Date: 06/06/2006
Source: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: van Schalkwyk: Environmental Affairs and Tourism Dept Budget Vote 2006/07
Speech during National Assembly debate on Budget Vote 27 of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism by Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk
Hope is the firm hand of the fisheries officer who risks life and limb to keep fish in the sea and put poachers behind bars. Hope is the fence that falls between the parks of two countries once in conflict, now partnered in conservation. It is the tread of the lion, the leopard and the cheetah free from shameful death. Hope is the sure and steady breath of children's lungs no longer battling airborne poisons. It is the exhilaration of the community that once stood and watched as travellers drove past and who now stand proud as hosts and guides. Hope is the whispered promise of all this preserved for the benefit, enjoyment and pride of generations yet unborn.
Madame Speaker, there are few emotions more powerful or more infectious than hope. It springs to life in even the most desolate of times, endures conditions of great adversity and thrives when nourished by the glimpse of a better future. It is the union of faith, potential, expectation and optimism and in South Africa it has come to define the character of our people.
The fundamental commitment of our Department is clear; better tourism and a better environment to build the ‘Age of Hope.’
Firm foundations - a year of success
Speaker, there have been few years in which more was achieved in South Africa both in tourism and the environment than the one now past. It has seen South Africa recognised as a global 'champion of the earth' by the United Nations (UN), we welcomed more international travellers than at any time in our history. Major new parks were proclaimed, three new World Heritage Sites inscribed and the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Charter and scorecard for tourism was finalised.
These and so many other achievements have been the successes not of government alone but of every community, organisation and individual involved in tourism and the environment. They form a track record of trust and a firm foundation on which we will continue to build the age of hope.
Protecting hope - legislation, regulations, compliance and enforcement
Speaker, we know that there are many communities for whom the environment has been anything but a source of hope. This is where the interests of people and the interests of our environment converge. We must ensure that the development so critically needed by our people is balanced by considerations of the long-term impact of the development not only on our environment but also on the health of our communities. It is also why we promulgated the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations in April. I am pleased to announce that we have created a specially funded unit to build EIA capacity and to provide the necessary support to provincial authorities.
From EIA regulations to regulations for threatened and protected species and norms and standards for hunting, we have seen much legislative and regulatory progress this year. I am also pleased to announce today the first ever South African National Standards for Ambient Air Quality (SANSAAQ) that are specifically aimed at protecting peoples' right to air that is not harmful to health and well being. We are now defining the specific levels of air pollution like benzene, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter that South Africa considers harmful to health. Apart from giving teeth to our air quality legislation and effect to our Constitutional protections, this will also help us to decide the types of development and technology that will be acceptable in specific areas. Developed in partnership with the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), the standards will be published for public comment for 90 days in the Government Gazette on Friday. We will also be hosting the first annual National Air Quality Governance Lekgotla in October bringing together officials from all spheres of government to address air quality issues and to help us clean up the air in all communities.
A concern often rose by honourable members and by the broader public when government has passed important legislation is how it will be enforced. I would like today to ask this House to recognise the presence, in the visitor’s gallery, of the men and women of our Environmental Management Inspectorate (EMIs) our 'Green Scorpions' who appear today for the first time in their official enforcement uniforms and branding. We have already appointed more than 630 EMIs within South African National (SAN) Parks but this is not enough. We know how vital it is to ensure compliance and enforcement and how challenging. This is why we have trained another 175 EMIs who will be appointed by the provinces in the next three months. By the end of this financial year at least 800 EMIs will form the sharp end of the spear enforcing compliance with our environmental laws.
On the marine and coastal management front our national operation Orca, which was initiated in August last year has seen marine products to the value of almost R38 million seized along with 35 vehicles, three vessels and a number of other assets. There have been 78 convictions, breakthroughs into four syndicate operations and the first ever long-term direct imprisonment of seven years for possession and transport of Perlemoen. Our environmental protection fleet led by our flagship the Sarah Baartman is now also fully operational. In 510 sea days last year 714 vessels were inspected, 13 rescue operations undertaken, 25 arrests made and 50 fines issued. We plan to boost these operations to at least 700 sea days with at least one South African Developing Community (SADC) patrol per quarter.
With the closure in July by the Department of Justice of the specialised courts, all environmental cases will now be heard within their own districts. From 1 August a new dedicated unit will be established by our Department and the Department of Justice to attend to all cases in the Western Cape with officials seconded from the Department to join a unit prosecuting these cases in district courts, regional courts and the High Court. By the end of this financial year more than 100 prosecutors will also have received specialised training in the prosecution of environmental crimes marine, wildlife and pollution related.
