A group of 300 fishermen from the Erongo Region travelled to seek answers to their petition from the Minister of Fisheries, Inge Zaamwani, but they refused to accept the response and instead demanded a roundtable audience.

This follows the minister's appearance on Wednesday afternoon, after the fishermen earlier refused to engage with the Deputy Minister and the Executive Director, who had met them in the morning.

The fishermen want to engage the minister for answers and want her to act on a reduction of fishing quotas, which they say is affecting their livelihood. 

Last Thursday, the fishermen handed in a petition that further demands better working conditions and salaries.

Joseph ||Garoeb is the Secretary General of the Mining, Metal, Maritime & Construction Workers Union. He said, "There are two things that we have done. Firstly, we came here to deliver the petition to her; she needs to respond to us regarding it. Second to that, there are metric tonnes that were reduced. We want to engage her on the matter because we believe it is important."

The fishermen were placed in various fishing companies, most under the Government Employment Redress Programme, which aims to re-employ those who lost their jobs due to the 2015 strike and the Fishrot scandal.

Zaamwani said the ministry has requested an audit from the Office of the Auditor-General on the Government Employment Redress Programme, with the report expected by the end of December.

Until then, the ministry will not make any pronouncements and has extended the quotas until January.

"Every time we engage them, they don't want to listen to our side of the story. They want their side of the story. So, if you're talking to someone with a fixed opinion, they want to switch companies, but we said that's not allowed right now. We have requested the office of the attorney general to conduct an audit, and the auditor general stated that the report will be released at the end of December. We believe that the allocation should extend until the end of January to enable us to make necessary decisions based on the auditor general's recommendations."

The fishermen have vowed to remain at the ministry's premises until they are granted an audience with the minister.