Sea Harvest invests in Saldanha Bay

Western Cape Minister of Social Development Albert Fritz cutting the ribbon to officially open the doors of the new Social Development Offices in Saldanha Bay with Irvin Esau, Sea Harvest operations director.

CEO of Sea Harvest, George Bezuidenhout, said the company was synonymous with the town. "There are 2,300 employees in Sea Harvest, each with about five dependents, which means there are 12 000 people in Saldanha who are reliant directly on this company." Sea Harvest is a black empowerment fishing company that provides wild, sustainably fished hake.

"Our strategy has always been to add maximum value to the fish and the community," Bezuidenhout said. "We export the final product, in the final packaging, ensuring the maximum number of jobs are created right here. Sea Harvest had a policy of not mechanising wherever possible, in order to create the most employment opportunities possible. This is an impoverished community, and with impoverishment comes social ills. When we were approached about this project it took us about a second to make the decision and approve it. The need for social work in our community is massive."

Families are destructed

Sea Harvest Human Resources executive, Mary-Lou Harry, said that destruction of family values and family life within the community, in and outside of Sea Harvest, was ravaging the society. "The social evils of substance abuse, unemployment and violence - especially against women and children - are scourging our society. We needed professional help to assist our employees with the problems that are consuming their lives," she said. "The professional help has come in the form of our wonderful social workers. Their services can now be offered to our broader community by this new satellite office, established through the Public Private Partnership between the Social Development Department and Sea Harvest. Sea Harvest is honoured to be the corporate citizen in this venture."

"I am so pleased Sea Harvest didn't only focus on their workers, but also on the community they operate in," Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Albert Fritz said. "The Western Cape government has always believed in the whole of society approach. I'm therefore delighted that Sea Harvest as a responsible employer has seen the importance of their contribution to the social welfare of their employees and their families."