Speaking after the hearing, forum spokesman Desmond D'sa rejected the port's argument that the fishermen were not port users: "They say a user is someone that uses the port commercially. What about the boating clubs? Which category do they fall under?" he said.
Attorney Jay Sjuru, representing the fishermen, said anyone who uses the port is a user. He said: "What they are saying is that you have to be a commercial user, but this is not fair. They have to balance out the rights of the users between the poor people and the big companies."
Attorney Bedver Irving, representing the Port of Durban, said that the National Port Act does not include fishermen as port users: "Fishing at the port without a permit is illegal. My client is not saying that they can't fish; they can fish only in the designated areas." Transnet's manager of legal and compliance, Peter Balfour, said that fishing was allowed in areas on the Victoria Embankment, but because it was leased to the city, they could refuse fishing if they wished. As it stands, D'sa said, the fishermen would continue to defy the ban.
Read the fishing crunch full article on www.iol.co.za.
