Madam Speaker
Honourable Members
Minister
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Madam Chair, it is with great excitement and
enthusiasm that I stand before this house
to deliver this year's budget speech. This
year marks 50 years since the adoption of
the Freedom Charter as a guiding vision for
the achievement of our country's social development
and economic emancipation. The Freedom Charter's
vision of South Africa as a country that belongs
to all who live in it, together with the commitment
in our Constitution that guarantees all South
Africans the right to an environment that
is not harmful to our health or well-being,
provides the fundamental basis for the actions
that our department has taken to protect the
quality of the South African environment.
Madam Chair, in taking forward this commitment
to an acceptable living environment for all
our people, there are some issues that we
all know about, but that we do not often debate
or discuss. I am sure that there are many
of us in this house, and in society at large,
who only notice their waste on the rare occasions
that it isn't collected. Our department however
has a central responsibility for ensuring
that there is a coherent national policy and
legislative framework governing the management
of our country's waste.
In the past year, further steps were taken
towards entrenching our commitment to a waste
management system based on the principles
of reduce, re-use and recycle In particular,
we are pleased to announce that our negotiations
with the glass and tyre industries are at
an advanced stage and that we have facilitated
agreements to promote the reduction, reuse
and recycling of waste.
We will shortly be signing Memoranda of Understanding
with these industries that will entrench these
agreements and that will also contain measures
to promote job creation, and the establishment
of new SMME enterprises in these sectors.
In addition, Madam Chair, we have made substantial
progress in addressing issues related to the
management of hazardous waste streams such
as asbestos and mercury.
Regulations to ban the use of asbestos in
our country will shortly be published for
comment and a study on secondary asbestos
pollution and its impact on affected communities
will be completed during the course of this
year. This will take us a long way towards
addressing a problem that has led to thousands
of our people experiencing great suffering
and painful deaths.
Similarly, rapid progress has been made with
regard to finding a solution to the cleaning
up of waste mercury stored at the Thor plant
at Cato Ridge in Pietermaritzburg.
Today I want to report to this house the
following:
The process of waste characterisation to
determine the type of waste stored in drums
in the warehouses is almost finished.
An EIA process to evaluate the preferred options
is already taking place.
The costing exercise for the clean up has
been completed.
The department is in consultation with the
company to finalise these costs and we are
positive that this process will yield positive
results and the cleanup process should start
in the near future. We however remain with
the challenge to assist those victims who
have not been compensated yet they are no
longer employable to due ill health and permanent
disabilities.
These developments, together with other achievements,
such as the establishment of the Buyisa-e-Bag
Company that will take forward a waste minimization
strategy in the plastics bag industry, will
be consolidated this year through the promulgation
of a National Environmental Management Waste
Bill . This piece of legislation will provide
an overarching framework for the management
of our country's waste and will establish
norms and standards for the management of
both general and hazardous waste in a manner
that both reduces the scale of our country's
waste problem, as well as ensuring that health
and safety issues are satisfactorily addressed.
Speaker, in February this year we promulgated
the Air Quality Act. This was a major victory
towards achieving a better quality of life
for many of our communities. I am thinking
here Madam Speaker of communities who live
in our major urban areas, and especially those
residing adjacent to industrial areas. In
particular the communities of Boipatong, Sasolburg,
Secunda, Durban South, Milnerton, Rustenburg
and Witbank who for decades have been exposed
to dirty air.
This year we will move into implementing
the new Air Quality legislation and in so
doing we will promulgate draft ambient air
quality standards for comment, begin to review
existing air quality permits, and declare
the Vaal Triangle as a priority area' for
action in terms of the Act. These actions
will over time result in major improvements
in the air people breathe and consequently
have major public health benefits.
Madam Speaker, as with waste management,
most of us take for granted the fact that
we can access information about our weather
on a daily basis. The South African Weather
Services is one of the statutory bodies that
falls under our department. It provides a
critical national service to the South African
and international public.
In the past year, SAWS has taken a number
of steps to further improve its services and
capacity to deliver a world-class service.
Among other activities, SAWS has been running
its Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) programme
which measures and monitors greenhouse gas
datasets. SAWS has also rolled out a number
of Ozone Monitoring stations in the SADC region.
In keeping with its Public Good obligations,
SAWS plays a key role in offering early warning
in the case of impending disasters. To this
end, SAWS has increased its weather observation
network in South Africa . The Mtata Radar
launch in October 2004 improved the organisation's
understanding of weather patterns in the Eastern
Cape and the hard-to-predict East Coast. The
project also involved the installation of
five automatic weather stations in data sparse
areas of the province. The project provided
temporary employment and training to a number
of people from the involved and surrounding
rural areas. Over twelve people are now employed
on a permanent basis. In addition,the SAWS
has taken first steps to acquiring Lightning
Detection Network for the country.
