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"The overarching vision of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is for a prosperous and equitable society living in harmony with its natural resources.

The ACDP notes that the Department has been split into a Water and Environment Affairs component and a Tourism component.

The budget had been drawn up in relation to the old combined entity and, owing to requirements by National Treasury, there would continue to be one budget, although in fact three Ministers, namely of Tourism, of Water and Environmental Affairs and of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, would be answerable for elements of the old department in future, until the budgetary transfers had been effected.

The ACDP is very pleased that, despite the current financial downturn there was, as yet, no appreciable downturn in tourism figures. In 2008, despite the economic downturn, 9.5 million tourists visited South Africa - up from 9.09 million in 2007. Tourism constituted 8.4% of the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP), amounting to R178.6 billion and accounted for over one million jobs, for which we can be very grateful.

We commend the department and SATOUR which aims to make South Africa the destination of worldwide choice by 2014 in this regard.

The prospects for next year's Soccer World Cup are very encouraging with an estimated additional 450 000 visitors expected to attend this showpiece.

The ACDP also supports the planned incentives to encourage tourists attending the Soccer World Cup to visit our game parks.

As far as job creation is concerned it must be noted that 4 000 employees had been selected in co-operation with the Local Organising Committee, based upon their local knowledge.

The ACDP notes that the South African National Botanic Gardens (SANBI) was also establishing new botanical gardens, at least one in every province, and the same approach of extension and sustainability applied. Both SANParks and SANBI were working in conjunction with the local communities and the Department of National Heritage, with the intention of achieving harmonious development of resources and developing tourism.

A challenge remained with some short-sighted communities or leaders with their individual agendas, and land claims remained a threat to the parks and gardens. This could be overcome by educating local communities to appreciate the long-term benefits of tourism and the concomitant job creation or openings for entrepreneurial activities.

As far as the South African National Bio Diversity Institute is concerned we commend the institute on the opening last year of the 9th SANBI park in Nieuwoudtville. Regrettably these parks are not located in all provinces.

As far as marine and coastal management is concerned (which receives funding of R144.5 million in the 09/10; R467.3 million in 2010/11 and R501.1 million in 11/12) what, honourable Minister, is the current status of the project for the acquisition of the polar research vessel to replace the current SA Agulhas and what will happen to the SA Agulhas once the new vessel has been purchased.

South Africa plays a leading role in global biodiversity and our biodiversity and conservation programme, besides offering unique job and business opportunities, provides an additional attraction for both local and international tourism.

Climate change continues to remain a major concern - particularly with South Africa being the largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the continent. This is due to the fact that much of our energy requirements are from coal-fired power stations.

Whilst we understand that there was as yet insufficient reliable scientific data as to the effect of climate change upon South Africa and its flora, already there is visible deterioration.

Whilst we are called to be good stewards of the environment, environmental degradation nevertheless continues to be a major concern. There has, however, been improved respect for environmental legislation after it was given the necessary enforcement mechanisms through the establishment of the Environmental Management Inspectorate, boasting 975 inspectors. The amendments to NEMA, raising the fines for environmental transgressors demonstrates that the principle of "polluter pays" is to be strictly enforced.

Honourable Minister, in this regard, whilst the ACDP notes that prosecutors and magistrates are being trained in environmental law, are there any plans to roll out the specialised environmental courts that were so effective. Clearly, poaching of our maritime resources remains a very serious concern and must be met with the full force of the law.

To conclude, the ACDP commends the department on receiving an unqualified audit report from the Auditor - General albeit with emphasis of matter. We wish to thank the departmental officials for their hard work and dedication with the Public Service Commission ranking the department among the best performing departments for 2008.

Whilst much has been much said about the advances of the proposed separation of the Department into other entities, has sufficient consideration been given to the disadvantages and the impact upon the employees and their career prospects? Will there not be conflicts across ministries and are there sufficient mechanisms to deal with such conflicts? I suppose only time will tell as to whether these were positive changes or not, but the ACDP wishes you well, honourable Minister, in the restructuring".

ACDP: Statement by the African Christian Democratic Party on the budget vote for international relations and cooperation (18/06/2009)
"Firstly, Programme on Foreign Relations that received the biggest slice of the budget deals with, among other things, promoting relations with foreign countries in line with South Africa's national values and foreign policy objectives.

Under strategic overview, the department of International Relations and Cooperation has stated that their overall mandate is to, among other things, communicate government's policy positions. What is strange though is that government, that claims to be committed to promoting human rights on the continent, seems to be shifting position regarding human rights in favor of other considerations.

This policy shift is evident in the way government failed for years to stand up to crimes against humanity taking place in Southern Sudan. When the UN Security Council wanted to impose sanctions against President Mugabe and his cronies, South Africa rushed to his defense and objected. When the International Court of Justice issued a warrant of arrest for the Sudanese President, South Africa jointly, with the AU, objected to the decision saying that there should be a hold off on the arrest warrant until there was some peaceful resolution. Rather than help the people of Southern Sudan by facilitating the arrest of Al Bashir, they allegedly informed Sudan that their President would risk arrest if he came to South Africa. The ACDP calls for government to show more commitment and consistency when promoting and defending the human rights culture on the African continent in line with our national values.

Secondly, we wonder why the department has done so little to promote the utilization of the ROSA (Registration of South Africans Abroad) and to market the usage of ROSA by citizens traveling abroad.

It is sad that such a valuable service is not even utilized by members of parliament who either know nothing or very little about ROSA. The department must correct their oversight and as soon as possible by enlisting members of parliament to help them inform citizens traveling abroad about the benefits of ROSA".