At the close of Women's Month, the speaker reflects on her experience, noting that being appointed as the first Black woman CEO in the South African fishing industry is only the beginning of her journey. She has worked in this industry for over two decades, which is characterized by complexity, cyclicality, and high competition. Fisheries is a sector where the ocean does not yield, global markets do not wait, and economic shocks can have serious consequences for companies, employees, and coastal communities.
She has observed successful enterprises facing difficulties, companies closing down, and operations being scaled back, leading to tangible impacts on local communities when businesses can no longer sustain themselves. This is why, as a business leader and a South African citizen, she believes that sustainability has never been more crucial.
How external factors affected the industry
Recent years have tested this resilience in ways that were difficult to foresee. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains and markets, changed consumer behavior, and placed immense pressure on businesses trying to survive. This was followed by a new wave of uncertainty caused by geopolitical tensions, inflation, weakening international demand, rising costs, and disruptions related to changes in global trade policy.
The impact of US tariffs proved particularly alarming. It is not just the damage from tariffs; it is the necessity for South African companies to become exceptionally resilient, globally competitive, and adaptive to protect the productive economy and jobs upon which they depend. The fishing and aquaculture industries understand this reality particularly well.
For instance, abalone producers have faced an extremely complex combination of weak international demand, price pressure, competition, and structural issues. Sea Harvest’s Aqunion reported pressure due to declining demand and falling USD prices, especially in key Asian markets. Abagold also publicly spoke about demand and price pressures in international markets. Premier also felt the impact of these challenges, and the industry had to join forces through representative bodies and commercial engagement to mitigate some of this pressure.
The sector faces another existential challenge—the sustainability of South Africa's abalone stocks. The government set the total allowable catch for wild abalone for 2025/26 at only 12.01 tonnes, citing evidence of severe population decline. She emphasizes that behind every production cut is a worker, behind every factory is a community, and behind every job is a family.
Business priorities and human capital
She is convinced that protecting jobs must become part of defining business success. At Premier Fishing and Brands, the answer lay in relentless focus on sustainability: strengthening the business, protecting fishing rights, building management capacity, maintaining high operational standards, and ensuring product competitiveness in demanding international markets. South Africa possesses exceptional fishery products, including lobster, squid, and abalone from the Southern and Western coasts, which are of high quality, and there is no reason not to compete successfully for premium clients worldwide.
The company continues to build relationships in markets such as the US, Europe, and Asia, including China, while ensuring that product quality, food safety, and reliability meet international expectations. Premier has long managed the entire cycle—from catch to marketing, having established relationships in Asia, Europe, and the United States.
However, competitiveness depends not only on the product but also on the people. Over the past year, the company has focused on aligning the business with growing global standards, strengthening the management team, protecting jobs, and investing in employee skills. When a fishing company survives, not only the company itself survives, but the entire community around it does too.
For her, transformation is more than just ownership. It is a matter of dignity. It is a statement to employees that they are not just part of the workforce, but part of the future of the business. She is also firmly convinced that transformation and profitability should never be presented as mutually exclusive goals. Business must make money to exist, but a truly successful South African business must also create opportunities, develop people, support suppliers, and contribute to the communities in which it operates.
Female leadership and advice to young women
This leads her to a part of her journey that is rarely reflected in corporate profiles. She is a mother, a wife, and a CEO. She notes that there is no perfect formula for balancing these roles; there are hard days, sacrifices, and moments when professional and family duties battle for the same piece of her identity.
Women often expect to juggle everything while making enormous efforts to achieve it, appearing effortless. She does not believe this myth should be perpetuated. Sometimes leadership is recognizing that balance is not perfection. It is making decisions, having support, showing up and learning from tough days, and then continuing to move forward. Her family was part of her journey, not separate from it. The resilience she gained as a woman, mother, wife, and professional shaped her leadership style.
As Women's Month concludes, her message to young women entering the fishing, maritime, engineering, finance, or any other traditionally male field is simple: do not wait for the industry to tell you that you belong here. Prepare. Know your business. Know your numbers. Build relationships. Be ready to work harder than you think.
And when you finally take a seat at the table, do not spend all your energy proving that you deserve to be there. Use that seat to make space for someone else. Ultimately, that is what pioneering should mean.
She is proud to be the first Black woman to lead a commercial fishing company in South Africa, but she would be even prouder if this statement ceased to seem unusual one day. She hopes young women will enter the fishing industry with an expectation of leadership. She wishes for women to become CEOs, IT managers, engineers, ship captains, scientists, and entrepreneurs, without their gender being seen as the most interesting feature about them.
She also hopes that South African enterprises will remain resilient enough to continue creating jobs, developing people, and competing successfully on the world stage. The ocean has taught her many things over the years. Perhaps the biggest of them is that you cannot control the tide, but you can decide how to manage it.
At the end of Women's Month, she honors the women who came before her, the women who stood beside her, and the women who will come after her. She hopes they will not have to spend their careers overcoming the same barriers. She hopes they will spend their careers building something bigger.
No reflection on her journey would be complete without acknowledging the people who supported her. She expresses gratitude to Dr. Iqbal Surve and the Surve family for their support, trust, and encouragement. The tide will always change. Our task is to ensure that South Africa is ready to sail with it.