Members of the Merewent Fishing Forum watch on as the East Coast Rollers spend the day fishing at the Bluff Navy Base in Durban.
The first fish was caught at 7am. By the end of the day, 143 fish had been reeled in – snappers, grunters, perch, stumpies and mullets. Thirty‑three of them were keepers, weighing between 1kg and 2kg.
This was the scene at the Bluff Navy Base in Durban, where differently abled anglers from East Coast Rollers gathered for the third annual paraplegic fishing day, hosted with the assistance of the Merewent Fishing Forum.
Now in its third year, the event is the brainchild of 70‑year‑old Yster Smal, formerly of Richards Bay, now living in Lesotho, representing Ramcat Fishing, a charity organisation dedicated to the disabled, and specifically those who are wheelchair‑bound.
Smal explained the thinking behind the event. "Our focus is on men and women in wheelchairs. We assist with accommodation, wheelchairs, clothes and other needs. What we have found is that the biggest request is often for outings. We can take them to a shopping mall for a good meal, but then they become one of hundreds of people in a closed building. So it is a challenge."
