Date: 05/06/2004
Source: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: R Mabudafhasi: Launch of Bee Foundation on World Environment Day
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY DEPUTY MINISTER, MS REJOICE MABUDAFHASI, AT THE LAUNCH OF BEE FOUNDATION INITIATIVE, LIMPOPO, Makonde, 5 June 2004
Honourable Vho-Thovhele
Executive Mayor of Vhembe, Mr Moeti
Mayor of Mutale Municipality, Mr L Manyuha
Members of the media
Ladies and Gentleman
It is my privilege and honour to be joining you today to celebrate World Environment Day. This day is the culmination of a week - long activities that South African government has committed to put environmental issues in the public domain.
South Africa's national theme is "A Decade of Sustainability - our environment, our Future" focusing on the progress and developments in key areas of management of our environment over the last decade as well as the challenges that face us in the next decade.
The last ten years of our new democracy has witnessed a paradigm shift in natural resource management and conservation in South Africa from one that has been elitist and protectionist to a people centred approach. Section 24 of the Bill of Rights guarantees that:
Everyone has the right:
(a) to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; and
(b) to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that -
(i) prevent pollution and ecological degradation;
(ii) promote conservation; and
(iii) secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.
This new paradigm shift necessitated a new revolution in the management of environment in South Africa.
Our environment forms an integral part of the well being of our daily lives but it is so often taken for granted and subjected to exploitation, degradation by human beings. Most of us do not know the value attached to the environment for socio-economic upliftment of our communities.
The New Partnership for Africa's Development recognised that the range of issues necessary to nurture the environmental base is vast and complex, and a systematic combination of initiatives are necessary to develop a coherent environmental programmes to fight poverty amongst our people, which in itself leads to exploitation and degradation of the environment.
My department has since 1999 ensured that Poverty Relief Programme rests on a triangle of interdependent goals: of growing tourism market share and investment, protecting and conserving South Africa's environment and building our nation. As a leading department in the sustainable development agenda, my department had an opportunity to work with communities and other stakeholders to contribute to alleviating poverty.
Today my department and Bee Foundation enters into partnership to ensure that our biological, cultural and natural resource base provides the goods and services upon which our people could depend on, and to promote sustainable livelihoods through environmentally geared projects. This is a pilot project, which we aim to rollout not only in South Africa but also through out the SADC region.
This project will be used to combat poverty and contribute to the socio-economic development in Africa. The Bee Foundation with whom we are proud to have formed a joint venture, commits to create a 100 000 jobs nationally through its sustainable Bee harvesting project.
We are blessed in Africa with the excellent natural resource of our African bee. It is the hardest working bee in the world and produces some of the finest honey known worldwide but this resource has never been exploited on a national scale, so much so that we rely on imported honey to meet our local demand.
Our people have for decades been burning down the Beehives for survival. Their acts led them to extinct our bees and setting fire to our forests, which at the end destroyed our natural heritage. This project aims to turn this natural resource into a sustainable business that would be brought and delivered into the hands of our rural communities nationally.
This project also aims to create awareness amongst our people about the conservation of Bee not only for the sweet honey it produces but also for its ability to create income in the rural communities.
As we observe World Environment Day it is important for me to bring to your attention that without the African Honey Bee, the pollination of our rich and diverse vegetation and flora would not take place. This could have catastrophical repercussions on our environment, for instance the morula tree that we all value so much would be unable to produce its fruit and similarly many of our indigenous shrubs would not produce their berries.
It is therefore appropriate and with relief that we embrace the Bee Foundation project whose objectives will not only serve to protect our African Bee and the environment but also bring sustainable wealth to all our rural communities.
I am proud to announce our commitment to this contract with the Bee Foundation project that will push back the frontiers of poverty in our communities, nurture our precious bees and the environment for the generations to come.
Thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
5 June 2004
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (http://www.deat.gov.za)
Source: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: R Mabudafhasi: Launch of Bee Foundation on World Environment Day
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY DEPUTY MINISTER, MS REJOICE MABUDAFHASI, AT THE LAUNCH OF BEE FOUNDATION INITIATIVE, LIMPOPO, Makonde, 5 June 2004
Honourable Vho-Thovhele
Executive Mayor of Vhembe, Mr Moeti
Mayor of Mutale Municipality, Mr L Manyuha
Members of the media
Ladies and Gentleman
It is my privilege and honour to be joining you today to celebrate World Environment Day. This day is the culmination of a week - long activities that South African government has committed to put environmental issues in the public domain.
South Africa's national theme is "A Decade of Sustainability - our environment, our Future" focusing on the progress and developments in key areas of management of our environment over the last decade as well as the challenges that face us in the next decade.
The last ten years of our new democracy has witnessed a paradigm shift in natural resource management and conservation in South Africa from one that has been elitist and protectionist to a people centred approach. Section 24 of the Bill of Rights guarantees that:
Everyone has the right:
(a) to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; and
(b) to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that -
(i) prevent pollution and ecological degradation;
(ii) promote conservation; and
(iii) secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.
This new paradigm shift necessitated a new revolution in the management of environment in South Africa.
Our environment forms an integral part of the well being of our daily lives but it is so often taken for granted and subjected to exploitation, degradation by human beings. Most of us do not know the value attached to the environment for socio-economic upliftment of our communities.
The New Partnership for Africa's Development recognised that the range of issues necessary to nurture the environmental base is vast and complex, and a systematic combination of initiatives are necessary to develop a coherent environmental programmes to fight poverty amongst our people, which in itself leads to exploitation and degradation of the environment.
My department has since 1999 ensured that Poverty Relief Programme rests on a triangle of interdependent goals: of growing tourism market share and investment, protecting and conserving South Africa's environment and building our nation. As a leading department in the sustainable development agenda, my department had an opportunity to work with communities and other stakeholders to contribute to alleviating poverty.
Today my department and Bee Foundation enters into partnership to ensure that our biological, cultural and natural resource base provides the goods and services upon which our people could depend on, and to promote sustainable livelihoods through environmentally geared projects. This is a pilot project, which we aim to rollout not only in South Africa but also through out the SADC region.
This project will be used to combat poverty and contribute to the socio-economic development in Africa. The Bee Foundation with whom we are proud to have formed a joint venture, commits to create a 100 000 jobs nationally through its sustainable Bee harvesting project.
We are blessed in Africa with the excellent natural resource of our African bee. It is the hardest working bee in the world and produces some of the finest honey known worldwide but this resource has never been exploited on a national scale, so much so that we rely on imported honey to meet our local demand.
Our people have for decades been burning down the Beehives for survival. Their acts led them to extinct our bees and setting fire to our forests, which at the end destroyed our natural heritage. This project aims to turn this natural resource into a sustainable business that would be brought and delivered into the hands of our rural communities nationally.
This project also aims to create awareness amongst our people about the conservation of Bee not only for the sweet honey it produces but also for its ability to create income in the rural communities.
As we observe World Environment Day it is important for me to bring to your attention that without the African Honey Bee, the pollination of our rich and diverse vegetation and flora would not take place. This could have catastrophical repercussions on our environment, for instance the morula tree that we all value so much would be unable to produce its fruit and similarly many of our indigenous shrubs would not produce their berries.
It is therefore appropriate and with relief that we embrace the Bee Foundation project whose objectives will not only serve to protect our African Bee and the environment but also bring sustainable wealth to all our rural communities.
I am proud to announce our commitment to this contract with the Bee Foundation project that will push back the frontiers of poverty in our communities, nurture our precious bees and the environment for the generations to come.
Thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
5 June 2004
Source: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (http://www.deat.gov.za)
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