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It is a pleasure to address you on the Department’s
priorities for the 2006/2007 financial year. Making his State of
the Nation Address at the National Assembly on 3 February 2006,
President Mbeki spoke of the pervading spirit of optimism within
our country – optimism of the different sections of our
population - about our common future.
In opening the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, on 13 February 2006,
Premier Shilowa emphasised our provincial government’s
continued commitment to the realisation of our five year programme
which entails:
* Enabling faster economic growth and job creation; and
* Fighting poverty and building safe, secure and sustainable
communities; among other strategic objectives.
In view of these broad mandates, my Department, like other national
and provincial departments will be seized with the task of ensuring
that we do all we can to deliver on the mandates and to do nothing
that will dampen that spirit characteristic of the age of hope that
President Mbeki spoke of. It is within these expectations and the
prevailing mood that we have set ourselves the goals of:
1. Fighting poverty and building safe secure and sustainable
communities:
On 24 February 2005 we committed ourselves to establishing 32 new
community food gardens. It is a pleasure to note that this target
was met. At a cost of R25m, we plan to establish another 32 new
community based food production units. With a budget of R3.5 m, R3
503 000 to be exact, we also plan to complete the establishment of
9 000 homestead food gardens. We have also set ourselves the target
of ensuring that 1 580 emerging farmers benefit from our
department’s Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development
(LRAD), comprehensive infrastructure grants and from the provincial
farmer settlement programmes. To this end, we have set aside R8.6
m.
2. Enabling faster economic growth and job creation:
In his opening address, Premier Shilowa spoke about, among others,
the Gauteng provincial agricultural development strategy. It is my
pleasure to announce that the strategy will be launched on 23
February 2006, ahead of the date set by the Premier. Through this
Gauteng Agricultural Development Strategy (GADS), which was
endorsed by the executive council during November 2005, we shall
contribute towards job creation and economic development. The
provincial Treasury has committed to allocating R14 m for the
strategy, for 2006 and another R16m and R18m respectively during
the financial years ending in 2009.
An amount of R4.7m has been budgeted for the development of
Hydroponics Farming Projects. An amount of R3 096 000 has also been
set aside for the enhancement of our medicinal plant projects. The
Hydroponics and tunnel farming projects and the medicinal plant
processing initiatives will not only contribute towards job
creation but will also enhance the provincial goal of enabling
faster economic growth.
The Gauteng Agricultural Development Strategy is underpinned by our
commitment to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment and further
development of the first economy for the benefit of all. The
success of this strategy pre-supposes easy access to high potential
agricultural land. Towards the realisation of the objectives of
this strategy we shall, of course, not be stymied by absurd and
dangerous sentiments such as those advanced by Agri-SA to the
effect that only market forces should guide land and agrarian
reforms.
3. Developing healthy, skilled and productive people:
The impressive economic development within our Province is
something that we obviously welcome and all our policies should be
geared towards further enhancing this growth. We talk here
specifically about sustainable development that benefits all our
people.
Sadly there are some, not all, companies that seem to want to
completely ignore the wellbeing of our communities in their haste
to maximize profits. We have areas within Gauteng that will soon be
declared hotspots by the Department of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism (DEAT). The Vaal area is likely to be one such area to be
declared a hotspot.
To deal with this challenge, we shall, among others, intensify our
air monitoring efforts to ensure that our communities are not
recklessly exposed to dangerous fumes and poor quality of air. To
this extent, we have set aside, for the current financial year, an
amount of R8.4m towards further improving the working of the
various Air Quality Monitoring Stations that we have established,
including those that the Premier referred to in his recent address
to the Legislature.
We also have developed best practice guidelines and decision
support tools for mining in Gauteng. The Magaliesmoot guidelines
for sustainable mining and the strategy for dealing with brickwork
open air stack kilns have been completed. This will enable
environmental officers and mines to implement best practices and
minimise environmental impacts.
We are developing similar guidelines for the Metsweding region.
This development will also focus on issues on improving tourism. We
are also focusing on the development of guidelines for the
sustainable rehabilitation of Tailings Dam, with a particular
emphasis on attaining mine closure. This will reduce dust impacts
on local communities.
In further contributing towards building safe, secure and
sustainable communities, we shall also rely on our Environmental
Management Inspectors (EMIs), the so-called green scorpions. An
amount of R7 m, for the 2006/2007 financial year, has been set
aside to designate, train and equip 20 EMIs whose task will be to
undertake environmental compliance and enforcement
activities.
Not relying only on the EMIs efforts, we shall also continue to
develop, as mandated by the executive council, the Gauteng Strategy
for Sustainable Development (GSSD). The development and
implementation of this strategy relies not only on provincial
government departments and local municipalities. Broad
consultations, involving the largest possible involvement of organs
of civil society, are also encouraged. One such imbizo will take
place on 24 March 2006.
I thank you all.
For more information contact:
Sizwe Matshikiza
Tel: (011) 355 1316
Issued by: Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment,
Gauteng Provincial Government
15 February 2006
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