Madam Speaker, SAWS has contributed substantially
to the protection of life and property against
natural disasters, to safeguarding the environment
and to enhancing the economic and social well-being
of all sectors of society in areas such as
food security, water resources and transport.
To further enhance this capability through
the re-capitalisation plan SAWS is going to
expand and improve its observations network
and replace its super computer to enable forecasters
to produce more accurate weather forecasts.
Speaker, there are also important activities
in our department that have tangible benefits
for communities in rural areas. These include
programmes that allow communities to benefit
from their proximity to parks. In the past
people were forcibly removed from their ancestral
land to make way for the parks and this resulted
in communities opposing park establishment.
We are now reversing this situation through
a program called People and Parks where we
encourage community participation in park
activities.
Similarly, the Kids and Parks project is
a joint programme of the Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism, Education, SANParks and
Pick & Pay. The programme seeks to enhance
access for learners and educators to SANParks.
It is planned that over 10000 learners and
300 educators will have an opportunity to
experience field trips at 15 national parks
over a period of three years.
Progress has also been made to link parks
development to local economic development
programmes and job creation. For example,
within the Greater St Lucia Wet land Park
key focus areas in this new financial year
will be skills development in tourism as well
as the establishment of a number of SMMES
in related fields.
Already, training of local labour to meet
the ever-increasing demand for quality service
has commenced. 60 local Chefs have been trained.
This will be followed by another 300 in this
financial year with the establishment of 15
tourism related business ventures in the area.
On a much larger scale, our department has
taken up the challenge of poverty eradication
and job creation in many areas of our country
through our involvement in the Expanded Public
Works Programme.
I am sure it will make our Finance Minister
happy to hear that all, of the R370 million
allocated to us for the Poverty Relief Programme
in this past Financial Year had been spent
by the end of March 2005. These funds have
been allocated to 490 projects across the
country.
To give just one example of these projects:
The indigenous medicinal plant conservation
project launched in partnership with Eskom
in Barberton in 2004 has been one of our great
success stories in also addressing food security
through vegetable production . The project
has now been awarded a contract to supply
tomatoes to a jam factory. Members of the
project have also been trained to extract
oils from indigenous medicinal plants used
for certain ailments.
Chair, once again, our department has made
us proud in fulfilling South Africa 's international
environment and tourism obligations and partnerships
for sustainable development.
South Africa is a signatory and participates
actively in a number of Multilateral Environmental
Agreements, protocols and conventions. This
presents our country with an opportunity to
play a vital role in the global discussions
around environmental and sustainable development
issues.
This year, we will strive to strengthen some
of these conventions including the Nairobi
and Abidjan Conventions that seek to protect
our coastal and marine resources. South Africa
is the first country in the region to launch
the West Indian Ocean Land-based activities
program in order to manage waste and combat
sea pollution due to inland activities. Similarly
we will intensify our efforts to support the
NEPAD environmental initiative through active
participation and involvement. In particular
South Africa 's chairmanship of the NEPAD
invasive species programme provides an opportunity
for us to provide tangible leadership and
support to our African compatriots.
As soon as the news of our horse came to
light, the young women came to us. The key
to success is to keep your focus on the task
at hand. To add insult to injury, African
Devhula is the culmination of a global translation
of the Vulangamupo Ministry. We would like
to hear from the Queen's Office on the issue
of the Vocabulary of the Monarchy. The conference
was attended by more than 400 women from around
the world. The following are some suggestions
on how to look or get an appointment for tattoos
on your body. This is the first time in Africa
that you have made it a reality. According
to the Tea Revolution, this is one of the
five most important issues in the history
of Africa. We are starting this year with
you.
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, I would like
to take this opportunity to thank this house
for the support they have given to the department
over the past decade. I would also like to
thank and invite all South Africans as we
enter our second Decade of Democracy to join
us in pursuit of our noble goal in creating
a legacy of a clean and healthy environment
for the present and future generations.
I would like to sincerely thank our Minister
for his leadership and vision, the chair and
members of the Portfolio Committee, the former
DG, the current Acting DG and the rest of
the departmental and ministry staff.
