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Nechama Brodie is a South African journalist and researcher. She is the author of six books, including two critically acclaimed urban histories of Johannesburg and Cape Town. She works as the head of training and research at TRI Facts, part of independent fact-checking organisation Africa Check, and is completing a PhD in data methodology and media studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Video: Abalone Poaching & Organized Crime In South Africa
Over the last 18 years, poachers have stripped a staggering 96-million abalone (a large shellfish, also known locally as perlemoen) from South Africa's coastal waters. The illegal trade, driven largely by consumer demand from the East, is estimated to be worth in the region of US$60 million annually, and is driving the protected species into a decline from which it may never recover.
A recent report from wildlife trade specialist organization TRAFFIC explores the causes behind the global trade in abalone, and includes a hauntingly beautiful short (9-minute) video about the poachers, the sea, the abalone buyers' and traders' market, and speaks to the people who are trying to curtail abalone poaching before it's too late.
Most importantly, the documentary also takes into account the unique South African socio-economic conditions that contributed to this 'perfect storm' of poaching — specifically, the alienation of multi-generational fishing families from their fishing rights and access. The video is a reminder that even emotive stories like those about wildlife poaching should be viewed in context of the communities around them that have often been alienated, abandoned and even brutalized.
