At the heart of this matter were the customary rights to marine resources. The appellants were tried at the Magistrate court and later appealed to the High Court in Mthatha. The Hight Court, however, held that their conduct was unlawful because they had not applied for an exemption as contemplated in the MLRA, granting them a permit to fish. It dismissed the review application on the grounds that the review was not properly raised as a collateral challenge, as it had been brought after the appellants’ conviction; and that they had delayed unreasonably in launching the review proceedings. When it was found their conduct was unlawful, they appealled to the Supreme Court of Appeal to determine their customary rights to the marine resources. The legal question before the court was whether the appellants could successfully raise the exercise of a customary right as a defence in criminal proceedings against them, more specifically, whether the exercise of a customary right of access to marine resources rendered their conduct in attempting to fish in the Dwesa-Cwebe Marine Protected Area (the MPA) in the district of Elliotdale, without a permit, lawful.