Question no 1239
Mr P J C Pretorius (DA) to ask the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs:
(1) Whether delays are being experienced in the processing of the transfer of fishing rights; if so, (a) why and (b) how long does it take on average to finalise an application;
(2) Whether a tracking system exists in her department to track the status of fishing rights transfer applications; if not, why not; if so,
(3) Whether applicants are informed of the details of the system; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs answers:
(1) Yes;
(a) There is a backlog due to a flood of applications being received since the finalisation of the transfer policy, which was published in Government Gazette No. 32449 dated 31 July 2009;
(b) 30 days on average.
(2) Yes. Transfer applications are uploaded on Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) and assigned a unique number. Departmental officials are then able to check the status of the application electronically.
(3) No. It is an internal administrative and document management system that has a broader application than just fishing rights transfer applications.
Issued by: Department of Water and Environmental Affairs
11 September 2009
