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Madam Chairperson
Honourable Members
MECs
Distinguished Guests

In September last year the leaders of the modern world stood together in Johannesburg and adopted a far-reaching global programme for sustainable development. This was a watershed moment for South Africa. We have been widely acclaimed for negotiating the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation - it is visionary, profound and practical. It gives hope and promise to all the struggling and marginalised people of the world. It also challenges us to deliver on its targets.

In South Africa sustainable development is the unifying thread that runs through all of our work. We are nearly ten years into South Africa's democratic order and we now can state with confidence that our work and collective efforts have paid off. Our own home-grown version of sustainable development, the Reconstruction and Development Programme, has delivered benefits for millions upon millions of South Africans. We have made gains that benefit the poorest of communities. In the Department of Environmental Affairs, through decisive interventions in the tourism, fishing and conservation industries, we have touched the lives of all South Africans, and realised the implementation of a sustainable development programme which stands to benefit us and our future generations.

Provinces have been key partners in the realisation of these objectives. This partnership was probably best demonstrated in the successful hosting of the WSSD, in which the Gauteng Province and Johannesburg Metro played an outstanding role. Special recognition must go to the Province of Gauteng, and the Johannesburg Metro, for their contribution and enthusiasm in the preparations and hosting of the summit. The Gauteng province's "Greening of the Summit" project set a new world standard in the minimisation of the environmental impact of large events and conferences. Other provinces and organised local government contributed significantly to the government negotiating team and the organisation of side and parallel events.

A special thank you to Johannesburg. You successfully used this great global gathering to reinvent and brand the city as a world city among the most advanced in the world. Perceptions of the city has changed dramatically. It is a cool and safe place with a highly efficient modern infrastructure and warm and friendly citizens.

According to an independent study by the Bureau for Market Research, Ikwla Structured Financial Products and Urban Econ, the WSSD injected over R 8 billion into our economy. This is compared to an investment of about R620 million contributed by government, private sector, international sponsors and donor agencies. The latter two contributors contributed about 60% of these funds. The summit's black economic empowerment target set at 30% was exceeded as we recorded a high of 48%.

The financing and organising of the Summit serves as a practical manifestation of section 41(h)(ii) of the constitution which states that "All spheres of government and all organs of state within each sphere must co-operate with one another in mutual trust and good faith by assisting and supporting one another."

This spirit of co-operation is being carried forward in our preparations for another equally significant international event. From 8 to 17 September this year, South Africa will be hosting the World Parks Congress in Durban, KwaZulu- Natal. We have been requested to host this event in recognition of our successful park management system and transfontier parks initiatives. It is expected that about 2300 participants, including experts in the field of protected area management from around the world, will attend this occasion. Under the leadership of South African National Parks, and working with conservation agencies in all the provinces, we have already set in place processes that will ensure a successful conference and excellent logistics. The province of KwaZulu-Natal and the Ethekwini Metro will play a particularly important role in this regard. Part of the organisation of the Congress will include pre and post event tours across the country. With the experience we gathered from WSSD, and the confirmation of South Africa's abilities through events like the recent Cricket World Cup, we are assured that the World Parks Congress will be nothing but a success.

Chairperson, our working together in the spirit of co-operative governance has allowed us to contribute to a better life for all. The MECs for environment, conservation and tourism deserve particular credit for making the Environment and Tourism MINMECs into dynamic and effective vehicles for co-operation. In addition, through the Committee for Environmental Co-ordination we are able to report significant progress in the promotion of integration and co-ordination of environmental functions between national and provincial governments. As a result of this, the suite of draft legislation that we will be tabling to you this year further aligns the work of organs of state - this includes legislation on biological diversity, protected areas, coastal resources, pollution, waste and air quality. These instruments will provide legal protection for our country's environment, promote sustainable development, and assist us in meeting many of the targets that we negotiated at WSSD.

For the first time, national and provincial departments have put in place a comprehensive set of environmental management plans. On my department's website is now available:-

* The first cycle of gazetted environmental implementation and management plans of scheduled national and provincial departments;
* An alignment report that is focused on some of the key environmental impacting and managing sectors; and
* Annual reports that provides the status of environmental implementation plans.

We have approached the Office of the Auditor General to assist with the development of a mechanism that will enable us to monitor compliance with environmental management and implementation plans.

Following on our success in implementing the new regulations on plastic bags, provinces and national government departments are co-ordinating efforts around tackling other waste streams. We will shortly be taking over the functions of regulating landfills from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, and transferring some of these responsibilities to provinces. We are collaborating in tackling the serious backlogs in municipal waste management and recycling.

