The exclusion of fishermen from the sea (Durban. South Africa)

[Sjoerd van Grootheest]

Dear all,

 

I have posted the below in the 'anthropology of fishing' group, but I suppose it also fits well in the 'urban anthropology' group. Moreover, with nearly 300 members (as opposed to a mere 11 in the fishing group) I might actually get a reply here : )

 

Apologies for the length but here it comes:

 

"hello all,

I'm curious to find out if anybody knows of cases that relate in some way to the research I am currently engaged in.

Firstly let me introduce myself. I am a MA student (BA in cult. anthro) from the Netherlands, registered at CCMS (centre for Communication, Culture, Media & Society - post grad dep. for cultural & media studies) at UKZN, Durban, South Africa. I have been doing fieldwork since April/May 2010, as part of which I use a camera.

I have been working with a group of (rod & line) subsistence fishermen who have been banned from Nov. 2009 to fish off the beachfront piers in Durban. Over the last few years, local fishermen have increasingly been pushed away from strategic fishing sites such as the harbour, the (400m long) harbour mouth called South Pier, some beaches along the north and south coast, and since 2009 the beachfront piers.

I have been focusing on the closing of the beachfront piers, with a particular interest in modes of resistance and acts of representation in the public sphere. Of course, south africa hosted the World Cup and many of the efforts of the fishermen are (to be) seen in the context of this event.

At the same time, the reasons for excluding the fishermen from sites in Durban and Kwazulu Natal can also be easily linked to the world cup. Since Mandela, but especially Mbeki, South Africa has seen the implementation of neo liberal policies, increasing economic opportunities across race barriers. At the same time these policies increased inequalities on a class level. The world cup, and the economic model implemented by FIFA (they made 3,5 billion dollar) fit well in the current aspirations of the rulling class(es).

In order for South Africa to host a 'succesfull' World Cup, according to world class standards, rendering its cities 'world class cities', SA cities had to get rid of elements that were to be associated with the past, with third world standards, etc. Old infrastructure (roads, airports, stadiums, etc) were to be replaced (some say with white elephants), while 'unwanted social elements' such as streettraders, streetchildren, and the 'dirty', and 'dangerous' fishermen were to be removed from the public's eye.

Granted, the fishermen have built up a reputation due to the use of drugs and alcohol by some, at times resulting in conflict and violence on the public space of the beachfront and the piers. The fishermen, hardly a solid or tight community (they come from all over and depend on their catch in differing degrees) have a reputation problem. They/Some have been trying to set things straight by using the media during the world cup, in their plight to the local government to re-open the beachfront piers.

My question is not very specific. I suppose I am just interested whether any of you know of a similar case, or a case that might be of interested in relation to the case of the durban fishermen. It should be clear that it is not about fishing as much as it is about grassroots political action, social movements, subaltern voice, organic leadership (gramsci), etc, etc.

Perhaps there is someone working on a similar case and would be willing to discuss things further?

Well anyway, for the ones that have actually read this far, thanks and lets talk.

Sjoerd"

ps. 2 links that might be of interest:

A video by pamela ngwenya:
http://vimeo.com/10840958

A MA thesis (urban geography if im not mistaken) by Amanda Dray:
http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/xmlui/handle/10413/276

[Marek Mikus]

Hi Sjoerd,

I did a little fieldwork and wrote an MSc thesis on participatory conservation of marine habitats, especially turtles, in the Comoros. It could make an interesting comparison to your case study because the state and conservationists also attempt to eliminate certain forms of exploitation, or alternatively to minimize exploitation in protected zones, but these initiatives are probably much less 'successful' than in the case you study - possibly because the Comorian state is very weak, but also because the conservationists working there were not able to offer any alternative livelihood in return. If interested, you can get my thesis here: http://rapidshare.com/files/407845267/_THESIS_LSE_final_version.pdf...

Marek

[Keith Hart]

Hi Sjoerd,

In some ways it's a pity that Sophie's response to your discussion took the form of starting another discussion, since the two are quite closely related in this context, even if movements of resistance and the historical construction of landscape are different topics. I am going to post my response in both threads. Perhaps they will diverge if others join in.

I do not have a comparative example in mind, but I do think a more complex reading of the case you mention is possible. Your method is mainly to link the expulsion of the fishermen from some piers to the World Cup, FIFA, neoliberalism and so on. One could just as easily link it to the Durban Municipality's long-term plans for the sea front (associated with the City Manager, Mike Sutcliffe, an ex-Marxist geographer) which were partly served by World Cup related activity.

Until recently the up-market end of the beach was white and North. The promenade ended in the South at Addington hospital, a section of the beach that was open to blacks during apartheid (there were no shark nets there!). Even though there are no longer legal restrictions on use of the beach, the racial mix varies quite markedly from White/Indian in the North to African in the South. The City plans to demolish the hospital and replace it with a luxury hotel or similar. It has encouraged a lot of investment at this end of the beach including uShaka marine world, the Point Venice-style housing development, a planned yachting marina and so on. The World Cup saw the extension of the promenade to its limit and this involved demolition of shacks, informal eateries etc. There has been a big police effort in the last five years making the area a lot safer than it was. The idea is that South Beach will become the natural up market end of the shore near to the city centre at the expense of North Beach, where there is now a casino.