Intensified Delivery Through Action: DEAT
Driving & Dealing with Change
Introduction
The former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and President
Emeritus of the World Academy for Art and
Science, Harlan Cleveland has observed that
our generation is the first generation in
the history of the world that finds what people
do to their natural environment is more important
than what the environment does to and for
them.
Madame Speaker, never before have our actions
and our opportunities had so significant an
impact on our world. Our choices today affect
not only our own lives and those of our children,
but also have direct consequences for the
very shape of our planet. Weather patterns
change when we act. Oceans rise, mountains
crumble, deserts expand and whole species
cease to be. Change is no longer felt only
over the course of generations or limited
to certain locations it is noticeable, global
and immediate.
The challenges and opportunities of change
are the very foundations of the Freedom Charter
and our maturing democracy. Driving and responding
to change is how our Department, in partnership
with our private sector and civil society,
will meet the targets and goals set by the
President for our Second Decade of Freedom.
90% of Targets Achieved or Surpassed
Speaker, in June last year we stood before
this House and the NCOP and set out a programme
of action ranging from finalising Air Quality
legislation to streamlining environmental
impact assessments, from delivering greatly-expanded
compliance and enforcement capacity to a new
domestic tourism campaign.
I am pleased to report that about 90% of
these targets, undertakings and commitments
have either been met or exceeded in the past
ten months an achievement for which I thank
and applaud the staff and management of our
Department, our Statutory Bodies, our provincial
authorities, and our other partners. We have
not been idle on the other 10% either we
aim, for example, to publish draft regulations
prohibiting the use of asbestos by the end
of this quarter, our Deputy Minister will
be speaking later in this debate about the
Waste Bill and waste minimisation, and I will
also be addressing other issues like our new
Environmental Management Inspectors, the so-called
Green Scorpions,next Thursday in the NCOP.
Driving Change in Fishing
Speaker, Members will recall that we are
in the process of finalising the fisheries
policies for the allocation of long-term fishing
rights estimated to be worth about R70 billion
over the next 8-15 years. The public comment
period on the last of these new fisheries
policies ends next Monday, and has already
seen more than 50 separate coastal meetings
by our Department with more than 4600 fishers
since the start of March alone.
In accepting the President's challenge to
broaden black economic empowerment, we intend
to affirm those small and medium enterprises
that have committed themselves to succeeding
in the capital intensive and lucrative hake
trawl, south coast rock lobster and small
pelagics fisheries by reserving up to 10%
of the total allowable catches in the respective
fisheries for SME's and a further 10% to reward
transformation.
Yesterday we announced for public comment
the proposed new application fee structure
intended to recoup the costs of allocating
long term commercial fishing rights most
of which have been massively reduced to enable
small-scale empowerment fishers to apply.
In the white mussel and oyster fisheries,
for example, the proposed fees have been reduced
from R585 to only R100. Traditional line-fishers
will, under these proposals, no longer pay
R7000 but only R400 and then another R204
per crew member if their applications succeed.
By contrast, under the new proposals a large
company that was allocated 45 000 tons and
which previously paid an application fee of
only R6000 would now pay R2,25 million if
allocated that same quantity. People will
now pay for what they get. This, Speaker,
is positive change, led by our communities
and driven by our Department.
National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment
Launched
Another positive change, Speaker, is the
scientific research capacity in our Department
that has been greatly strengthened by, among
other initiatives, the creation last year
of the SA National Biodiversity Institute
(SANBI). I am very pleased today to officially
launch the results of the National Spatial
Biodiversity Assessment (NSBA) the first-ever
comprehensive spatial evaluation of biodiversity
throughout the country.
The results are a warning to us all 34%
of our terrestrial ecosystems are threatened
with 5% critically endangered; 82% of our
120 rivers are threatened with 44% critically
endangered; three of our thirteen groups of
estuarine biodiversity are in critical danger;
with 12% of marine bio-zones under serious
threat. This report places us for the first
time in a position of scientific authority
to identify which areas of the country need
the most urgent attention and protection.
Perhaps more importantly, the report makes
specific recommendations as to how best to
link conservation with development in these
threatened areas ensuring sustainable conservation
and community upliftment.
This assessment will now inform our National
Biodiversity Framework South Africa is the
first country ever to include a comprehensive
spatial assessment of biodiversity in its
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action
Plan.
Dealing with Climate Change
Speaker, South African biodiversity is also
under threat from one of the most noticeable
and dangerous forms of change climate change.
