Coastal Communities on the Frontline of the Climate Crisis — Kosi Bay, Northern KwaZulu-Natal

This series of photo essays explores the relationships between the people living in coastal communities and the ocean, in each of South Africa’s coastal provinces.

Daily Maverick will publish a series of four photo essays this week. This is part four.

Read Part 1: Coastal communities on the frontline of the climate crisis — Dwesa-Cwebe in Hobeni, Eastern Cape

Read Part 2: Coastal communities on the frontline of the climate crisis — Hondeklip Bay, Northern Cape

Read Part 3: Coastal Communities on the frontline of the climate crisis — Struisbaai

Near the border with Mozambique, the warm waters of the South Indian Ocean ebb and flow through the mouth of the Kosi Bay estuary and lake system. On March 15, the sky was clear and the wind was still. Near the river mouth at low tide, Joseph Mathenjwa was tending to his utshwayelo (fish kraal), which was damaged by the moderate tropical storm named Filipo, as it passed through northern KwaZulu-Natal back into the Indian Ocean after creating considerable damage in parts of Mozambique. 

Next to his fish kraal, on an exposed patch of sand with a small tree growing out of it, another fish kraal lay rolled up. At the mouth itself, a sandy hill that once stood on the opposite shore was completely washed away. Mathenjwa (57) says he has never seen so much damage caused in the space of 24 hours.

The practice of using fish kraals dates back hundreds of years. Today, many people living in Kosi Bay depend on fish kraals for their livelihood. Fish that are trapped inside the fish kraals are speared by the owner and then taken home to store or eat, or are sold to people in the community. They also represent a sense of cultural heritage and historical claim to the land and lakes.

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Filipo was a moderate tropical storm and not something out of the ordinary. According to Professor Jennifer Fitchett of the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, as the temperature of the South Indian Ocean rises, the number of storms is decreasing, but the number of storms that are reaching higher intensities is growing, and those storms are moving south. 

In her research article Recent emergence of CAT5 tropical cyclones in the South Indian Ocean, Fitchett says: “Although the South African coastline is currently protected from tropical cyclones by Madagascar, this southward trajectory has the potential to heighten the proportion of storms tracking south of this island nation, which currently takes the brunt of tropical cyclones in the South Indian Ocean.” 

The risk of northern KwaZulu-Natal becoming vulnerable to the effects of tropical cyclones is growing. While it’s impossible to predict the tracks that storms will take in the future (they may not always pass directly through Kosi Bay), severe storms could pose an existential risk to the people who depend on the fish kraals for their livelihoods.