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Mr Master of Ceremonies,
Honoured guests

I feel deeply honoured to be invited to address this important forum today. As South Africa is drawn into the era of democracy, there can be no better moment than now to discuss fundamental environmental policy issues that affect our people and our region.

The most important challenge facing South Africa during this period of reconstruction and development will be to enhance economic production to meet the needs of our people today, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We need to begin to more seriously address the problem of unsustainable and unbalanced exploitation of our natural resources.

Firstly, we need to design an economic development system that will strive to eliminate poverty and deprivation.

Secondly, we should develop a conservation ethic and sustainable management of our resource base, to ensure that the elimination of irresponsible use of resources is permanent.

Thirdly, we need to broaden the concept of development so that it covers not only economic growth, but also social and cultural development.

Lastly, and most important of all, we need to build sustainable conditions into the economic development strategy to ensure that economic attitudes do not go beyond the limits which the environment can sustain.

2. POVERTY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The principle and fundamental goal of environmental management is an improvement in the quality of life of human beings. Quality of life cannot be enhanced by abject poverty. The elimination of poverty therefore is a major aim of environmental management. On the other hand, it must be remembered that in South Africa, economic growth is essential for the achievement of conservation goals. The two issues are, therefore, two sides of the same coin.

3. BUILDING SUSTAINABLE CONDITIONS INTO OUR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

In trying to implement the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), environmentalists must be careful not to adopt an anti-growth stance. We should forge a developmental strategy that has sustainable conditions built into it. We should ensure that development goes in harmony with, and not at the expense of the environment.

We will need to enhance economic production in tandem with conservation to ensure that economic development does not go beyond the limits which the environment can sustain.

Our biggest challenge will be to reassess and if necessary, redirect our investment priorities to ensure that institutional mechanisms work together to meet the basic human needs of both today and tomorrow. The South African RDP emphasises that economic activity in South Africa should be focused specifically on the eradication of poverty, which in turn will lead to a decrease in environmental degradation. At the same time, unsustainable patterns of consumption by the more privileged sectors of our society will also need to be addressed.

Furthermore, there is a need to move away from economic structures which allow companies to maximise profits by passing environmental and social cost on to the community.

The economic activity should change, from seeking to achieve indiscriminately high growth at all cost, towards achieving rational exploitation of our natural assets. This should be reached on the basis of sustainable utilisation of these resources aimed at satisfying the basic needs of our people for food, shelter, health, energy, clean air and water, sanitation and transport. The use of technology and processes of social organisations should be managed in such a way as to generate stable livelihoods and minimise long term impacts on the biophysical environment.

The South African RDP implies a commitment to the satisfaction of basic needs of the majority of our people. The re-allocation of resources will, therefore, have to be planned in such a way that it specifies the minimum levels of resource provision necessary to satisfy the basic needs. This would involve setting up targets for minimum standards of nutrition, shelter, mobility, education, health care, and so on, to which people should by right have access.

While I consider these as key issues in the reconstruction of our country, one should not underestimate the political and economic forces associated with this process. In the face of massive inequalities in South Africa, such as uneven but rapid population growth, disparities in income, education and life styles, the inefficient distribution of the population in relation to resources, the road to an equitable society in South Africa, and indeed in Southern Africa, is neither easy nor short.

Therefore, a commitment to the RDP by all sectors of our society is essential to provide an acceptable livelihood to all our people. I should, however, at this stage emphasise that such a provision should not only aim at satisfying the demands for basic human needs, but also encourage the medium and long term sustainability of the economy. We should, for example, run our manufacturing sector in such a way as to increase employment levels, whilst at the same time move away from destructive and wasteful industries towards the provision of basic needs.

In implementing the RDP, Chairperson, we should guard against making our next generation inherit the legacy of our economic and environmental mismanagement.

For instance, from the time of Jan van Riebeeck and the Dutch East Indian Company, the country was colonised by western merchants. The principles of the policies and laws that were formulated at that time, and later further strengthened by British Imperialism and apartheid, still dominate much of the legal framework that governs our present day economy. It changes local assets into national ones to put them at the disposal of modern conglomerates often at the expense of local communities. Economists justify this by pointing to the benefits of concentrating labour, free trade and the necessity for the country to export its products. After all a stronger national economy and an annual growth in GDP will eventually benefit all inhabitants!

We, however, need to ask ourselves whether the benefits do indeed filter back to the local economies - especially in the rural parts of our country - because without alleviating the poverty that exists so widespread in our society the achievement of peace, sustained economic development and a quality environment will continue to evade us. To the detriment of us all - including industry. I do not have a ready-made solution, but unless this issue is adequately addressed, all our other endeavours to manage our environment might get lost in a growing poverty spiral. It will also need a total re-look at our international trade relations.

Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that environmental resource economics can redirect our efforts in our goals to attain sustainable development, the elimination of poverty and giving back the economic self-respect of our people. I wish you a fruitful and successful seminar and trust that you will come up with solutions to our environmental and economic challenges. I thank you.

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