The 11 fishermen were aboard a Sea Harvest Group vessel, MVF Lepanto, when it sank to the bottom of the sea, taking their lives with it.

COSATU is pleased that preparations to establish a Marine Court of Enquiry into the tragic accident are already underway at the Transport Department. The establishment of a Marine Court of Enquiry will be critical to provide justice for the victims and their families of this tragedy and to help prevent similar loss of life in future.

Finally, the families of the fishermen will learn details of what caused their deaths on 17 May. The deceased were breadwinners. Though grief-stricken, the families have not had the opportunity to properly mourn because the bodies of their kin have not been recovered. The fishermen were declared dead by an order of the Western Cape High Court at the end of September. COSATU hopes that the findings of the enquiry will help them gain some closure and assist with the grieving process.  

President Zingiswa Losi, General Secretary Solly Phetoe, Western Cape Provincial Secretary Malvern De Bruyn, other COSATU officials and most importantly, representatives of the grieving families, met with Minister Creecy, Deputy Transport Minister, Mkhuleko Hlengwa and the leadership of the South African Maritime Authority (SAMSA) this week to raise concerns on behalf of the families about the delay in finalising the report. SAMSA is responsible for conducting the investigation; it advised that the report was going through legal checks prior to being finalised and released.

The families mandated COSATU to communicate with Sea Harvest, SAMSA and other stakeholders on their behalf to ensure a clear channel of communication and that the families are kept always informed of developments. This is important to prevent a recurrence of previous instances when they reported that Sea Harvest was not communicating to them in a uniform manner and had failed to notify them when it applied to declare their loved ones presumed dead.

COSATU believes the report will reveal what the Federation and families have been saying all along; that Sea Harvest is a callous and criminally negligent employer that does not care about its workers, their families or about complying with health and safety regulations. Our firm belief has been given further credibility after another one of Sea Harvest’ vessels caught fire at sea with workers on board. Luckily, they escaped with their lives.

The Federation looks forward to the day when the responsible authorities will hold the company and its executives fully accountable under the law and enforce criminal sanctions against them for the deaths of these 11 workers as well as to ensure just compensation for the families for the deaths of their loved ones and full compensation for the loss of their breadwinners.

Issued by COSATU.

Zanele Sabela (COSATU National Spokesperson)

Mobile: 079 287 5788 / 077 600 6639

Email: zaneles@cosatu.org.za