from the development.
“This is their livelihood, a source of income for many families and facilities would give dignity to their work. I don’t understand how fishermen are expected to clean the stock on the sand or rocks and carry it where government thought it’s suitable to build. We’d love for the City or government to show support and give dignity to the fishing community and these developments are indeed great opportunity to redesign and cater for all,” James said.
Mayoral committee (Mayco) member for spatial planning and environment, Eddie Andrews, said, “There are no restrictions on recreational fishing at Fisherman’s Lane provided that anglers have a national fishing permit. The fine for not having a fishing permit is R500. The community liaison officer will hand out notices to fishermen and other beach users in the area.”
Chairperson of Strandfontein Agricultural, Aqua Marine and Boating Association, Ighshaan Carstens said the City failed to present the final plans prior to the start of the development and the locals are left in the dark as to what to expect, especially with the rectification of the failed previous projects.
“We the community know better. We have seen projects like these fail to address the community needs and the broken road is one of them. It would be important to be involved. Right now we’re a little bit apprehensive and sad that the City dropped the ball on us. We don’t know what’s in for us in the whole development in terms of opportunities and benefits once it’s completed, as the local businessmen and residents.”
Andrews said, “The old Fisherman’s Lane road collapsed as the sea wall was not founded on bedrock. The planned refurbishment will correct this.”
In his previous statement, Andrews promised that the project would provide a safe, dignified, welcoming, well-managed and high quality recreational and public space.