

Chapter 8



THE COAST

The present situation

South Africa has a very rich coast. It has many different kinds of fish. There are important minerals in some areas. Parts of the coast are very beautiful and good for tourism. There are many communities living along the coast. Some are very rich. Some are very poor. The number of people who live on the coast is growing. More tourists are visiting our coast.

In the past few years, a lot of development has happened on the coast. Some of it has caused damage to the land and the sea. Some estuaries have been damaged.

More than three quarters of the pollution in the sea comes from the land. It comes from factories and sewage from towns. Rain water running off from farms into the sea is polluted with fertiliser and chemicals used to kill insects. Oil is spilt into the sea from damaged ships.

The shallow part of the sea close to the coast contains a lot of fish. Lobsters are also found here. South Africa is a medium-sized fishing country. The main fish that are caught are hake, pilchard and anchovy. Large fishing companies catch most of the fish. There are less small companies and community fishermen than there used to be. Lots of people fish for fun. This adds to the already large number of fish caught every year. The numbers of fish in the sea have got less.

Management of the coast has not been well planned. But since the 1980s people have realised that it is important to have a better planned way of looking after our coast.

Key policy issues for the new government

1.   A lot of development is happening along the coast. There is no overall plan for the coast. A lot of different plans are being used. Many of these plans do not worry about environmental issues.
2.  The coast is a very sensitive area. The government must make laws and systems that will make sure that environmental issues are looked after along the whole coast.
3.  There are lots of different kinds of development happening on the coast. The government will have to decide on what kind of development can happen along the coast. For example, the government must decide whether fishing licences are given to community fishermen or to big fishing companies on the West coast (see Box 7). The government will also have to decide whether to allow mining or ecotourism at St.Lucia (see Box 5, p21). The government must find a way to make these decisions properly. The people must be allowed to participate in these decisions.

BOX 7:
 EBENHAESER  FISHING COMMUNITY

Where have the fish gone?

 Ebenhaeser , in Namaqualand was set up as mission station to give the local black people somewhere to live. Today it is run by the community through elected management councils. At  Olifantsdrif  the Mission met members of the  Ebenhaeser  Fishing Committee.

The community explained that it needs to catch fish to live and to make money. Licences to fish in the river are given by the Cape Nature Conservation office in  Vanrhynsdorp . But no licences had been given to them since the end of 1993. People are getting desperate.

Some of the people had lost their jobs at the crayfish factory at  Doringbaai . Now they wanted licences to fish in the river.

But for the past four years the fishermen have only caught enough fish to feed their families. They can't catch enough to sell.

 Oom  Dawid, a community leader, said that there were so few fish because of two things. One was the diamond boats at the mouth of the river. These boats suck up diamonds from the bottom of the sea. The noise and the lights of the boats drive the fish away. The second problem was growing numbers of seals. Seals swim up the river and break the community's nets in search of fish. New nets can cost R500 or more. The community can't afford this.

The seals and the diamond boats have taken away the community's ability to make money. The community have not been paid anything by the owners of the diamond boats. And the community are not allowed to fish in the river.

Our visit showed us how the new government will have to sort out who is allowed to use our natural resources.

4.  We need to protect our natural resources along the coast. Nearly one quarter of the coast has been protected through national parks, provincial and private nature reserves, and so on.

But some very important areas have not been protected. Also, these protected areas do not protect the shallow water of the sea. The public were not involved in deciding which areas should be protected. Local communities have not benefitted enough from these protected areas.

5.  There are lots of different laws that protect the natural resources along our coast. But there are not enough staff or money to make sure that people don't break them. Also, the different government departments do not work together well to make sure that the laws are not broken.
6.  The Water Act controls what waste factories and local governments can put into the sea. But a new way of looking at this problem is to look at the condition of the sea and to say how much waste it can take without being damaged. This is called the Receiving Water Quality Objectives Approach. But it is difficult to prove when someone has broken the law. And if they do, the fines are too small. There are also problems in controlling what happens to storm water.
7.  There has been a lot of scientific research along our coast. But there has not been a lot of research about the conditions of people living on the coast and how they affect the environment. Research must be done in this area. The people must be involved in this research. This research must also help to solve the problems that disadvantaged communities have.
8.  Tourism along the coast is growing. But this tourism needs to be environmentally friendly. We must not build too many hotels and roads. We must educate tourists to respect and care for our  coast.

Recommendations

1.  We must define what we mean by the coast (or coastal zone). The national government must decide on policy for this area. Provincial and local governments must take part in making this policy.
2.  Management of the coast must include management of the estuaries. There are also other areas such as mangroves and swamps which should be protected.
3.  New policy for the coast should include the following principles and objectives: (1) the coast belongs to all South Africans and must be open to all; (2) the government should own or control resources along the coast as much as possible; (3) development on the coast must benefit as many people as possible. But this development must not damage our environment.
4.  The people must be involved in making policy for the coast.
5.   Until the government has decided on how to look after the coast, they should not sell any government land in this area. They should also be very strict about how private land is used.
6.   The government must look at how different ways of using the land will affect estuaries.
7.  We must educate school children, the public and tourists about how valuable and easily damaged our coast is.
8.   All the laws that deal with the coast should be brought together. The Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism should be in charge of these laws.
9.   All development along the coast should have an environmental impact assessment, according to the IEM process.
10. The government should develop ways to stop pollution before it gets into the sea.
11. Better laws should be made to control pollution. The government must make sure that people do not break these laws. The Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism should control pollution.
12. Environmentally friendly tourism along the coast should be promoted.



