Cape Town - Seafood and agri-processing group Sea Harvest has ignored concerns raised by labour federation Cosatu, effectively snubbing the organisation yesterday, as its members protested over health and safety regulations concerning fishermen.
About 40 Cosatu-affiliated members congregated at Sea Harvest’s offices at the V&A Waterfront to hand over a memorandum of demands.
It follows the sinking of Sea Harvest’s trawler, FV Lepanto, 30 nautical miles off the coast of Cape Town on May 19, with the bodies of 11 crew still missing, presumed drowned.
Cosatu national spokesperson Zanele Sabela said: “The bodies are still at the bottom of the sea and their families have not had the dignity to have a decent burial for their loved ones. This is why we are here.
“And the investigation by the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) has not been finalised. We would like to know the service and maintenance history of the vessel.
“Was it safe? Fishermen are out there days on end doing their work. It’s important that it is safe so we don’t have incidents like that of May.
“We demand that the investigation is finalised as soon as possible so we can find out what happened. This industry doesn’t seem to care about the health and safety regulations.”
She said Sea Harvest was playing their cards “close to their chest”.
“You can’t have 11 people die and then there’s silence. We can’t have 11 breadwinners die. Their bodies are still not recovered and the company says nothing. We want this industry to take safety seriously.
“The internal labour organisation said this industry is more hazardous than that of firefighters and those working in mining. Employers have the responsibility to take care of their employees,” said Sabela.
Cosatu provincial secretary Malvern de Bruyn said the company had the responsibility to retrieve the bodies of the missing fishermen.
“What is the company doing with the survivors and the families of the deceased?
“Although they are not members, they are workers. We want to know what we can do and what we can do from our side to support them.
“The incident happened in May and the seamen have still not been found. There are machines used to trace Jan van Riebeek’s boats; the company can spend money and use those machines to find the bodies,” said De Bruyn.
Their demands include that fishers undergo periodic examinations of their medical fitness for work on fishing vessels; no fishers shall work on board a fishing vessel without a valid medical certificate attesting to their fitness to perform their duty; set standards for living accommodation and food on board; fishing vessels must have sufficient room for the crew’s living space; and fishers must have adequate sanitary facilities.
Cosatu members were informed yesterday that no one from the company would accept the memorandum and they left it at the doorstep of Sea Harvest.
De Bruyn said: “If we don’t get a response from Sea Harvest within 14 days we are going to come back in numbers.”
A family member said they were not aware of the protest.
“We were not told about it. The only thing we know is that the matter is still under investigation and that is all. Their bodies are still not recovered, we remain traumatised,” they said.
Sea Harvest declined to comment yesterday, with Samsa expected to respond in due course.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za
Cape Argus