Chairperson, I must on this occasion congratulate the winners of the 2002 Cleanest Town Competition:

In September we will be announcing the winners of the second round of the Cleanest Town Competition. The competition is proving to be a successful campaign in mobilising municipalities and communities around the National Waste Management Strategy.

One of the most far reaching interventions around co-operative governance in the last decade has been the introduction of the system of environmental impact assessments (EIA's). Inevitably, as we are in the process of reconstruction and development of our country, we are bound to impact on our environment and natural resources. These impacts might be both positive and/or negative, hence the importance of regulating the impact of development on the environmental. Some EIAs are considered at a national level, but the vast majority of development applications are processed by provinces. This last year my department has processed 88 EIA(s), which comprise projects estimated at a value of R43 billion. These include: -

* The N4 platinum toll highway which is to form part of the main link between the West Coast and East Coast;
* Coega industrial development and Coega Harbour. This focused on the rezoning of land use from agricultural industrial and the development of a deep-water port;
* The construction of an underground natural gas pipeline from Mozambique's Temane and Pande gas fields to Secunda in Mpumalanga. Sasol will be using the gas which is expected to start flowing at the end of 2003;
* The development of support infrastructure within the Great Limpopo Transfontier Park;
* Twenty-nine applications related to Government's Poverty Relief Programme.

The EIA system is an essential part of the development and investment process, and the above projects give some idea of the scale and value of many of the projects we consider. This is why we are concerned about capacity problems in some provinces which causes delays in delivery and private sector investments. The amendments to NEMA Chapter 5, which I will be tabling shortly, are intended to address some of these problems. Amongst others, we will enable government to charge a moderate fee for processing EIAs, we will establish a professional body of EIA practitioners, we will allow for delegation of certain EIA functions to municipalities which have the capacity to administer them, and we will revise the overall allocation of EIA functions between the three spheres of government. We are backing this up with extensive work on training and capacity building, and the installation of a country-wide electronic processing system.

Provinces and national government also collaborate closely in the fields of biodiversity management and conservation We are similarly bringing substantial legislation before this house that will improve the system of co-operative governance in this field. The Protected Areas Bill was published for public comment towards the end of 2002, followed shortly by the Biodiversity Bill and First NEMA Amendment Bill on compliance and enforcement. During this period, information seminars were held across the country and stakeholders were invited to provide written comments. I am proud to announce that these Bills have now been submitted to Parliament for consideration.

These Bills deal with a very important aspect of our heritage. South Africa boasts some 403 terrestrial protected areas, with a total area of 6 638 658ha or about 5.44% of our total land area. Twenty-two of these protected areas are national parks, and their total area make up 53,09% of our total. A further 13,82% are state forests in terms of the National Forests Act.

Provinces are legally responsible for 30,51% of South Africa's protected area estate.

In terms of current budget, SANParks (South African National Parks), responsible for the management of 53% of the protected area estate in South Africa is allocated R77 823 000, while the nine provinces, responsible for 30% of the of the protected area estate, allocate over R598 048 000.

Two years ago (May 2001) government released a document entitled A bioregional approach to South Africa's protected areas. In that document, we set a goal for expanding the area under protection from 5,44% to 8% by the year 2010. In the same document, we set out two further principles for improving the management of our protected area by consolidating the existing areas where possible and rationalising their management. I now believe it is time to take a long hard look at conservation management in South Africa as a whole, and apply the same principles. I do not believe we can afford the number of management agencies we have in South Africa.

Let us not forget that the allocation of powers and functions to provinces was negotiated in the constitution-making process, at times, as part of horse trading. The final outcome does not in all cases reflect logic or what is in the best interest of the country. These were compromises the ANC made with the NP and DP. The latter parties basically argued for as long a list of provincial powers as possible, regardless of whether it made sense or not. Unfortunately, some among us now regard as sacrosanct that which came into being because of the attempts of apartheid parties to fragment our country. Ironically, the NNP and the DA - now that they do not control any province - have shifted away from arguing for more federalism.

In practical terms, can South Africa afford 10 parks boards? Does it make sense for a province to spend enormous resources on provincial parks for very little gain?

There is, of course, nothing unconstitutional about a parks board in each province. But, the disservice to conservation and to citizens deriving benefits from parks is the establishment of financially unsustainable models. A system, which makes conservation compete for provincial funds with the glaring health care, education and social welfare needs, without any obvious benefits like economic growth and job creation, is not sustainable and will fail.

