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The DA rejected the Gauteng provincial budget for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Gauteng Legislature yesterday.

The DA believes the crucial area of Environmental Law Enforcement effectively faces a budget decrease in real terms (if inflation is included) over the next couple of years and this is simply unacceptable as Gauteng is one of the most environmentally stressed provinces in South Africa.

In addition the budget for conservation was effectively cut over the next few years. This places valuable social and "green" assets, such as nature reserves, under further pressure and fails to capitalise on the one area where the department can generate its own revenue.

The DA calls for a reprioritisation of the budget to support these issues.

The money spent on CDW workers should rather be used to extend the environmental law-enforcement capacity of the province.

The recapitalisation of nature reserves can create self-sustaining generators of revenue.

This budget makes no sense even considering the ANC government's own supposed policy objectives.