Date: 10/07/2006
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Mosunkutu: Environment Management Inspectors Launch


  Address by Gauteng MEC of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment Khabisi Mosunkutu at the Environment Management Inspectors launch

Members of the Ekurhuleni Mayoral Committee
Head of Department
Commissioners and Senior Officials from the various government spheres
Members of the judiciary and the South African Police Service
Representatives of the media
Ladies and gentlemen

It is a pleasure to again have an opportunity to discuss with our stakeholders, representatives of the media included, a particular development within my Department, the official proclamation of the Gauteng Environmental Management Inspectors (EMIs) to be exact.

I wish to thank members of the media for making time to attend this event. We consider the proclamation of the provincial Environmental Management Inspectorate (EMI) as an important development in our quest to contribute towards the building of safe, secure and sustainable communities and towards stimulating faster economic development. Yes, we do believe that it is important to convey a positive and firm message to the Gauteng community to the effect that they now have a force that is exclusively dedicated towards ensuring that no-one will, with impunity, continue to deliberately and selfishly degrade the environment and compromise our health and well-being.

Gauteng province is the economic hub of the country. It is also endowed with normally blue skies and warm weather. It is an ideal place to live and work in. It is home to 3 303 plant species, 125 mammal species, 326 bird species, 25 amphibian and 53 reptile species. It falls within both the savannah and the grassland biomes.

Sadly this pristine environment is constantly under threat. Sandy-coloured haze incessantly blocks out the bright sun and the normally strikingly blue African sky. Because of poisonous gases that emanate from huge industrial chimneys, many within our communities, especially in the Vaal Triangle Sedibeng, are now afflicted with respiratory ailments. Syndicates and individuals plunder our plants and endangered animal species and in so doing further threaten our ecosystem and denude our province of its rich heritage.

With the coming into being of the EMIs, the honeymoon for these environmental criminals is coming to an end. The EMIs are well trained and sufficiently well motivated to deal with this criminality. They all have received high quality training from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, in collaboration with the University of Pretoria. The training that they received is supported by environmental agencies of England, Wales and the United States' Environmental Protection Agency, among others. They are fully capable of exercising their search and seize power. They also are well motivated to conduct effective and efficient roadblocks to deter environmental crimes and lead to prosecution of suspects. They also are empowered to issue enforceable compliance notices and do routine inspections against any suspicious activities.

The EMIs are, indeed, disciplined and capable forces that should further contribute towards the realisation of our quest for a better life for all. They are a disciplined force that understands and respects human rights, the value of life and the environment. The objective of further facilitating provincial and national economic growth for the benefits of all our people shall also be their motivating force.

Ladies and gentlemen, I now have the pleasure to formally present to you the first batch of our EMI. They now have their full accreditation. I will, after this briefing, lead them in a practical exercise aimed at stopping some suspected environmental criminals in their tracks.

I thank you for giving us the opportunity to discuss this important development. I now wish to invite you to pose any questions you may have on this matter.

Issued by: Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Gauteng Provincial Government
10/07/2006