Building hope - jobs and growth through environment and tourism
Speaker, jobs, growth and hope are the core business of every South African. Through our social responsibility projects and programmes we have created more than 16 800 job opportunities, 254 permanent jobs and almost 103 000 training days last year alone. This year we will be launching a Social Impact Study to review the direct results of these programmes and we aim to create a further 12 500 job opportunities, another 300 permanent jobs and more than 130 000 training days. The conference bags, honourable members, received today are just one of the examples of the fruits of our social responsibility programmes. These bags are produced by a craft group of about 80 rural women called, Thubaleth' elihle (our good opportunity), in KwaZulu-Natal. The bags are woven from indigenous water loving sedge known as Ikhwane which is the most abundant plant in the 400 hectare Mbongolwane wetland. Production of crafts from Ikhwane growing in the Mbongolwane wetland forms part of an ongoing integrated initiative to assist the local community in sustainable using the wetland under increasing social and economic pressures.
There is little doubt as to why tourism has been identified as one of the immediate priority sectors within Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), as it remains one of the most dynamic sectors in our economy. Lest we forget in the two decades before 1990 we received less than one million annual foreign arrivals. Last year we shattered every target we set for ourselves welcoming no less than 7,3 million international visitors. As part of the growth platform targeted by AsgiSA, tourism has been set some very steep goals for the next five years: 500 000 new jobs, 8,5 million international arrivals annually and a contribution to Growth Development Product (GDP) of at least R100 billion a year. Our challenge in reaching these goals will be to ensure that this growth translates into real benefits for the person trapped in poverty and in the second economy. In addition to the work that we are currently doing, I have instructed the Department to within the next two months develop a comprehensive programme of second economy interventions. I am also pleased today to announce the creation of a new R20 million Tourism Equity Fund (TEF) by our Department. This fund will provide access to much needed support for small and medium sized wheel and tour operators and will provide tourism Small, medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) with a real boost for further growth.
To further strengthen the growth in tourism we will be strongly focused on seven key priorities: transport, safety and security, product and business development, market growth, information, Black Economic Enterprise (BEE) and skills. Specifically to address the skills gap, we have allocated R7,5 million to a partnership between our Department, the Tourism Hospitality and Education Training Authority (THETA), the National Business Initiative and the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) to build a consensus skills plan to revise the existing curricula and to streamline the process of accreditation and certification. In October we will host a National Tourism Skills Conference to discuss the results of a skills audit currently underway.
Another focal point for our interventions to support the first economy, grow the second economy and build real hope has been the long term fishing rights allocations. Members may not be aware that in total 8028 applications were received for these long terms commercial rights roughly double the number anticipated. With 1516 successful applicants thus far awarded rights to catch about 600 000 tons of fish, the major hallmark of the process has been real empowerment; 29 percent of the Deep-sea Hake Trawl catch is now black controlled, up from 14 percent in 2001 as is 66 percent of Pilchard up from 64 percent in 2001 and 61 percent of West Coast Rock Lobster (offshore), up from 51 percent in 2001.
We have not forgotten our very poorest communities in the rights allocations either specifically those coastal fishers who depend on the sea for their own food needs and the most basic of incomes. To regulate this activity and to ensure a fair share for these fishers we will be publishing by August for comment and review, two new policies, one for subsistence fishes and one for small scale commercial fishing. We invite and urge all interested parties especially non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and our provincial and local authorities, to contribute to this process. We will also this year be tabling the new Integrated Coastal Management Bill in parliament which will promote co-ordinated and integrated coastal management one of the benefits of which will be ensuring access to the coast for coastal communities, who are increasingly restricted by development rights granted to companies and private individuals. Expanding hope - popularising the environment and ensuring a legacy
Speaker, there are signs that our environmental concerns are fast becoming part of the daily lives of South Africans. A good example of an environmental battle that is being taken up by communities across South Africa is our effort to combat and adapt to the worst effects of climate change. The agricultural sector is already in the process of developing its plan, the Department of Science and Technology is crafting a national research and development strategy, Minerals and Energy has just released appliance energy efficiency labelling and our own Department is in the process of updating South Africa's Greenhouse Gas Inventory in partnership with Business Unity South Africa (BUSA). This year will also see long term planning for climate change initiated to assist us in directing investments in major sectors like energy, transport and even tourism. We will, for example, be engaging with the tourism sector through the Tourism Grading Council to develop standards for waste recycling, reducing energy consumption and introducing green technology.
Our aim is to ensure that the 2010 Soccer World Cup for instance leaves our country with a legacy of green tourism infrastructure and practices. In this regard I would like to issue a challenge to the industry, especially in the accommodation sector that as their contribution to the 2010 legacy that all new accommodation establishments to be built should be guided by the principle of energy efficiency. I will be interacting with the industry in the next six months in order to decide on a mutually agreeable approach.
