The ANC in the Western Cape will request support from President Zuma and the cabinet to resolve challenges facing coastal communities in the province.

On Sunday 18 October, President Zuma honours a commitment made in the Overberg during the 2009 election campaign to visit Western Cape fishing communities and hear their concerns.

Interim Western Cape ANC leader, Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana, said the plight of Western Cape coastal communities, and the state of the Perlemoen/Abalone resource on which many people once depended, presented a national crisis.

The poaching of this valuable resource had reached critical proportions with criminals simply doing as they pleased. At the same time, the ban imposed on the Abalone fishery in February 2008 has not had the desired results.

Social relief measures, and initiatives to develop alternative livelihoods for fisher-folk, have been approved though not yet implemented. And communities, rights holders and industry have not been involved in drawing up an integrated and shared plan to ensure that the abalone resource can recover.

From the perspective of the Western Cape ANC, it is clear that the current approach has failed and that our various government departments are not working together to resolve this issue adequately.

As the ANC in the Western Cape we will ask our President to ensure that an urgent status report is tabled before cabinet and that an inter-ministerial committee is established to develop an integrated strategy and action plan.

It is also important that our Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Minister Buyelwa Sonjica establishes an independent process acceptable to all stakeholders to consider the circumstances in which the abalone fishery might be reopened.

While these processes unfold, it is vital that all relevant law-enforcement authorities take immediate and coordinated action to improve compliance and
enforcement of the dive ban. While we craft the rescue package, we cannot permit criminals to finish off the resource, altogether.

The ANC 2009 Election manifesto called on our communities to work together with our ANC government to fight poverty, create decent work and act against
crime and corruption. As the Western Cape ANC, we now call on all our members and branches in the coastal communities to work together with government to confront our challenges in the fishing sector and deal with them head on.

We must take a stand against crime and corruption. We should be the eyes and ears of the police and work together to protect our resources for future generations.

The Western Cape ANC will be encouraging all of its regions to follow the example set by the Overberg Task Team and set up ANC regional fishing desks so that we can establish an ANC Provincial Fishing Desk to ensure that we engage directly with our government in a real partnership.

The Freedom Charter said: The People shall share in the Country's Wealth. Our marine and coastal resources have the potential to empower our communities, create work and build prosperity.

We are confident that the visit by our President to the Overberg will assist us as we rebuild the ANC in the Western Cape through re-connecting to our people and the issues and challenges they face.

The ANC is not an organisation that exists solely in order to contest elections. We are a proud liberation movement that has always been rooted in the struggles of our communities. It is this tradition that we seek to renew in the Western Cape", Minister Mdladlana said.

Minister Mdladlana convenes the ANC Provincial Task Team in the Western Cape, deployed by ANC headquarters.