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Ladies and gentlemen,

South Africa is a unique country with a heritage of varied and distinctive natural resources. It is neither a developed nor a developing country. While our trade and industry show characteristics of a developed country, many people live in abject poverty. The environmental challenges facing South Africa are therefore diverse and numerous.

Nature is what Africa can offer the world. At a time when the whole world is desperately concerned about environmental degradation, the richness and variety of our natural resources distinguish South Africa from other places and other continents. The challenge that we now face is how to turn this great asset into a locomotive for socio-economic development, while at the same time retaining the beauty and splendour of nature.

Canada is world renowned for its leadership in environmental matters. You have large open spaces such as South Africa. We have a rapid population growth and it can only be to our benefit to understand how you Canadians manage your country in an environmentally friendly manner. My government and I am deeply grateful for the superb guidance of your Canadian based International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The IDRC recently aided us in our efforts to formulate an environmental policy. I want to sincerely thank the IDRC on behalf of the government and people of South Africa for their know-how, financial assistance and expertise.

I take the opportunity of inviting your business managers and people, to use the opportunities South Africa has to offer you, where we are in the process of liberalising our economy. We call and invite you to invest and form partnerships with the South African people. Your investment will create job opportunities and contribute to growth. Your involvement will also improve our environmental technology which we are trying to aim at eliminating environmentally degrading practises from the source. You are acutely aware of how vital environmentally clean technology is to the wellbeing of a country's citizens. Our government is working around the clock to upgrade our environmentally unfriendly industry and Canadian know-how and investment is sorely needed. I again implore all present to forge links with us as we South Africans need clean simple technology, to enable us to become more environmental friendly and also to become more competitive. Globe members, we are looking forward that you will forge links with our labour unions and managers to exchange ideas and information on the training and skills improvement of our managers and employees, inter alia in the environmental field. This effort will emphasise the rights of a11 to environmental safety.

My invitation comes at the right time, as the South African government recently held a Workshop on National Economic Growth, in Cape Town where it was decided that we should accelerate our economic growth and tourism was specifically identified as a priority. The message to every role-player is that our investment must be sustainable and the natural beauty of our environmental heritage should be respected during this process.

HOW THE SA GOVERNMENT PLAN TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND REGULATIONS

The South African Government of National Unity (GNU) accepted the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) as its basic programme and vision for renewal and transformation of the South African society. It states that the government "must ensure that all citizens, present and future, have the right to a decent quality of life through sustainable use of resources".

It further stresses that "environmental considerations must be built into every decision" and that current legislation and administration should be revised "with a view to establish an effective system of environmental management" in South African. It also stresses that society should participate in decision-making processes with regard to the environment.

In view of the above, I, together with the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, raised as an urgent task in May 95, the formulation of a new national environmental policy. Since the broader South African society has not been involved previously in the formulation of environmental policy, it was decided to involve the different stakeholder groups to determine what process should be followed. A national conference, therefore, was held in August 1995, called Connep (Consultative Conference on National Environmental Policy).

The Ministers and MECs of Environment and Nature Conservation of the provinces were mandated by the conference to appoint a multi-stakeholder Management Team (MT) to guide the process. This was done and a national Secretariat has subsequently been appointed to assist with the day-to-day management of the process. The MT consists of representatives of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEA&T), Business and Industry, civic organisations, the provinces, Non-governmental environmental organisations (NGOs) and organised labour.

A Discussion Document: Towards a new Environmental Policy for South Africa has subsequently been produced by a Drafting Team and will be released on 3 April in Cape Town.

In order to ensure that civil society and all stakeholders are given the opportunity to participate in formulating a new policy for the environment in South Africa, the Discussion Document will be workshopped and discussed in the Provincial Consultation Processes from 3 April until the end of June 1996.

Many sectors are organising themselves and are creating structures within their midst to give organised input to the Connep process. This process is taken very seriously by not only civil society and labour, but also by business and industry alike.

THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) REGULATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Until now, developers were afforded the opportunity to voluntarily consider environmental aspects in their planning and implementation process of development projects. However, in the light of international tendencies where regulatory EIA is required on an increasing scale, more pressure for stricter environmental protection measures is experienced in South Africa.

The media has also played an important role in intensifying public awareness. Major environmental events such as the kaolin mining application at Chapman's Peak in the Western Cape, the mining application on the Eastern Shores of Lake St. Lucia in KwaZulu/Natal (which has been turned down by my department) and the proposed steel plant at Saldanha Bay in the West Coast, to mention a few, were reported and communicated nationally as well as internationally.

