The Deputy Minister of Water Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, has sent a strong warning to net fishermen to stop using their deadly nets, or to face the full wrath of the law.

Madufhasi was speaking during an occasion when she officially handed over a patrol boat to be used for patrolling at Nandoni Dam. The event was held at the dam during a function that was attended by local traditional leaders and senior traditional leaders, Vho Thovhele Gole Mphaphuli and Vho Thovhele Nkhaneni Ramovha.

The boat is one of two that will be used to patrol the province’s more than 70 dams.

Ramovha said the community was extremely happy that the department had come up with a way of tightening security at the dam. He said it was sad to lose so many of his subjects involved in illegal fishing at the dam. He said the presence of dam patrols would contribute towards the decline of illegal activities in the dam.

Mabudafhasi said the country was faced with the challenges of climate change where the scarce resources were fast being reduced. She said in the face of these challenges, the community and the government could not just sit down and lament while folding their arms. “We have to do something. Interventions such as this one we are launching today are a must and we will continue looking at ways to secure and protect our environment, ”she said.

She said water was life and without it people would be heading for extinction, therefore people had to look at ways to conserve it as a scarce resource. According to her, the department had come up with a programme of water harvesting, where every family would be required to have a small dam in the yard that would store water to be used in times when there was no water.

She said as a way of conserving  water, the department had come up with measures to stop pollution and they had a fully fledged  detachment of green scorpions who would deal decisively with transgressors. She also announced that the department had trained prosecutors and magistrates who would deal specifically with cases involving the environment. “We have been fighting a losing battle in the past as we would arrest wrongdoers but the courts let them go scot-free, because we did not have properly trained personnel, but this is now history,” she said.

She sent a stern warning to fishermen not to use nets, saying they are responsible for the deaths of many innocent aquatic animals and added that , besides killing innocent animals, fishermen themselves faced  the danger of drowning. “It is sad to see so many of our people drown in this dam which is supposed to water the area. Let us all be vigilant and guard jealously against illicit activities here. This is our life; if you destroy the environment, you destroy life,” she said.

The launching of the boat did not come as good news for local anglers who felt that it would deprive them of their livelihood. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said boat or no boat, it would be business as usual. “We would do better to be arrested while trying to make an honest living than to starve or engage in crime; this is our bread and butter,” said one angry fisherman.