The ten warmest years ever recorded have all
occurred since 11000. From 1961 to 11000 alone
the average annual temperature at the Cape
Agulhas Lighthouse rose by 1,2 degrees. Scientific
modelling suggests that over the next fifty
years the areas covered by our current biomes
will reduce by more than 50% - with hotter
and drier conditions reducing maize production
by as much as 20% with massive knock-on effects
for our economy. Floods and droughts, increased
water-borne diseases, more frequent fires,and
the extinction of more animal species are
all likely results of this change, unless
we act swiftly and decisively.
Addressing climate change requires action
on two different levels the first is international
action to continue to pressure developed nations
to further reduce global emissions of greenhouse
gasses (GHG's) and to increase levels of assistance
to developing nations adapting to climate
change. The second level of action is domestic
we need to prepare our people and our economy
to deal with the consequences of climate change.
South Africa accounts for 1,4% of global GHG
emissions and we need to find ways of reducing
these emission levels.
This year we will be carrying out a Greenhouse
Gas Inventory and implementing our Climate
Change Response Strategy. This includes working
with all Government Departments, especially
the Department of Minerals and Energy which
has committed to reducing energy demands by
12% by 2015, through more efficient use of
power.
Addressing Trophy Hunting & Canned Hunting
Speaker, one of the more topical issues in
Environmental Affairs over the past few weeks
has been the concern about trophy hunting
in the buffer zones around our National Parks,
where fences have been dropped. Our Department
is not, in principle, opposed to regulated,
responsible hunting, but we believe that a
framework is needed to bring greater clarity
to issues like hunting and harmonising land-use
practices in areas adjoining national parks.
Our new legislation will bring legal certainty
to these issues in the future ensuring that
such relationships are dealt with in clear
and defined contractual terms.
Another concern is the problem of canned
hunting of large predators. Draft Norms and
Standards have been gazetted for public comment
to put an end to this despicable practice.
The public response has been overwhelming
on an issue that is loaded with emotion and
sentiment. I have also just received the results
of a report on the extent and scope of this
problem in all nine provinces. I am convinced,
both by the public comments and the results
of this report, that the draft Norms and Standards
do not go far enough to remove this cancer
from our society. Definitions and the scientific
base need to be tightened, monitoring, enforcement
and compliance needs to be made more implementable,and
sufficient powers need to be reserved by the
National Government to impose a partial or
full moratorium on any hunting of large predators
should specific provinces fail to successfully
implement these standards.
In order to decisively address both of these
issues I am appointing a panel of experts
which will include, amongst others, conservation
and environmental ethics experts, to be chaired
by Dr. Crispian Olver and including Khungeka
Njobe (CSIR), Tony Frost (WWF), Nick King
(Endangered Wildlife Trust), Stewart Dorrington
(SA Professional Hunters), Marcelle Meredith
(NSPCA), Dr Shibu Rampedi (Limpopo), Prof.
Koos Bothma (Centre for Wildlife Management
at the University of Pretoria), Dr Holly Dublin
(Chairperson of the Species Survival Commission
of the IUCN - representing international conservation),
Lambson Maluleke (Community Representative),
Mlamleli Pukwana (FAWU), and a legal advisor.The
panel will be requested to report back within
four months on both hunting in buffer zones
and canned hunting of large predators.
Increased DEAT Capacity: New Bio-Safety Directorate
Speaker, as technology changes so too do
the challenges that we must confront and address.
Concerned South Africans have spent a great
deal of time and effort raising concerns about
the use of Genetically Modified Organisms
(GMO's) in South Africa . I trust that they
will be glad to hear that our Department will,
in June this year, establish and staff a new
Bio-Safety Directorate to coordinate and support
our work in implementing the Cartagena Protocol
on Bio-safety. At the same time SANBI will
be working to expand and resource its own
bio-safety capacity. The appropriate use of
GMO's is an important debate that needs to
be held more broadly in public discourse,and
not just between small interest groups behind
closed doors.
R193m and Major Investment Drive for TFCA's
Speaker, the transfrontier conservation initiative
originated in Africa and now there are 169
such areas involving 113 countries and 667
protected areas. Southern Africa is driving
this change.
Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA's)
offer Southern Africa one of the most important
vehicles to ensure that our hosting of the
2010 Soccer World Cup brings real benefits
to our neighbouring states as well. In addition
to the R159 million which we invested in TFCA
projects during the last MTEF cycle we will,
over the course of the new MTEF period, invest
a further R193 million in new projects including
more than R25 million in Limpopo/Shashe, more
than R50 million in Great Limpopo, and more
than R60 million in Maloti-Drakensberg .I
am also pleased to announce that construction
of the South African side of the Giriyondo
Border Post between the Kruger National Park
and Limpopo National Park in Mozambique has
now been completed and is due to be officially
opened later this year.
