At the vanguard of fish processing

Winston Churchill said: ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’, says Trevor Christian, director of Khanyisile Fishing. This is why Khanyisile Fishing supports an organisation like The United Sanctuary Against Abuse, a shelter that provides assistance to abused women and children from Atlantis.

United Sanctuary Against Abuse

“Abuse takes many forms. Physical, sexual and financial are the most prevalent, particularly in Atlantis – an area plagued by a high rate of domestic violence stemming from a multitude of social issues,” says Felicia Fillies, Social Worker at the United Sanctuary Against Abuse. 

The shelter can accommodate up to 18 people in three rooms mothers share with their young children. Here they receive trauma counselling, coaching on parenting skills and relationship management as well as help on how to deal with low self-esteem. 

“One success story is Hilda,” says Felicia. “Hilda has become very strong as a woman and is now back with her children, in her own house and at work. She has managed to use her legal rights to get rid of the man who use to abuse her and got him sentenced for emotional, physical and financial abuse,” she says.

Although the Department of Social Development assists with the operational costs there are many other items that need to be paid for, such as medical expenses, food, school clothing and stationery. Naturally, Felicia and her team were delighted to receive a donation of frozen hake fillets from Khanyisile Fishing to the value of R3 000 that will help provide the daily meals for the victims and their children.

“Khanyisile Fishing is focused on helping the community of Atlantis. This donation is one of many more to come” says Trevor.

Expansion and diversification

Walk into any of the largest retailers in South Africa and you will find the fish products we supply in many of the retailers’ own brand packaging. Buoyed by this rapidly expanding line of operations, we have recently invested over R30 million in a new crumbing line. In addition, new product diversification has resulted in a 150% increase in business, going from producing 20 tons per day to our target of 50 tons per day. This makes us the third-largest bulk producer of crumbed and coated fish products in South Africa.

Our extensive product range includes crumbed and battered natural fish fillets, along with other crumbed products such as fish cakes and crispy bakes.  

Currently, the company relies on local and international procurement of hake and other seafood products for its production pipeline. Having access to our local resources would allow the company to not only meet the local demand for crumbed and coated seafood products, but also allow the company to diversify and grow its product range. 

Therefore, Khanyisile Fishing is actively seeking deep sea and other quotas in the upcoming fishing rights allocation process (FRAP) in 2021. Direct access to hake and other seafood products will change the lives of the beneficiaries, at least for the duration of the Fishing Rights which is up to 15 years, driving employment and affording significant upliftment to this disadvantaged community.

Empowering our community

In 2019, Khanyisile Fishing was sold to an Employee Empowerment Trust with 110 historically disadvantaged employees, 70 of which are beneficiaries of the Trust, directly benefiting and participating in the company’s successes. 

The company is 100% black owned and 87% black woman owned, so all this additional business and expansion is great news for the workforce who all hail from the Atlantis area. This success contributes to the economic development and upliftment of the local economy, particularly the community of Atlantis in the Western Cape.