Safety concerns raised following several tragic fishermen incidents in WC

CAPE TOWN - Safety concerns have been raised following several tragic incidents involving fishermen in the Western Cape.

Eleven Sea Harvest employees are presumed dead after a fishing boat they were in capsized off the Hout Bay coast last week.

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At least three other fishermen have also died in separate boat incidents off the Western Cape coast this week.

The Western Cape Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) said it has been dealing with safety issue concerns in the fishing sector for quite some time.

"Longer hours that they are working at sea, not getting rest - those things have been brought to our attention, and we’ve tried to address those with management,” said FAWU provincial secretary Zolani Mbanjwa.

He said some of the issues have been sorted out and some have not.

"We want to call on all these companies to make sure that safety is a priority for these employees that are working at sea."

Mbanjwa said the fishing sector is essential to the country's economy.