A situation where the same taxpayer pays almost eight times more to maintain provincial parks compared to what he or she pays to maintain national parks is, frankly speaking, an unsustainable model for conservation. Along with our national and provincial parks, the country's four World Heritage Sites based in the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are amongst the major tourist attractions. Our rich history, biodiversity and culture have enabled us to make significant progress in this regard. We have now submitted proposals for four additional sites. These are Mapungubwe in Limpopo, Vredefort Dome in the Free State, Cape Floristic Region in the Western Cape and Makapan's Valley in Limpopo.

It is our view that conservation and economic development must go hand in hand. Our conservation areas, rather than being a burden on taxpayers, must contribute to job creation and socio-economic upliftment. Our natural heritage must continue to serve as a foundation of the tourism industry.

Madam Chairperson, ever since 1994 we have experienced a boom in our tourism sector, a confirmation that our international marketing campaign is working. As the fastest growing tourism destination in the world, South Africa is indeed becoming a tourism nation. The World Travel and Tourism Council found that tourism contributes 6,9% of South Africa's workforce. The World Tourism Organisation projects that by 2011 the tourism industry will be contributing 11% global GDP and account for 19% of total employment and more than 260 million.

Inspired by the belief that tourism is everybody's business, we have now started to make interventions which will sustainably grow this sector, whilst ensuring that all parts of South Africa benefit from it. The strength of tourism in South Africa is also enabled by the unique partnership between government, business and communities, a partnership to which provinces are crucial. In marketing our country as a leading tourism destination we have mutually agreed that South African Tourism will lead the international marketing campaign, while provinces will concentrate on the domestic market. We have extensively discussed the key icons that will be used in our international campaign, and there is a collective agreement that we must use a limited set of core icons in order to maximise our impact in a competitive global industry.

Chairperson, as I reported last year, MinMec has agreed that the annual celebration of World Tourism Day, on 27 September, must rotate amongst provinces. Following celebrations which were hosted by the Eastern Cape in 2001 and celebrations held at Bakgatla Village in North West in 2002, we will this year observe the occasion in the Northern Cape. Provinces are again encouraged to join national government in celebrating our successes and gains in tourism during Tourism Month by organising celebrations throughout the month in their localities.

Chairperson, another important area of co-operation with provinces is around coastal management. This year I will be tabling legislation which, for first time, introduces a comprehensive system of co-operative governance for the coast. I would like to express my gratitude to the provinces for their assistance with the management of our coast line, and their contributions to the functions of compliance and enforcement along the coast.

Greater stability, transformation and growth can now be observed in our fishing sector. Even sceptics are starting to realise that it is only government's carefully constructed allocation system that will provide sustainable livelihoods for all in this sector. In fact, internationally we are envied for our well-managed marine resources. We are proud of the fact that right now not a single foreign vessel has a permit to fish in our waters.

During Apartheid era the total allowable catch of the biggest fishery, the hake trawl sector, was divided among only six white-owned companies. Today, 73% of right holders are majority black-owned. This is the general trend in most fisheries. We will be extending this work into a number of new fisheries this year, including squid. We will restructure the system of abalone rights in order to put this valuable resource more directly in the hands of local communities. We will also extend our work on subsistence fishing this year to bring further benefits to coastal communities.

As I indicated last year, the illegal poaching of abalone has been a major concern. I am though happy to announce that we are cracking down on trespassers in this sector. Through a partnership between my department, the Department of Justice, South African Police Service, South African Defence Force and the special operations unit, the Scorpions, we have started to breakdown syndicates which have been the cause of unjustified plunder of this natural resource. Some of our gains include: -

* The establishment of an Environment Court in Hermanus, enabling speedy prosecution and stiff sentencing of offenders;
* The conviction and sentencing of Hout Bay Fishing Industries for over-fishing and corruption;
* R 500 000,00 fine on the owners of Golden Eagle for fishing in our waters without a foreign fishing licence.

The tide has turned. We are together making the environmental, tourism and fishing sectors deliver real and tangible benefits to people and communities across the country. At the same time we are building a patriotism and unity around these areas of our work that is truly helping to build our nation. We are determined to succeed and succeed we will.

Chairperson, I would like to again report to the NCOP that this country has, without exception, a dedicated team of MECs for environment and tourism. They are women and men who do not hesitate to challenge national government in the interest of their provinces, and each one has always placed the interest of the country first. It is a team I have received co-operation from and one I truly enjoy working with.

My thanks also to the team in my ministry, the department and the institutions linked to the department for their dedication and patriotism.

My thanks also to you, Rev. Moatse, and members of the select committee for your support and dedication. I look forward to working with you in particular around the processing of our Bills this year, and hope that I can rely on the same level of support and dedication that you have always shown.

I thank you.

Issued by Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

6 June 2003