By Warda Meyer
A row is brewing in the lucrative shark-cage diving industry after several established businesses in the Western Cape were unsuccessful in renewing their operating permits.
The Department of Environmental Affairs allocated 14 shark-cage diving permits on June 4. Eight are for Gansbaai, three for False Bay, two are for Quoin Point near Agulhas, and one is for Mossel Bay. A total of 26 applications were received, of which 14 were from new entrants.
All decisions are subject to the outcome of an appeals process, and the department said no permits would be issued until this process had been completed.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, several operators said the allocations would mean job losses, financial ruin and instability in the industry.
"This is a high-risk tourism industry, which attracts mostly foreigners. We cannot have inexperienced people who do not have sufficient resources when there are lives at stake," one operator said.
The operators added that the government's priority seemed to be race and gender, rather than credibility and safety.
Departmental spokesman Zolile Nqayi said eight of the existing permit holders had been "provisionally" successful, while six new operators had been granted permits provisionally.
"Applicants were scored across a variety of categories, including transformation, their operational plan and readiness to start operations."
Certain existing operators had been excluded on the basis of not using their permits enough, not having submitted the required documentation, or inadequate information.
In False Bay, three permits were available, and there were six applications, three existing holders and three new entrants.
Listing the reasons for its decisions, the department said: "One of the existing holders, Shark Adventures, failed to obtain a permit on the basis of not demonstrating adequate utilisation of the exemption, failing to demonstrate access to a properly qualified tour guide, and its low score."
The permits went to two existing exemption holders, Apex Shark Expeditions and African Shark Eco Charters, and to the highest-scoring new entrant, False Bay White Shark Adventures.
In Gansbaai, eight permits were allocated, five of them to existing permit holders and three to new entrants.
"WS Dive was excluded on the basis of failing to submit a valid tax clearance certificate as well as not demonstrating satisfactory public liability insurance. Great White Shark Tours was not allowed a permit because of its low score and it did not submit a valid B-BBEE certificate.
"White Shark Projects CC was excluded because it did not demonstrate adequate utilisation of the exemption."
The three top-scoring new entrants, Waterfront Boat Company (Pty) Ltd, Sandown Bay Fishing Company and Innoflex (Pty) Ltd, were awarded the permits.
There were two applications for the one Mossel Bay permit, a new and an existing holder, Sea Spirit/Shark Africa, which was awarded it as the new entrant failed to demonstrate access to a suitably qualified dive master and tour guide.
Two permits were available in Quoin Rock in Agulhas, where no existing exemption holders operated. Two new applicants, Gibbisepps Visserye and Elim Spring Water CC, were awarded the permits.
Nqayi said the closing date for submission of appeals was July 16. Existing permit holders could continue operating throughout the World Cup and until Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica pronounced on the appeals.
Independent consultant Shaheen Moolla said operators had two major concerns about the allocation of permits: "First, environmental affairs does not have the authority to allocate permits, as both whales and sharks are regulated in terms of the Marine Living Resources Act, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. They pretend to have the legal authority, but they don't.
"The consequences are severe because should there be an accident on one of these boats, an insurance company that latches on to the illegality of these permits could elect to repudiate any cover, which would leave an operator liable for damages claims - which could be huge."
Moolla also claimed there had been allegations of impropriety on the part of the Department of Environmental Affairs regarding the issuing of permits to operators who appeared not to have complied with the regulations.
"This is a high-risk eco-tourism industry and you cannot have Mickey Mouse operators," he said.
Newcomers to the industry, Innoflex (Pty) Ltd, which will trade under Great White Explores, a 100 percent black-owned company, said they were ecstatic to get a permit.
"We are five members and we all grew up in Blompark in Gansbaai. We made history when we received the permit," said one of the owners, Sammy Brett.
"We followed the legal route and we did it on our own, with no attorneys, and no expensive consultants. Now we can start with the process of social upliftment in our community."
Kim "Sharklady" Maclean, a familiar figure in the shark-cage industry in Gansbaai, said she was pleased that she had obtained a permit again.