The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said it took full responsibility for the FoodCorp deal and had already started a process to investigate the matter and identify people who might have been responsible.
FoodCorp, one of the top three fishing groups, bought a black economic empowerment firm called Bongolethu Fishing in 2007. That company had quotas issued to it by the department of 30 tons of west coast rock lobster and 30 tons of long-line hake. Both species are highly sought after and considered to be among the best cash-generators in the fishing industry.
FoodCorp tried to keep the quotas, but it lost several court cases that caused it to turn them over to the department for reallocation.
Fishing industry consultant Shaheen Moolla said in terms of the Marine Living Resources Act the department was supposed to reissue those quotas either on a pro rata basis to the rest of the fishing industry, or invite applications in a transparent manner.
However, he said, neither of these processes were followed and the quotas were given to people who were closely connected to the ruling African National Congress.
The department's statement emphasised that Joemat-Pettersson had nothing to do with the deal.
It said that she had delegated her authority to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department in terms of the Marine Living Resources Act.
A department source said the official who facilitated the deals was the same person who had headed up the discredited fishing rights allocation in December.
That process caused more than 150 traditional line fisherman to lose their allocation rights. A court application to have the rights allocation reviewed was unopposed by Joemat-Pettersson, in effect meaning the process had to start again.
Department Director-General Edith Vries said she would have the full report on the issue on Wednesday (14 May) as she was not in her current position when the FoodCorp issue occurred.
"We have become very interested in this matter," she said.
The department's statement also said it was not the first time Joemat-Pettersson had been blamed for unpopular decisions made by its fisheries branch.
"Such suggestions seek to apportion blame away from those who made the decisions as per the delegation of authority and prevented the department to do what is right and responsible," it said.
Moolla said Joemat-Pettersson could not distance herself from the actions of her department as Parliament had appointed her with the authority in terms of the act, and not a departmental official.
Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
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