Date: 22/07/2009

Source: Department of Water and Environmental Affairs

Title: SA: Sonjica: Speech by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs at the local government indaba on environment

Ensuring Environmental Sustainability through Local Government Action

HONOURABLE DEPUTY MINISTER OF CO-OPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL
AFFAIRS
HONOURABLE DEPUTY MINISTER OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS
CHAIRPERSON AND CEO OF SALGA
MEMBER OF THE MAYORAL COMMITTEE FROM THE CITY OF JOBURG
DIRECTOR GENERAL
DEPUTY DIRECTORS GENERAL
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

We are gathered here today after we successfully hosted our first MINMEC
Environment meeting under the new administration. This was a meeting with
the various provincial MECs responsible for Environmental Affairs to discuss
priorities for the Environmental sector and also to establish areas of
commonality between national and provincial spheres of government. As a
department at the fore-front of ensuring that environmental policy-making is
responsive to the challenges faced by our people, we have realised that
without the support and commitment of the provinces we cannot achieve our
objective of ensuring that our peoples right to a clean environment and air
will not be achieved.

We have also realised that since municipalities are at the coal-face of
service delivery, they are best positioned to champion clean environments
and ensure that our people benefit from the various legislations aimed at
giving them access to clean and habitable environments. Ladies and gentlemen
the time has come for us to prioritise our townships and villages as we
embark on these efforts aimed at cleaning and greening our communities. I am
extremely concerned about the state of our environment, especially in the
townships and other municipality areas like Mthatha.

We need to focus on financial resources that we commit to environmental
management if we are to make a difference in our communities. Our
understanding is that not enough funding is allocated to environmental
management efforts. In the reading of the situation, both the Municipal
Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and other municipality budget items reflect
minimum allocation on environment. This was further confirmed at MINMEC that
the situation is similar in provinces. On the other hand, what
municipalities get from the rate-payers does not seem enough to sustain the
management of waste management functions let alone other environmental
functions. We as a department are extremely worried that our communities
have to live in such squalid conditions that violate their constitutional
right to a clean environment.

The time has come for all of us to act. I must also hasten to add that
rights are accompanied by responsibilities which also place a degree of
responsibility on our communities to be active agents of clean environment.
Our Clean-Up Campaigns in collaboration with our partners like Indalo Yethu
and Buyisa e Bag aimed at heightening awareness in our communities about the
benefits of a clean environment will be intensified. On Mandela Day this
partnership took us to Mamelodi where in close collaboration with the
Tshwane Municipality and SABC 1 we engaged in a clean up and tree planting
exercise.

I would like to challenge you as municipalities to prioritise among others
waste management and greening of our townships to restore the dignity of our
people and in the same vein I urge all communities to be active agents of
greening efforts. This is an effort that should also involve partnerships
with NGOs that play in this space of environment. We must as all the three
spheres of government solidify our efforts aimed at forging lasting and
working partnerships that will assist us government in greening our
townships.

We need to move away from being a throw-away society that focuses on
end-of-pipe waste management solutions that result in huge landfill sites to
one which is much more responsible and cognisant of the need to inter alia
minimize waste and dispose as a last resort. We want to promote
minimization, reuse and recycling. Following on enactment of the National
Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2009 three weeks ago, my
department together with all stakeholders is developing South Africasmaster
plancalled the National Waste Management Strategy that will guide us on how
we reduce the amount of waste generated, recover materials where possible,
recycle and reuse by for example reducing the levels of unauthorised waste
management practices across the country, particularly as it relates to use
of unauthorised waste disposal facilities or sites.

This Act will allow us to drive a recycling economy with the municipalities
expected to be central to effective management of waste. This will further
contribute to job creation potential with emphasis on waste collection
initiatives involving SMMEs and recycling businesses.

It is our expectation that Municipalities, in tandem with the Act, will have
to ensure that communities will have access to separate waste bins that will
cater for recyclable and non recyclables. One of the major challenges we are
facing is that not everyone has access to refuse removal service and this is
a challenge that we must deal with.

We are in the process of developing a Basic Refuse Removal Policy that is
aimed at those communities that cannot afford waste removal services. We
intend to take this policy to Cabinet for approval before the end of the
year in order to ensure that every community has access to this basic
service irrespective of where they live. Ladies and gentlemen, this is more
than just about access to this basic service; it is also about my
departments role ensuring that efforts by other organs of the state to build
a healthy nation are supported.

Once again, without your involvement as municipalities, our efforts will
just remain a pipe-dream and may never see the light of day. This calls for
alignment between the efforts of the three spheres of government national,
provincial and local governments- to ensure that we are able to deliver our
people into a future where their right to clean air, fresh water and
waste-free surroundings are not only legislated, but realised.

