With South Africa stressing its commitment to social justice and human rights this month, The Green Connection says it welcomes the recent historic settlement in the legal challenge brought by the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) and BirdLife South Africa against the Minister of Environment and others. The eco-justice organisation says that it congratulates the NGOs and hopes that this agreement signifies a move toward stronger protections for the African Penguin, which is on the “brink of extinction”. However, while this is a positive development, The Green Connection says there must be concrete action to address the broader threats to our oceans, including industrial overfishing and offshore oil and gas activities, because these activities all affect South Africa’s marine biodiversity.

“A thriving ocean not only sustains marine life, but it also sustains the people who depend on it for their livelihoods, culture, spirituality, and way of life. This decline of the African Penguin is another red flag, because it is an indicator of the poor health of our oceans. Thus, for The Green Connection, this fight is to acknowledge the significance of the ocean and put in place strong measures to ensure the whole ocean system is protected to sustain all of us into the future, particularly the small-scale fishers along the 3000km of our coast,” says The Green Connection’s Strategic Lead, Liziwe McDaid.

Recently reclassified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the African Penguin population has plummeted by a shocking 76.9% in less than two decades, with breeding pairs decreasing from approximately 27,151 in 2007 to just 8,750 by December 2023.

“This alarming decline of the African Penguin is a clear warning of the crisis unfolding in our oceans,” says The Green Connection’s Community Outreach Coordinator, Neville van Rooy. “Industrial overfishing is not only pushing the species closer to extinction but also disrupting the entire marine food chain, making it increasingly difficult for small-scale fishers to sustain their livelihoods. These pressures are further intensified by climate change and the expanding threat of offshore oil and gas exploitation, which endanger both marine biodiversity and coastal communities that depend on a healthy ocean.”

Local small-scale fishers have long reported distressing changes in their catches, noting a stark drop in traditional fish species and a shift in the diet of snoek. Priscilla Abrahams, a ‘vlekker’ from St Helena Bay, observes, “We used to find anchovy in the stomachs of snoek, but now it’s mostly baby hake.”

Similarly, career fisher Walter Steenkamp reflects, “Something has changed in our waters, and it is very concerning, for me and my community. There is much less snoek now than when I was young. The sea isn’t the same.”

This legal challenge underscores government’s duty to uphold environmental protections, including the establishment of biologically meaningful no-fishing zones around key penguin breeding colonies. The Biodiversity Law Clinic (representing the applicants in the case) indicates that an international panel of experts reviewed the science collected since 2008, as part of an Island Closure Experiment, and provided recommendations to the Minister in July 2023.

The Green Connection stands firmly in support of SANCCOB and BirdLife South Africa in their legal challenge, recognising that the fight to protect the African Penguin is also a fight for the rights of small-scale fishers and coastal communities. This victory is a step in the right direction, but the broader struggle to safeguard human and environmental rights continues. The climate crisis, fuelled by unchecked industrial activities, is accelerating biodiversity loss and threatening livelihoods, making decisive action more urgent than ever. As South Africa faces mounting environmental and social challenges, it is critical that our leaders prioritise people and planet over profit, ensuring a just and sustainable future for all.