Durban was ranked in the top ten family beach resports in the world by Lonely Planet last year. It's climate is subtropical and particularly attractive in the Southern winter compared with either Cape Town or Johannesburg. The city faces an eroding tax base. Its port is still the largest in the Southern hemisphere, but many high end businesses are relocating to the Northern Coast around Umhlanga and the airport is now 35 km north of the city in what was once Zululand. Tourism is the city's main hope for economic growth and surfing is intrinsic to that.

I defer to your greater knowledge of the details of this conflict, but one aspect of it is a clash between surfers and fishermen. Both use the end of a pier: to jump in and catch fish respectively. The race/class mix of these groups is of corse widely different. The surfers complain that the fishermen leave detritus (animal, vegetable and mineral) where they were. Durban municipality worries about its status as a surfing destnation, but even more about the effect on high end punters of confronting this 'mess'.

Let me be clear about my interest. I own a lovely apartment in an art deco building at the South end. I like walking to the end of a pier and watching both the fishermen and the surfers. The feeling of Durban beach as a cross between Blackpool and Miami in the 50s pleases me. I invented the notion of an informal economy and advocate public support for the self-organized activities of poor people. I don't think this is simply a question of neoliberal, FIFA-inspired aggression and popular resistance. Durban's planners are not abstractly pursuing a 'world-class' image which has to be cleansed of the poor, but they are trying to find a way of resisting global changes that are putting a lot of pressure on their city's viability.

There are literally hundreds of northern students/scholars piling into South Africa to document how the poor are being screwed under ANC neoliberal rule. That is only one part of the story and it is a rather repetitive one. I think it undermines the hope that South Africa's political economy can flourish under an African majority government. In that sense this story reproduces belief in the durable racial divisions of Atlantic and world society.

[Sjoerd van Grootheest]

Hi Marek,
Thanks for your response. I have downloaded your thesis and will go through it later.
I'll get back.
Sjoerd

[Sjoerd van Grootheest]

Dear prof. Hart,

Thanks very much for your reply to the post above. You have said several things, most of which I agree with.

Let me start by letting you know how much I appreciate this forum. It is crucial for students such as myself (full research = no lectures/seminars) to have access to some place where you can meet and discuss with fellow students, or professors. It helps you to clear up ideas, build on a reference list, etc. The downside of this form of (virtual) communication is perhaps, that time and space are somewhat restricted and misunderstandings are easily construed.

Perhaps I should not have given so much attention to the FIFA and neo-liberalism in the above post. Considering the fact that most participants on this forum probably do not live in Africa, I aimed to contextualize the conflict of the fishermen somewhat by drawing on processes that are recognisable all over the world. However, the problem of the fishermen – their exclusion from the beachfront piers - is not what is central to this research. My research question is not: “how the poor are being screwed under ANC neoliberal rule”.

I am aware that ‘the screwed poors’ are a hot topic of interest – although perhaps for obvious reasons. In a short background chapter I cite from a thesis - written by a South African student at UKZN - that aims to explain “how the poor are being screwed under ANC neoliberal rule”. I, more or less, leave it with that.

My concern in this research is with how the fishermen themselves understand their exclusion, and how they negotiate the exclusionary practices they confront. It is about (subaltern?) voice, and the organisation of grassroots resistance. It is about democracy, and citizenship, and struggles over it in ‘the’ public sphere. It is about politics amongst the fishermen and the relation between success and failure in organising themselves. It is about the political economy of the World Cup and hegemonic processes in society.

I do agree with your analysis that there is more to the exclusion of fishermen than neo-liberal policy and the world cup. The upgrading of the beachfront, South Beach, and the Point does play a role here. And there is ‘the conflict’ between the surfers and the fishermen. On the other hand, some fishermen feel bullied, and criminalized. I have been embedded amongst the fishermen for about 6 months and I can see where they are coming from. This does not mean that I fully agree with their view, but it is their view, and I have witnessed enough legalised harassment by the state (law enforcement & SAP) to understand them.

Of course, the fishermen as a collective have built up a bit of a reputation due to public misbehaviour of some (violence, often related to drug and alcohol abuse). This research, then, is not about how they have been treated by the ANC government or state at large, nor is it about how the fishermen have messed things up for themselves. The research is about how a group - or category perhaps - tries to organise, and mobilise and engage with the public and the state, while also dealing with the challenge to overcome their bad reputation. Sources of power that make it ‘a success’, or a lack in sources of power that lead to ‘failure’, are of interest. The role of leadership is to be talked about. Spivak’s argument about whether the subaltern can speak or not becomes of interest. Gramsci, and a modified concept of hegemony is key, perhaps, in understanding some of the dimensions amongst the fishermen, as well as between the fishermen and the rest of society.

In closing, by no means would I want my thesis to be part in reproducing a “belief in the durable racial divisions of Atlantic and world society”. But does this mean that conflict in the south should not be studied by students as much anymore? I agree with the fact that Durban policy makers have a big challenge on their hands “to find a way of resisting global changes that are putting a lot of pressure on their city's viability”. The way Durban planners deal with these challenges should surely be open for critique, even for a student from the north. A structural weakness in the organisation of South African governance at the moment, I would think, is an imbalance in the collective body of citizen representation, leading to a lack of sustainable, or effective critique in the political domain. This may explain the ongoing slagging of the ANC by (left intellectuals in) civil society, or the ongoing interest of northern students in the political situation here.

But I suppose the latter is more a topic for a group interested in political science..

Thanks again. Regards,

Sjoerd