Since 2000, the African penguin population in South Africa has declined by more than 80%, with fewer than 9,000 breeding pairs remaining. In 2024, it was officially listed as critically endangered -- one step from extinction.
On 12 March 2025, a quiet triumph unfolded in South Africa, one that will be remembered as a turning point for the critically endangered African penguin.
At the insistence of the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, Dr Dion George, an historic settlement was brokered between the fishing industry and conservation powerhouses BirdLife South Africa and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (Sanccob).
This agreement, which establishes critical fishing closures to protect penguin breeding colonies, is a rare victory for both conservation and sustainable industry, but most importantly for the penguins themselves.
As a former penguinologist with BirdLife South Africa and a current Member of Parliament with the Democratic Alliance (DA), I am uniquely placed in relation to this issue.
In May 2024, South Africa entered a new era of coalition politics as the African National Congress (ANC) lost its electoral majority for the first time in 30 years. Few could have predicted it, but the survival of the African penguin will now become a fortunate byproduct of that political shift.
Anaemic department
Just months before the election, BirdLife South Africa and Sanccob took then-Minister Barbara Creecy to court in a desperate bid to protect...
