DFFE serves coastal compliance notices as illegal building continues at uMgababa

Illegal construction was still taking place along the uMgababa and Mnini coastal corridor as recently as 8 August 2026, months after government served formal compliance notices on the unlawful clearing of coastal dunes and unauthorised building in the area.

Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Narend Singh disclosed the timeline in Durban at an engagement with Amakhosi and Izinduna on marine and coastal resources management. The meeting was convened after what he described as localised complaints grew into uncontrolled development along a sensitive stretch of coast.

What the inspections found

Joint inspections by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs and eThekwini Municipality on 11 March 2026 and again from 12 to 18 April 2026 identified multiple illegal activities.

The land involves Ingonyama Trust administration, local Traditional Councils and Coastal Public Property under the Integrated Coastal Management Act, which is why the response requires coordination across all three spheres of government.

Formal legal notices followed in April 2026, including NEMA Section 31L compliance notices and ICMA Section 60 repair and removal notices. Advisory warnings were also issued to property practitioners selling tribal and coastal land without authorisation.

Singh said the continued building after those notices showed that inspections and legal notices on their own are not enough. He said firm control on the ground is now required, and that environmental impact assessments and municipal planning controls are structural safeguards rather than bureaucratic obstacles.

Five commitments put to the meeting

The deputy minister proposed a five-point action plan for adoption. The provincial EDTEA will lead operational coordination alongside eThekwini Municipality, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the DFFE, with Amakhosi and Izinduna participating. An urgent calendar of formal engagements between authorities and traditional leadership is to be set.

Government will establish a single consolidated development register tracking every development in the affected area, recording its coordinates, construction status, required permits, the responsible enforcement authority and the legal steps taken to date. A joint enforcement plan for existing unlawful developments will align municipal, provincial and national processes. Amakhosi and Izinduna are to act as early-warning observers, reporting new illegal site clearing so that action can be taken before buildings go up.

Fishing rights and the co-operative model

On marine resources, Singh drew a distinction that he said is a common source of confusion in community engagements. A fishing right is issued once, on a long-term basis, and establishes the legal entitlement to participate in a fishery. A fishing permit is issued annually and regulates how that right is exercised, specifying species, area, gear and conditions.

KwaZulu-Natal was one of the first provinces to implement the small-scale fisheries policy framework. In 2019 the department recognised 2,184 fishers across 36 declared small-scale fishing communities in the province, and assisted them to register co-operatives and apply for 15-year rights.

Singh told the meeting that access to marine living resources cannot be granted on proximity to the coast or traditional authority jurisdiction alone, because stocks are finite. He said the department must balance ecological sustainability, existing access allocations, transformation, coastal livelihoods and biodiversity protection, and that it cannot lawfully create fishing access where stocks cannot sustain further harvesting.

He also addressed the question of why small-scale fishers cannot simply be given commercial rights. The two sectors run under different statutory frameworks, and membership of a small-scale co-operative does not confer a commercial right. Small-scale fishers are not confined to subsistence harvesting. The MLRA definition recognises harvesting, processing and marketing, including barter and sale.

Singh said the urgent challenge has shifted from allocating paper rights to whether co-operatives can convert those rights into profitable enterprises. He pointed to shared processing and cold-storage hubs, secondary co-operatives that aggregate catches, joint ventures with existing compliant facilities and co-managed transport, ice-making and landing infrastructure. The policy governing rights to operate Fish Processing Establishments has been revised and submitted for final ministerial approval.

What is already running on the ground

Singh listed projects already operating in the province. The uThukela Ecosystem-based Adaptation Project has supported 37 women through business incubation, established 23 tree entrepreneurs and provided a community hub with garden, library and digital access. The iSimangaliso MPA project targets 409 people for direct livelihood support. The Ocean Stewards Programme has built a network of more than 174 young ocean professionals since 2015.

At iSimangaliso Wetland Park, six KwaDapha community homestays have been handed over and boats and engines provided to three Madlangula concessionaires in Kosi Bay, with five community resource hubs established. In the King Cetshwayo District, the Working for Water programme is investing R3,956,000 to create 326 jobs across 1,000 hectares in partnership with uMngeni-uThukela Water and local Traditional Authorities.

DFFE has been establishing local co-management structures in the province, starting in 2025 with a small-scale fisheries co-management framework in Ugu District Municipality. Singh said traditional leadership has a role in communication, governance support, conflict resolution, resource protection and integrating indigenous knowledge into scientific management, and that traditional authority cannot override statutory fisheries legislation or authorise illegal marine harvesting.

The engagement was convened by the traditional leadership of the province. The next dated step is the calendar of formal engagements between authorities and Amakhosi that the meeting was asked to adopt.

Source: South African Government (www.gov.za), Deputy Minister Narend Singh: Marine and Coastal Resources Management Engagement with Amakhosi and Izinduna, https://www.gov.za/news/speeches/deputy-minister-narend-singh-marine-and-coastal-resources-management-engagement