Expressions of Tenure in South Africa in the Context of the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines

Abstract

Tenure relations lie at the heart of the livelihoods of small-scale fishing communities who depend on their access to and control of fisheries and other natural resources in order to realise their right to food as well as a range of other human rights. In recognition of this, the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) identify the responsible governance of tenure as central to the realization of the human rights of small-scale fishers. Drawing on the experience of customary communities in South Africa, this chapter explores expressions of tenure and their implications for the implementation of the SSF Guidelines. An exploration of tenure relations within the customary systems of indigenous peoples and local communities suggests that these forms of tenure are embedded in epistemologies and ontologies that are foundationally different to most statutory tenure systems. Contrary to the individual, market-orientated conception of rights within the neoliberal property rights paradigm dominating state fisheries management, these tenure systems reference an alternative conception of rights and tenure governance. This plurality of tenure systems, embodied in different systems of law, creates a challenging, potentially conflictual context in which the objective of the SSF Guidelines to develop responsible governance of tenure will be achieved. Recognition and accommodation of the plurality of tenure systems is imperative if the transformative potential of the SSF Guidelines to achieve equitable and sustainable fisheries is to be realized.