There are currently 283 municipalities, most of which bear an environmental
function of one form or another. The Department of Environmental Affairs
identified the need to hold the National Municipal Indaba on Environment to
ensure dialogue amongst spheres of government, state owned enterprise and
other relevant stakeholders.

We must over the next two days, look at ensuring that we are able to ensure
that this partnership with municipalities is able:
1. identify priorities, key challenges and gaps that affects municipalities
with regard to environmental planning and management;
2. enhance environmental focus in integrated development planning among the
3 spheres of government;
3. share the best practise experiences on the various environmental sector
priorities;
4. capacitate municipalities on compliance requirements of existing
legislation, policies, strategies and programs; and
5. gather local government inputs into the support and oversight role on
national government on programme implementation.

Realising that the three categories of municipalities have different
environmental management responsibilities, it is imperative to ensure that
the differing responsibilities are implemented in the most integrated manner
and in line with both provincial and National priorities and programmes.

During 2007 the erstwhile Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
(DEAT) in consultation with Provinces and various Municipalities identified
the need to develop a common national sector wide strategic implementation
plan for the environment sector. This is a plan that outlines high level
strategic priorities for the sector over 5 years (2008-2013).

This plan also defines the environment sector from a growth and development
perspective. It also provides an agreed strategic direction upon which
strategic plans of implicated government components are based on. The Sector
plan was approved for implementation by MINMEC in August 2007. To ensure
alignment with government-wide cycle, this plan is currently being reviewed
to coincide with the Government cycle (i.e. 2009 to 2014) and to also design
an effective monitoring and evaluation tool. Local Government remains
critical if not integral in this process.

The then Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG), currently
reformed into the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional
Affairs( DCGTA) initiated a process of analysing integrated Development Plan
(IDPs) whereby all sector departments, non-governmental organizations and
state owned enterprises are expected to analyse draft IDPs, identify the
gaps and prepare action plans to address the identified gaps. This process
has been running since 2006 is supported by the 5 Year Local Government
Strategic Agenda (5YLGSA) which was developed to in 2006.

The then Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has been fully
participating in the process and the reports which are produced after
participation in the Analysis Sessions seem to suggest that local government
has encountered various challenges in the planning and implementation of
environmental programs.

These include but not limited:
1. Consideration and incorporation of environmental matters in integrated
development planning and service delivery which somehow negatively impact on
environmental quality and protection.
2. Establishment and implementation of environmental governance system
including relevant structures, by-laws and awareness
3. Development of relevant environmental sector plans such as Integrated
Waste Management Plans, Air Quality Management Plans, Integrated Coastal
management Plans (to name but a few); and planning tools that support
integrated development planning and sustainable service delivery
4. Development of relevant strategies, policies and programs to address
climate change mitigation and adaptation

At the heart of all these challenges lie the human and financial capacity
constraintswhich negatively affect the implementation of government programs
and policies. Local government is equally affected by the shortage of skills
which sometimes result from skills flight from one area to the other or from
one sphere of government to the other.

The Department of Environmental Affairs has put in place various pieces of
legislation, national frameworks and programs aimed at promoting sustainable
use of natural resources and maximizing benefits to all South Africans as
per the international, regional and national obligations. It is important to
note that the implementation of legislation has implications for local
government development planning and service delivery. Our Department is
aware that without proper support to local government a sphere of government
that is closest to people - there will be no improved service delivery that
meet the sustainability indicators.

With this in mind the department working together with provinces and
municipalities has implemented the following:
1. Deployment of officials in district family of municipalities in all
provinces. These officials are based in municipalities and they are expected
to support municipalities with environmental management and
planning matters
2. Develop the guidelines for the development of air quality management
plans
3. Developed various toolkits including but not limited to IDP and
Community Based Natural Resources; and conducted capacity building sessions
in various part of the country.
4. The department working with affected municipalities and other partners
is involved in the development of air quality monitoring stations
5. Financially and technically support the development of environmental
planning tools such and Environmental Management Frameworks

It is therefore important to indicate that all of these initiatives were
implemented as per the provisions of the 5 Year Local Government Strategic
Agenda and premised on the spirit of cooperative governance and better life
for all.

Beside the vigorous implementation of the support initiatives some
challenges as reflected seem to persist and therefore it becomes imperative
that we engage on discussion to come up with workable solutions.

We must be reminded that we are all here as representatives of our people
who have, without fail, elected the ANC into office despite the challenges
they may be facing in their own communities. We cannot afford to fail them.

I thank you!