Over the next two years, our Department,
in collaboration with our regional partners,
will launch important investment initiatives
to implement critical infrastructure and tourism
development plans in our Transfrontier Parks.
These initiatives will focus on Southern African
as well as international investors - with
specific initiatives in Europe and in the
US later this year. Investing in our Transfrontier
Parks is not just about sentiment - it makes
excellent business sense.
[The next two years will see our Department
engaging with our regional partners in a major
investment drive to put into place the critical
infrastructure and tourism development plans
for our TFCA's. This drive will emphasise
Southern African investors as well as the
international investor community with key
initiatives in Europe and the United States
later this year. Investment in our TFCA's
is not only important because of sentiment
it makes good business sense].
Aiming for 1,8% - 2,1% Tourism Growth &
R12m Tourism Satellite Account
Speaker, the global travel industry showed
real signs of recovery in 2004. Total foreign
arrivals to South Africa increased by almost
1% during the first nine months of the year
to more than 4,77 million compared to 4,72
million in 2003. Although our overseas arrivals
dipped marginally there were regional markets
that showed strong growth like Central and
South America, as well as North America which
increased by more than 11,5% and 9,7% respectively.
Significantly our African arrivals grew by
almost 1%. Abakhenkethi baphesheya babalulekile
nabalapha nabo bakwabalulekile. Ukhenketho
eMzantsi-Afrika lingokudala imisebenzi kubantu
bethu.[ Overseas tourists are important but
local tourists are just as important. Tourism
in South Africa is about creating jobs for
our people.]
Sustained and sustainable growth in tourism
remains our goal. Our targeted growth for
2005 is to increase total foreign arrivals
by between 1,8% and 2,1% - much of which will
depend on global economic stability, the intensified
roll-out of our new international brand, and
improving the competitive edge of our tourism
products.
An important key to that improvement is to
develop better information about tourism in
South Africa . I am pleased to announce that
we will spend R12m over the next three years
to implement a Tourism Satellite Account in
partnership with StatsSA, the Reserve Bank
and others. Amongst the most important information
that this will generate for our industry is
the specific contribution of tourism to GDP,
the actual number of direct and indirect jobs
in tourism, the quantity of tourism investment,
and revenues generated by tourism across South
Africa.
There are few opportunities with greater
potential to bring massive growth and development
to South Africa than our hosting of the 2010
Soccer World Cup. We have decided to make
full use of the German 2006 World Cup as the
springboard for our own marketing and development
drive. Giving effect to this decision will
be a high-level South African delegation including
captains of industry, sporting bodies, investment
organisations, and our 2010 local organising
committee which we will lead to Germany in
June to meet with key German decision-makers
and leaders in tourism, sport and culture.Lessons
learned from their experiences in gearing
up for this event will inform our own tourism
and hospitality planning for 2010.
Encouraging EIA Practitioners to Regulate
the Industry
Speaker, in dealing with change the approach
of our Department remains to encourage and
support self-empowerment and sector-driven
regulation, rather than imposing new laws
and regulations from above.
One such sector which requires attention
is the Environmental Impact Assessment industry.
We met last month with senior industry representatives
to express our concern about issues like the
need for greater independence of assessors,
standards in the sector, the urgent need for
transformation, and industry fragmentation.
I am pleased to announce that these representatives
have undertaken to develop and present to
Government, within six months, concrete proposals
for the industry to proactively address these
issues. Should such plans for the sector to
take responsibility for change not be in place
by September we intend to begin further regulation
to address these matters.
Conclusion
In conclusion Speaker, I would like to take
this opportunity to thank our Deputy Minister
Rejoice Mabudafhasi as well as Hon. Elizabeth
Thabete and all of the other members of our
Portfolio Committee for remaining amongst
the most actively and directly involved parliamentarians
in the business of oversight and community
action.
I would particularly like to thank our Department,
under the leadership of our Acting Director
General, Pam Yako, the Ministry, and our Statutory
Bodies. I would also like to take a moment
to thank and pay tribute to our former Director-General,
Dr Crispian Olver an outstanding manager,
and a truly likeable colleague whose contribution
to our Department has been invaluable.
Speaker, change is important especially
in a country like ours where so much change
is still needed. The key is for us to be proactive
about change we have a responsibility to
drive it and to deal with it, rather than
simply waiting for it to happen. This is the
understanding that will underpin our efforts
in environmental affairs and tourism in 2005.
Thank you. Thank you. I'm suffering. Thank
you.
