New minister for fisheries takes office

Cabinet change sees new Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment

SOUTH AFRICA: The new Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Willem Abraham Stephanus Aucamp was sworn in today in Pretoria to replace Dr Dion George who has been at the forefront of some controversial decisions impacting the shipping as well as fishing sectors.

Aucamp stood as a Democratic Alliance parliamentary candidate on the National list in the 2024 general election and was subsequently elected to the National Assembly. Sworn in on 25 June 2024, he served as a DA Whip and was a member of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture.

George has had a busy short term in office that has included issuing environmental management regulations for offshore ship-to-ship transfers that were met with considerable push-back from the bunkering industry.

A recent decision to review Barbara Creecy’s appeal decisions in the small pelagics sector also drew significant criticism.

It will be interesting to see how Aucamp begins to approach some of the very pressing issues facing the maritime sectors as he steps into office. The DFFE has yet to award the contract to manage the SA Agulhas II and the Africana – a tender that also seen legal challenges and been delayed by numerous cancellations.

The completion of the long-awaited Ocean Economy Master Plan is also being anticipated by the industry who were promised imminent finalisation of the document earlier this year.

Aucamp has an interesting political background that includes membership of his father’s defunct political party, National Action, which seems to have been aligned towards Afrikaaner Nationalism. He joined the party in 2003 as its Gauteng Provincial Leader. Without support in the April 2004 elections, the party was however dissolved.

The announcement of Aucamp’s appointment last week has already been met with some resistance based on his public alignment with hunting and wildlife breeding with detractors suggesting that this makes him unsuitable for the position of Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.