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7 June 2007

"Enforcement and empowerment"

Introduction

Chairperson, it is a pleasure for me to be presenting the 2007/08 Budget Vote for Environmental Affairs and Tourism in the NCOP today. Year 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of the Brundtland Report, entitled "Our Common Future" which was released by the United Nations (UN) World Commission on Environment and Development and which redefined the notion of sustainable development. Enshrined in this notion are three equally important pillars of sustainable development: environmental protection, economic development and social development. These three elements are balanced and work in synergy to eradicate poverty and foster social and economic development goals that are perfectly aligned with our own Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA).

Biodiversity and conservation

Chairperson, the results of the National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment (NSBA), the first ever comprehensive spatial evaluation of biodiversity throughout the country is a warning to us all. Over 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 13 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 sound scientific position to identify which areas of the country need the most urgent attention and protection.

This assessment also informs our expansion and consolidation of protected areas. Last year I announced that we would be focusing on expanding and consolidating our national parks. We have made considerable progress towards this goal. A graphic information system (GIS) exercise between Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) and South African National Parks (SANParks) revealed that 32 000 hectares of outstanding land parcels needed to be incorporated into our parks. In the past year we have spent just over R48 million of DEAT, SANParks and donor funds to acquire more than 24 000 hectares of land for the Namaqua, Tankwa-Karoo, Addo Elephant, West Coast, Mapungubwe, Camdeboo and Bontebok National Parks. On the whole negotiations for the purchase of the remaining land parcels are progressing well and we are grateful for co-operation from National Treasury, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and the Department of Public Works in this regard.

Our partnerships with other government initiatives and civil society organisations in implementing SRPP projects are critical and amplify the social development impact of projects. Social responsibility and poverty relief programmes run by our Department in all nine provinces have created 13 887 job opportunities in the past year, well exceeding the target of 12 500. We also exceeded our permanent job creation target by almost 15%. Though we did not achieve our target for training days, our plans for 2007/08 take into account the previous year's shortcomings. We have, therefore, increased our targets for all measures and we fully expect to achieve them.

Legislation and enforcement

Chairperson, DEAT will continue to strengthen its regulatory muscle through the development of legislation. A key bill that will be tabled in Parliament this year will be the Waste Bill. It is estimated that 45% of South Africans mainly living in informal settlements and rural areas do not have access to domestic waste collection services. In addition the country has 1 321 landfill sites of which 629 are unauthorised, many of which must be formally closed. Included in these are 58 hazardous landfill sites which are not permitted. This situation clearly has a significant negative effect on human health and the environment.

Furthermore, preliminary results from a study currently in process indicate that in many municipalities around the country there are serious problems with the waste management system including a lack of finance, operational equipment and capacity.

Within the Municipal Infrastructure Grant System (MIGS), waste has an allocation of 5% in a category termed "other" that also includes streetlights and other smaller infrastructure. Clearly this is not adequate to address the challenges we face as a country.

DEAT is at present doing work to assess the waste service delivery system across the country and to develop an approach to managing it including recommendations on financing, capacity and management issues.

Government bodies, business, civil society and communities in South Africa remain committed to working together in ensuring compliance with our environmental laws. There are currently 816 environmental management inspectors (EMIs), the so-called "Green Scorpions", on the EMI register. Forty six in KwaZulu-Natal, 10 in Mpumalanga, 18 in Gauteng, 17 each in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape, 14 in the Northern Cape, 11 in Free State, eight in North West and six in the Western Cape with the remaining 669 in SANParks, the Isimangaliso Wetland Park and the national DEAT.

The Department's partnership with the Justice College has also resulted in awareness raising workshops attended by more than 200 prosecutors and magistrates to date.

In 2006/07, more than 898 people were arrested and more than 134 convicted in court for environmental crimes. More than R1,5 million was paid in admission of guilt fines with many other criminal cases pending. EMIs issued 235 notices instructing companies to comply with permits and undertake rehabilitation and several civil court applications were launched to enforce notices.

For the first time and in collaboration with provinces and municipalities, EMIs have started proactive, comprehensive compliance inspections at some of the most polluting facilities and industry sectors in the country.

Tourism empowerment

Our sense of pride in our nation will undoubtedly increase even further as we progress towards meeting our AsgiSA targets of reducing poverty and boosting economic growth. Integral to this process are measures to assess how well we are doing at bringing previously disadvantaged South Africans from the margins to the mainstream of our economy.

In order to fulfil the revenue seasonality, distribution, length of stay and transformation requirements of the South African tourism industry, DEAT is funding the Open Africa Route initiative. The development of these routes will focus on the packaging of second economy products into tourism experiences. Twenty-three existing routes are being revised to include second economy operators and three new routes are being developed. On average each route will assist 30 second-economy operators.

Rest assured, Chairperson, that we are providing a comprehensive range of support measures to ensure that second economy operators are well equipped to meet the high expectations of both local and international travellers. Two thousand and twenty five Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) will be trained on tourism awareness and 810 will be trained through business management, human resource management, marketing and financial management courses. Two thousand five hundred SMME rooms will be graded by 2009.

The tourism industry has for several successive years, justified its designation as one of AsgiSA's top priority sectors. 2006 was no exception to this with the tourism sector's total gross domestic product (GDP) contribution estimated at 8,3%.

A challenge that has been identified is that of brand alignment ensuring that the national tourism brand of South Africa has a consistent look and feel with the brands of our provinces.

I am very encouraged by our progress towards resolving the specific challenges related to the upcoming 2010 Soccer World Cup. A national 2010 accommodation workshop was held in October last year, followed by 17 workshops in the provinces. These workshops have resulted in the official accommodation and ticketing company MATCH, signing contracts to secure 23 000 rooms for the tournament. These include for the first time in FIFA history, non-hotel accommodation such as national parks facilities, guesthouses and lodges.

DEAT is committed to ensuring that smaller companies remain an integral part of the 2010 planning process. I am certain that our second round of workshops, planned for June will lead to more accommodation contracts being signed and will finally silence those who have doubts about our country's capacity to host the tournament.

The development of the web-based booking system will further assist SMMEs to access opportunities. The South African tourism call centre is now open 24 hours a day, providing information in several languages. South African tourism has also established a 2010 Tourism Unit. Furthermore, at a provincial level, funds have been secured for the establishment of tourism information centres in host cities other than Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg who already have structures in place.

Conclusion

Colleagues these are just a few highlights of the many achievements attributable to DEAT over the past year. I would like to thank the staff of our Department, under the capable leadership of Director-General Pam Yako, as well as the chief executive officers (CEOs) and boards of our statutory bodies. The commitment and dedication of these exceptional people has been the driving force behind the achievements that I have listed today.

I would also like to express my thanks to our MECs, Reverend Moatshe, Chairperson of our Select Committee and to every member of the committee for their dedicated work over the past year.

Issued by: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
7 June 2007