SA Aboriginal Congress holds protest

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, members of the South African Aboriginal Congress protested against an international angling championship taking place in Mossel Bay.

The group was led by Sores Florus, the national administrator of the SA Aboriginal Congress.

The angling contest is the FIPS-M Light Tackle Boat Angling World Championship, in which South Africa, Luxembourg and Gibraltar are taking part. FIPS-M stands for Fédération Internationale de Pêche Sportive - Mer.

Florus said the demonstrators were protesting against foreigners coming to the country and fishing in the competition, whereas Aboriginals are restricted from accessing their own marine living resources despite Supreme Court and Constitutional Court judgments 10 years ago that he said allowed them to fish without permits.

He said police and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment were disregarding these judgments.

The angling championship, from 11 to 18 March, is a catch and release contest.

The members of the SA Aboriginal Congress gathered at the Point outside a venue for the registration of the angling teams on Sunday afternoon, then outside the town hall later on Sunday while a flag and national anthem ceremony was taking place inside the town hall.

One of their posters read: "Permits for our food is cruel." Another read: "We're hungry." Florus listed a number of complaints during a video taken of him at the Point on Sunday. Outside the town hall, the protestors described the international visitors as "poachers". They chanted, "poachers, poachers".

Then they protested again on Monday and Tuesday at the slipway at the old Yacht Club building, from where the anglers are launching their boats.

Florus told Mossel Bay Advertiser this week: "The way police and the Department of Fisheries officials abuse and persecute Aboriginal people is concerning and will be thoroughly investigated."

He said Aboriginal people were currently taking scores of their complaints to court and they had several lawyers working for them.

Some of the demonstrators at the Point on Sunday. Photo: Dexter Brinkhuis