Namibian Ombudsman Adv John Walters Meeting with Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA, Officially and Privately. Having accepted my invitation to visit Seal Alert rescue facilities, I received a call from Adv John Walters that he would be in Hout Bay from 11am to 4pm. He brought along his lovely wife, her sister and brother-in-law. I showed him the centre, the rescued seals and then took him to the newbie puppery area and started tube feeding the babies. At stake the lives of millions of Cape fur seals earmarked to be beaten to death in the coming years in a foreign country. Pressure is not the word to describe the responsibility I felt. The moment I had Huggie Too, Slipway and Sante Claus in my arms, he had his wife click away urging her to take more. If anything can sway a foreign country in its policy to stop killing seals then, it must surely be the Ombudsman with the power and the babies with their power of love to change mindset. It was so great to see the Ombudsman part of this. We then went upstairs where I presented a 2 hours powerpoint presentation covering 900 slides. An intense session with the Ombudsman and his party glued to the LCD screen. Finally he could see how serious the seal situation was, what banning seals from islands has done, how fishermen kill more seals than the sealers, the buy out offer from Sealers and the misinformation of Minister of Fisheries had given on population numbers. Every aspect, every detail was covered in depth. My wife Nelda offered to take his wife and Sister for tea, No she replied I find this fascinating, lets complete the presentation. Later I took the Ombudsman for lunch which was enjoyed by all and then arranged a boat trip on one the popular tourist seal viewing boats. The harbour was full of tourists we could hardly find parking and the boat was so full we only had standing room. Once again he witnessed the alternative to clubbing seals, and how seals on islands generates immense income for traders and tour operators. He clearly saw how small the rock was and understood what banning seals from islands had done, and how seals if not banned would always prefer breeding on offshore habitat. All in all it was a great meeting, no terrific meeting. He was given the 132 MB powerpoint to study, and he thanked us sincerely and was so glad he had come and been given the opportunity to see the alternative to seal clubbing. A huge sense of peace and relief came over me. He did not mention or reveal when he would conclude his findings, and I felt it inappropriate to push. Considering our past disagreements between each other, I believe that what occurred today was historic. My attorney nearly fell off his chair upon hearing the Ombudsman had agreed to visit. Its now in the hands of fate. - Francois Hugo