Perhaps the most visible embodiments of our environmental success and the points of greatest contact with our communities are our national parks and protected areas. I invite the honourable members to join us this year in celebrating a number of very important milestones like the 80th anniversary of the Kruger Park, the 75th anniversary of the Addo, Bontebok and Kalahari Gemsbok National Parks and the 40th anniversary of Augrabies. To honour these celebrations we will launch South Africa's National Register of Protected Areas in terms of the Protected Areas Act by the end of November. We do not have a complete and accurate record of all protected areas in South Africa and this register will meet that need as an interactive electronic database. In 2002 we set a goal for South Africa to increase the land under formal protection from 5,3 percent to eight percent by 2010. Over the next three years we have budgeted more than R175 million for further land purchases and I will give details of another 230 000 hectares of newly acquired protected areas in the National Council of Parliaments (NCOP) on Thursday. The expansion of the conservation estate and the quest to have a representative park system is important but what is equally important is how well we manage our parks. In 2004 parliament promulgated the Protected Areas Act. The Act gives us the power to institute a performance management system of our parks. We will be announcing by the end of the financial year a new park performance management system which will guide our decision making system and set the standards for the management of our national heritage.
I would also like to announce that to further improve the quality of the experience that visitors have in our national parks and to expand our ability to make conservation a driver of jobs and growth, we will be investing another R395 million in park infrastructure over the next three years. This will be concentrated on, amongst other projects, the upgrading of 520 existing accommodation units creating and supplying 100 new accommodation units, upgrading and constructing 320 km of tourist roads, developing five new camping sites and improving or creating seven park entrances.
Conclusion
In conclusion Speaker, I would like to take a moment to reflect on a few of the many positive changes that our Department has undergone to ensure that we protect, build and expand South Africa's age of hope. At the forefront of this change have been our Director-General, Pamela Yako and her management team. Management and operational structures have been streamlined with, for instance; the creation of new capacity like the specialised unit to drive our international coordination and liaison, the new Directorate: Litigation and Law Reform and the new Chief Directorate: Integrated Coastal Management, as well as the bolstering of our research capacity in Marine and Coastal Management. They have also led the charge in terms of improving the representation of women in senior management positions which by the end of March stood at 38 percent and for which we have set a target of 46 percent by the end of this financial year. Their leadership has set the pace for our departmental achievements for which they are highly commended.
I would also like to express my thanks to our Deputy Minister, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, for her hard work and support this year as well as to honourable Langa Zita, who assumed the Chairpersonship of our Portfolio Committee, to every member of our committee which remains one of the most involved, committed and active in parliament and to our hard working and greatly effective statutory bodies.
Speaker, it was Beyers Naud
Source: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: van Schalkwyk: Environmental Affairs and Tourism Dept Budget Vote 2006/07
Speech during National Assembly debate on Budget Vote 27 of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism by Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk
Hope is the firm hand of the fisheries officer who risks life and limb to keep fish in the sea and put poachers behind bars. Hope is the fence that falls between the parks of two countries once in conflict, now partnered in conservation. It is the tread of the lion, the leopard and the cheetah free from shameful death. Hope is the sure and steady breath of children's lungs no longer battling airborne poisons. It is the exhilaration of the community that once stood and watched as travellers drove past and who now stand proud as hosts and guides. Hope is the whispered promise of all this preserved for the benefit, enjoyment and pride of generations yet unborn.
Madame Speaker, there are few emotions more powerful or more infectious than hope. It springs to life in even the most desolate of times, endures conditions of great adversity and thrives when nourished by the glimpse of a better future. It is the union of faith, potential, expectation and optimism and in South Africa it has come to define the character of our people.
The fundamental commitment of our Department is clear; better tourism and a better environment to build the ‘Age of Hope.’
Firm foundations - a year of success
Speaker, there have been few years in which more was achieved in South Africa both in tourism and the environment than the one now past. It has seen South Africa recognised as a global 'champion of the earth' by the United Nations (UN), we welcomed more international travellers than at any time in our history. Major new parks were proclaimed, three new World Heritage Sites inscribed and the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Charter and scorecard for tourism was finalised.
These and so many other achievements have been the successes not of government alone but of every community, organisation and individual involved in tourism and the environment. They form a track record of trust and a firm foundation on which we will continue to build the age of hope.
Protecting hope - legislation, regulations, compliance and enforcement
Speaker, we know that there are many communities for whom the environment has been anything but a source of hope. This is where the interests of people and the interests of our environment converge. We must ensure that the development so critically needed by our people is balanced by considerations of the long-term impact of the development not only on our environment but also on the health of our communities. It is also why we promulgated the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations in April. I am pleased to announce that we have created a specially funded unit to build EIA capacity and to provide the necessary support to provincial authorities.