With this growing awareness, an increasing realisation that the potential impacts of proposed development activities need to be assessed so that appropriate mitigating measures can be adopted. Furthermore, the concept that the environment and development can be mutually enhancing and do not inherently conflict, is beginning to gain ground. In this context, the EIA process is seen as a means not only of identifying potential impacts, but also of enabling the integration of the environment and development.

The original intention with the draft EIA regulations was that it would have been implemented and executed on national level. The provisional list of activities and draft regulations for environmental impact reports (EIRs) were therefore published for comment in the Government Gazette of 4 March 1994. The comments received were collated and analysed and the Department has met with the key role players during November 1994 to address their specific concerns.

However, with the new dispensation, the Interim Constitution stipulated that the provincial governments will have the executive responsibility for this regulation. The responsibility of the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is still to set national norms and minimum standards for regulating EIA, but the responsibility to effectively implement these regulations rest with the nine provincial governments.

In the light of the above, the Department is renegotiating the whole process with the nine provincial departments. An extensive public liaison programme, in conjunction with the provincial departments, will be launched. Consultants will assist the national and provincial environmental departments in the holding of three workshops in each province during the middle of 1996. In order to ensure full participation by all role players, the relevant provincial departments will utilise provincial forums and other mechanisms in their constituencies to solicit inputs.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Legislation

at least 37 national statutes have been bearing land-related waste generation and pollution
the most significant of these are the Environmental Conservation Act, the Water Act, the Health Act and the Hazardous Substances Act
the Department of Water Affairs controls waste management while certain other responsibilities have been devolved to the provinces
administration of environmental legislation is scattered between several departments with the effects that control over environmental management is very fragmented

National Integrated Pollution Control Policy (IPC)

because of the fragmentation, incompletion and unevenly implemented environmental management,the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism initiated a project to develop an integrated pollution control policy
the IPC facilitates a review of present governmental functions and structures which are concerned with pollution control
the project will also initiate a process of restructuring the regulatory system to produce a more effective pollution control system

Environmentally Safe Management of Hazardous Materials

in order to put the management of hazardous materials on some sound bases, the Department of Environmental Affair and Tourism also initiated a project to develop policy in this regard
this project encompasses the whole life cycle of hazardous materials, from production to disposal

Pro-active waste management strategy

the Department started to move away from the end of pipe solution to pollution and has committed itself to a pro-active approach with regard to waste management
the focus will be placed on pollution prevention/clean technology
a project to a draft waste management strategy will be initiated soon which will address waste minimisation, re-use/recycling, incineration and disposal.

CURRENT STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT

In the National Register of Protected Areas in South Africa, a national database on protected areas maintained by my department, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, claims that 5,52% (6,7 million hectares) of the total area of South Africa is under formal protection.

There are 13 management authorities who manage all the officially protected areas in the country: my department, the National Parks Board, National Botanical Institute and the Conservation Authorities of the nine provinces in South Africa.

There are currently also 244 sites, covering an area of 341 247 hectares, which have been registered with the South African Natural Heritage Programme (SANHP). This number increases by about ten each year.

Therefore, taking private nature reserves, commercial game ranches and the South African Natural Heritage Programme sites into consideration, a minimum of 682 422 hectares, (0,56% of South Africa) of privately owned land is protected in South Africa.

KEY OPPORTUNITY AREAS FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Ladies and gentlemen, the main opportunity for international environmental business is surely tourism development. Tourism is an important way to utilise our unique and valuable natural environment in a sustainable way which promotes both its development and its proper management and protection.

I believe that our instinctive bond with nature, coupled with the expertise we have built up in managing wilderness resources, will enable us to find ways of making nature our ally while pursuing progress. Our protected areas could, and should involve local communities, thereby creating regional economies and encouraging rural development.

Wedged as we are between two great ocean currents., one warm, one cold, we have a natural progression through major biomes displaying an array of life forms, not to be matched anywhere on earth for their diversity.

Consider further these facts:

This is the only place in the world where you can see the "Big Six" mammals, the sixth being whales which can be viewed from our southern Cape coast.
Nowhere else is such wildlife magnificence combined with coral reefs, snow-covered peaks, bush and parkland, deserts and wetlands.
South Africa has a cultural and archeological diversity which is unique in its richness and antiquity.

In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, South Africa has been blessed with remarkable natural characteristics. We have an abundance of wildlife, a considerable variety of flora, magnificent land and seascapes, and diverse climatic conditions.

As a result, "nature" and "Africa" have become synonymous. But for us, nature and life itself is synonymous. Our culture has crystallised from the very heart of nature itself. We have developed such a close identification with nature that it has become the flower of our spirit, the source of our resilience. All our traditions and philosophies have their roots in nature. If we were to allow this flower to die, then our spirit would surely also wither.

Thank you.

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