Prince William has been met by a handful of protesters, outweighed by excited crowds, as he finished his tour of Cape Town.
William was visiting Kalk Bay Harbour to highlight the contributions of 2023 Earthshot finalist Abalobi, a social enterprise which aims to protect small-scale fishing communities while also promoting sustainable fishing methods.
But as the prince walked along the harbour front shouts could be heard from local fishermen and women in the crowd.
Speaking to Sky News Mymoena Poggenpoel, who has carried on her family’s fishing business and owns two boats, said they weren’t protesting against the prince but felt excluded from the event.
“It wasn’t inclusive, that’s our concern. If you look at these boats, they’re all independently owned, from our forefathers, our fathers to their forefathers etc, there’s no financial gain that’s been given by banks or politicians or industry,” they said.
“These boats are all maintained by individual fishermen. So because they wouldn’t include us it’s very concerning, you know that we couldn’t welcome the prince the way we wanted to in our traditional manner.”
Responding afterwards, Serge Raemaeker, co-owner of Abalobi, said he could understand their grievance but explained they are making efforts to engage more.
“Through apartheid and post-apartheid there’s no fishing community here anymore, there’s a whole bunch of fishers that are able to have their boat here but they live far and wide and that’s highly likely what’s going on here, we haven’t been able to reach them, we’re starting to work with groups along the coastline,” he added.
“I’m imagining that this fisher felt ‘hey I’m being left out here’, and I understand”.
At the same event, William was also met by excited crowds who were delighted to meet the prince, with many of them shaking hands with him or trying to give him a hug.
Prince William visits Simon’s Town Harbour. Pic: Reuters
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Kate Wardle gave him beaded keyrings that her mother had made for him, the Princess of Wales and their children.
Talking about her moment with the prince she said: “I didn’t know if he’d be able to take them, so I was really pleased that he did.
“He said ‘oh that’s good, never go home empty-handed’. I’m just so excited.”
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Prince William had arrived by lifeboat after meeting crew members and boarding the boat further up the coastline.
Appearing to be in his element among the emergency sea response teams, he was asked by one member of the crew if he had ever done search and rescue work, he replied: “I miss this life. Any chance to get back, I’ll take.”
The prince trained as a search and rescue helicopter pilot at RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales, before working as a pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance.
