South Africa: Small-Scale Fishers' Heritage Is Systemically Gutted

opinion

Boats in every colour of the rainbow rock gently as the tide comes in on the chillingly quiet harbour. When I first visited here in my youth, the market was as vibrant as the boats docked along its piers, banter and laughter were a distraction from the fishy stench that stung the nose; but now, there's not much distraction from the fast-spreading rot.

People are always perplexed by what is happening on the Cape Flats - plagued with gang violence, an illegal narcotic pandemic, as well as disproportionate rates of intimate partner violence. But, what they never seem to understand is how so much of deterioration is due to systemic issues that start at the top - and how many of these ghettos were once thriving communities.

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