Protest in Hout Bay over closure of fish factory

Francesca Villette

THE closure of Oceana Group fishing company in Hout Bay will have unfavourable consequences for the community of Hangberg, Hout Bay Civic Association secretary Roscoe Jacobs said yesterday.

This as a handful of people marched through the suburb to hand over a petition calling for the factory to stay open.

Last month, Oceana Group announced that following years of complaints from some Hout Bay residents over the smell of rotten fish emanating from the factory, it was proposing to move its operations to St Helena Bay.

At its Hout Bay plant, Lucky Star, fish is processed into fishmeal and oil.

Jacobs said the petition, which had 1 280 signatures by yesterday afternoon, was received by a representative of the company.

“Many of the people who work at the factory live in Hangberg and Imizamo Yethu, which suffers from unemployment and poverty. The community of Hangberg is against the closure of any place of employment that will affect workers,” Jacobs said.

francesca.villette@inl.co.za

@FrancescaJaneV