For small-scale fishing communities in rural Eastern Cape, whose existence depends on access to natural resources, it remains an endless battle to get legal fishing rights. In some cases they are even denied the basic human right of access to water.
To these communities, who have been relying on freshwater catches from rivers and dams as a source of food and income for years, it seems like critical issues hindering their livelihoods have been sidestepped by authorities for half a decade.
Their challenges are varied, but fishing rights and access to potable water remain two of their most pressing concerns.
Naseegh Jaffer, director of the Masifundise Development Trust, explains that rural fishing communities are highly dependent on the province’s freshwater sources and fish populations as a way to make a living.
No right to fish
But at this stage, rural fishing communities are being prohibited from fishing because no legislation that supports this exists. This means that rural fishermen and women have no legal right to fish.
“In other words, even though they depend on fishing to make a living, they can’t because there is no legal right that they can apply for to fish,” Jaffer explains.
“They can apply for a sports permit but this doesn’t help them because under the sports fishing permit, they are not allowed to sell the fish they catch. It’s only for self-consumption.”
South Africa’s Small-Scale Fisheries Policy (SSF), developed in 2005, is also yet to be implemented, Jaffer says.
“There exists no other legislation to support rural fishing. As a result, fishermen and women continue to fish illegally and to face hefty fines or imprisonment.”
Years without access to water
The challenges extend beyond fishing, however. Some communities still don’t have access to potable or clean water.
In Centane, a settlement within the Amathole district municipality, residents have not had consistent water access in the past five years. Harvey Ntshoko, member of the Nombanjana village in Centane, says they have had to face shortages since 2017.
“We have not had access to water even during the pandemic. There is no water, our taps have run dry and we have no water tanks. Last year we were arrested for advocating for our right to water. We want to see water tanks that other communities have but are not present in our ward 28.”
Ntshoko tells Food For Mzansi that residents in Centane have to share about three functional water tanks with the entire district of eight villages.
Since there are no taps or bulk water system that serves the region, running water isn’t something residents enjoy. They have been forced to collect water from a nearby river where cattle and other animals feed and drink.
“So people have been collecting water from the same river where animals drink. For most, it’s a two-hour walk … to the river and back.
“This water can’t be used right away. It must be sterilised but these communities don’t have sophisticated sterilisation systems. They have to boil the water outside on a fire in big pots because they don’t even have electricity.”
Failure to act has serious consequences
Jaffer says he is hopeful that their water woes will soon come to an end after the Mthatha High Court ordered on 1 October that the Amathole district municipality is to compile concrete plans to deliver potable water to its affected communities.
The court also ruled that this must be done with the assistance of the ministers of water and sanitation and cooperative governance and traditional affairs, as well as the premier of the province.
“We are tired of reaching out to government. The local district council tells us they can’t afford to do it … and provincial and national government tell us it is the responsibility of the district municipality to do so,” says Jaffer.
The four respondents, together with the Covid Water Council, must submit a practical plan to provide water in the short term by 22 October. Thereafter, communities will have a week to respond. The Mthatha High Court is expected to make a final decision in November 2021 and will oversee the implementation of the plan. Failure to implement it will result in contempt of court.
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