Has reforming South African fisheries contributed to wealth redistribution and poverty alleviation?

After the end of apartheid, the South African government aimed to support wealth redistribution and poverty alleviation by broadening access to fishing rights, promoting black small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs), and ensuring internal transformation of established companies. Although some fishing rights have been reallocated, most bona fide small fishers have lost out. SMMEs, which government expected would create employment, have struggled. Transformation within established companies remains cosmetic. To ensure real transformation of the fishing industry, the state will have to play a more interventionist role by supporting small emerging enterprises, and ensuring that change takes place in established companies.