Walvis Bay — Fisheries minister Inge Zaamwani has warned players in the fishing industry against attempting to improperly influence, pressure or entice ministry officials into making decisions in their favour.
The onus to prevent corruption, the minister said, requires responsibility from both government and the private sector.
Speaking at the opening of a five-day Corruption Vulnerability Risk Assessment Workshop for the fisheries sector in Walvis Bay, the minister said fishing rights and quotas provide access to scarce and highly valuable marine resources and that their allocation must be guided by integrity, fairness, transparency, accountability and the public interest.
The minister said industry players also have a responsibility to ensure that officials are not placed in situations where they become vulnerable to corruption.
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"The players in the sector must also know it is not right that they try to influence decisions in their favour," the minister said.
According to Zaamwani some individuals repeatedly pursue matters even after being told no, returning "a thousand times" to ask questions and push the boundaries.
Adding that such behaviour should not become normalised and that both officials and industry players must play by the rules.
"It is one thing when the ministry officials are desensitised and they are playing by the rules, but there must also be a balance. I have observed that sometimes my colleagues will say, the minister has directed this. There are times when the I will direct, but you must also do your work within the framework of the policies and laws that are applicable to a particular situation," she said.
The minister said she would not direct officials to act contrary to the law, adding that officials must exercise judgement while ensuring their decisions remain legally defensible.
Also speaking at the workshop ACC deputy director, Advocate Erna van der Merwe said the fisheries sector's exposure to corruption is increased by the fact that fishing activities and financial transactions are across multiple jurisdictions, involving both the public and private actors.
She said significant administrative discretion in areas such as licensing and quota allocation, combined with varying levels of transparency and oversight, creates opportunities for corruption across the value chain.
According to van der Merwe, risks can be found from the allocation of licences and quotas through bribery, trading in influence and legislative capture, while fishing operations could expose the sector to bribery of inspectors, observers, abuse of functions, conflicts of interest and the leaking of confidential patrol information.
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She said further risks could be during processing, landing, transportation and sales, including bribery, falsification of records, collusion, trade fraud and abuse of authority.
Van der Merwe said corruption in fisheries can undermine transparency, distort fair competition, reduce investor confidence, result in the loss of state revenue and erode public confidence in institutions.
She urged participants in the five-day assessment to examine policies, procedures, decision-making processes, documentation systems, conflict-of-interest controls, stakeholder interactions and accountability mechanisms.
The workshop, she said, was not intended to assign blame, but to identify vulnerabilities and strengthen the systems governing the fisheries sector.
