Brett Kebble may be preoccupied with the loss of his mining empire, but his venture into fishing is looking even shakier.
Allegations of broken promises, dodgy licence applications and attempts to use political influence swirl around the South Atlantic Fishing Company (Safco), an empowerment firm set up by Kebble’s JCI to hunt tuna and swordfish off the west coast.
Shareholders in Safco include former African National Congress leader in the Western Cape and Sea Harvest chairperson Chris Nissen, the ANC Youth League’s Lembede Investments, Sharif Pandor, the husband of Minister of Education Naledi Pandor, attorney Peter Williams, and members of the Orlyfunt consortium, including Mafika Mkwanazi.
The company was launched in September last year, claiming it would establish a processing plant in the Northern Cape town of Port Nolloth, and facilitate the rehabilitation of its harbour. It would also create a processing plant in the town, and create joint venture fishing companies with the local community.
In a letter to Marine and Coastal Management’s (MCM) then-deputy director general Horst Kleinschmidt, dated November 30 last year, and copied to former Northern Cape premier Manne Dipico and current Premier Dipuo Peters, Nissen outlines these claims, and presses the department to award licences to Safco companies.
”The ministry tasked with licence allocation has the means to create systematic change within the region through the award of sufficient large pelagic fishing rights to the applicants from Port Nolloth to generate critical mass of product flowing through the area,” he writes.
Safco, the letter says, has facilitated debt financing through Investec Bank for these joint venture companies sufficient to acquire a tuna longÂÂlining vessel, working capital and access to processing services.
At least one such joint venture, Four Arrows Investments, was created, according to a contract obtained by the Mail & Guardian, and it includes prominent members of the Port Nolloth community, but one director told the M&G that nothing had happened since the contract was signed.
A local, Dawid Rooi, said he had seen neither cash nor investment in Port Nolloth, and that the company did not own a vessel. ”They promised a lot, but nothing has happened. People here are angry,” he said.
And it appears none of the licence applicants had guaranteed access to a fishing vessel, required for the acquisition of fishing rights.
A quotation from Tallies Marine in St Helena Bay for the construction of a longlining vessel at a cost of R4,8-million was submitted to MCM, which, however, confirmed that no order for the vessel was ever placed.
Instead Safco has bought four Australian boats, the Hooked, Connect, Extractor and Balance. These are now based at Lüderitz in Namibia, because MCM has declined requests for them to operate in local waters.
”Some people from Port Nolloth went to Lüderitz to work for them, but they still haven’t been paid,” Rooi maintains.
Other Port Nolloth residents said some staff had received partial payment, but most had got nothing.
An article in the Argus quoted Nissen as saying the company had turned a profit after only three months, and planned to buy an air freighter to move the catch directly to Tokyo, Boston and New York.
According to sources close to MCM, fishing rights were awarded to Safco-related companies, while Kleinschmidt, reputed to keep a close eye on irregularities, was off sick.
MCM spokesperson Carol Moses confirmed the rights had been granted. ”The decision was based on the broad guidelines of the department, including support of the development of an area like Port Nolloth, because the understanding was that the catch would have been landed there.”
Asked about the future of the company now that JCI is being restructured, and Orlyfunt is to be wound down, Nissen said he was confident Kebble would continue to be involved in building empowerment companies such as Safco. ”His contribution has been enormous,” Nissen said.
Nissen maintained Safco still planned to operate a fleet out of Port Nolloth, and that it had always had guaranteed access to vessels.
The company bought six vessels prior to applying for fishing rights, he says, and undertook to build nine more if all its licenses were granted.
The Hooked, Connect, Extractor, and Balance were no longer Australian, he said. They had been reflagged South African, but were not licensed to fish in local waters.
”Safco engaged MCM to allow four of [its subsidiaries that had successfully applied for licenses] to utilise the four vessels that did not receive licences. MCM has been loath to allow this on a permanent basis,” as they believe the successful licence applicants may build their own vessels and may wish to use them.
Work on facilities at Port Nolloth will begin once the issue of rights is sorted out, he insists.
Asked why he had copied his letter to Dipuo Peters and Manne Dipico, Nissen said they were ”interested parties in the economic wellbeing of the province” who had asked to be kept informed.
As for the role of JCI and Brett Kebble, Nissen said JCI had funded Safco, mortgaging some of its own assets to do so. ”JCI’s operational and strategic input has been vital in assisting Safco to set itself up in Namibia to ride out a period of difficulty that would otherwise have spelled the end. Like any other prudent investor, it has taken a broad interest in the well-being of the company. Certain of Safco’s directors are JCI employees, but no current JCI board members sit on the Safco board.”
JCI would continue to support Safco despite its current restructuring, he said. Nissen stressed that Safco was the only fishing company in which he held shares.
Correction:
On the advice of its ombud, Franz Krüger, the Mail & Guardian would like to clarify and correct some aspects of last week’s report ”Kebble’s fishy deal goes vrot”. The blurb said that the bid by the South Atlantic Fishing Company (Safco) had no boats when it applied for a series of licences to hunt tuna and swordfish off the West Coast. The paper accepts that Safco owned six boats, and that the blurb erred in this respect. However, the applications were made in the name of joint ventures between Safco and local communities, not in its own name. Government rules prevent the use of these boats under the licences issued, and the company has now been forced to fish out of the Namibian port of Luderitz while negotiating with Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) to be allowed to use the boats in South African waters.
In addition, several of the licences were granted on the basis of a signed quote with boatbuilders Tallies Marine, while MCM rules say applicants must own or ”have guaranteed access” to a boat. While Safco construes these as firm orders, the boatbuilders say no order has been placed and the company itself confirms that the boats will only be built when the licencing difficulties have been resolved. The statement that there were no boats was too bald, and these complexities should have been clarified.
The blurb’s statement that the venture had no track record was not supported by the story. The paper accepts that various people involved in the venture have extensive experience in fishing.
The company has also denied local claims that it has failed to pay some Port Nolloth community members for work done.