From EIA regulations to regulations for threatened and protected species and norms and standards for hunting, we have seen much legislative and regulatory progress this year. I am also pleased to announce today the first ever South African National Standards for Ambient Air Quality (SANSAAQ) that are specifically aimed at protecting peoples' right to air that is not harmful to health and well being. We are now defining the specific levels of air pollution like benzene, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter that South Africa considers harmful to health. Apart from giving teeth to our air quality legislation and effect to our Constitutional protections, this will also help us to decide the types of development and technology that will be acceptable in specific areas. Developed in partnership with the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), the standards will be published for public comment for 90 days in the Government Gazette on Friday. We will also be hosting the first annual National Air Quality Governance Lekgotla in October bringing together officials from all spheres of government to address air quality issues and to help us clean up the air in all communities.
A concern often rose by honourable members and by the broader public when government has passed important legislation is how it will be enforced. I would like today to ask this House to recognise the presence, in the visitor’s gallery, of the men and women of our Environmental Management Inspectorate (EMIs) our 'Green Scorpions' who appear today for the first time in their official enforcement uniforms and branding. We have already appointed more than 630 EMIs within South African National (SAN) Parks but this is not enough. We know how vital it is to ensure compliance and enforcement and how challenging. This is why we have trained another 175 EMIs who will be appointed by the provinces in the next three months. By the end of this financial year at least 800 EMIs will form the sharp end of the spear enforcing compliance with our environmental laws.
On the marine and coastal management front our national operation Orca, which was initiated in August last year has seen marine products to the value of almost R38 million seized along with 35 vehicles, three vessels and a number of other assets. There have been 78 convictions, breakthroughs into four syndicate operations and the first ever long-term direct imprisonment of seven years for possession and transport of Perlemoen. Our environmental protection fleet led by our flagship the Sarah Baartman is now also fully operational. In 510 sea days last year 714 vessels were inspected, 13 rescue operations undertaken, 25 arrests made and 50 fines issued. We plan to boost these operations to at least 700 sea days with at least one South African Developing Community (SADC) patrol per quarter.
With the closure in July by the Department of Justice of the specialised courts, all environmental cases will now be heard within their own districts. From 1 August a new dedicated unit will be established by our Department and the Department of Justice to attend to all cases in the Western Cape with officials seconded from the Department to join a unit prosecuting these cases in district courts, regional courts and the High Court. By the end of this financial year more than 100 prosecutors will also have received specialised training in the prosecution of environmental crimes marine, wildlife and pollution related.
Building hope - jobs and growth through environment and tourism
Speaker, jobs, growth and hope are the core business of every South African. Through our social responsibility projects and programmes we have created more than 16 800 job opportunities, 254 permanent jobs and almost 103 000 training days last year alone. This year we will be launching a Social Impact Study to review the direct results of these programmes and we aim to create a further 12 500 job opportunities, another 300 permanent jobs and more than 130 000 training days. The conference bags, honourable members, received today are just one of the examples of the fruits of our social responsibility programmes. These bags are produced by a craft group of about 80 rural women called, Thubaleth' elihle (our good opportunity), in KwaZulu-Natal. The bags are woven from indigenous water loving sedge known as Ikhwane which is the most abundant plant in the 400 hectare Mbongolwane wetland. Production of crafts from Ikhwane growing in the Mbongolwane wetland forms part of an ongoing integrated initiative to assist the local community in sustainable using the wetland under increasing social and economic pressures.
There is little doubt as to why tourism has been identified as one of the immediate priority sectors within Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), as it remains one of the most dynamic sectors in our economy. Lest we forget in the two decades before 1990 we received less than one million annual foreign arrivals. Last year we shattered every target we set for ourselves welcoming no less than 7,3 million international visitors. As part of the growth platform targeted by AsgiSA, tourism has been set some very steep goals for the next five years: 500 000 new jobs, 8,5 million international arrivals annually and a contribution to Growth Development Product (GDP) of at least R100 billion a year. Our challenge in reaching these goals will be to ensure that this growth translates into real benefits for the person trapped in poverty and in the second economy. In addition to the work that we are currently doing, I have instructed the Department to within the next two months develop a comprehensive programme of second economy interventions. I am also pleased today to announce the creation of a new R20 million Tourism Equity Fund (TEF) by our Department. This fund will provide access to much needed support for small and medium sized wheel and tour operators and will provide tourism Small, medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) with a real boost for further growth.
To further strengthen the growth in tourism we will be strongly focused on seven key priorities: transport, safety and security, product and business development, market growth, information, Black Economic Enterprise (BEE) and skills. Specifically to address the skills gap, we have allocated R7,5 million to a partnership between our Department, the Tourism Hospitality and Education Training Authority (THETA), the National Business Initiative and the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) to build a consensus skills plan to revise the existing curricula and to streamline the process of accreditation and certification. In October we will host a National Tourism Skills Conference to discuss the results of a skills audit currently underway.
Another focal point for our interventions to support the first economy, grow the second economy and build real hope has been the long term fishing rights allocations. Members may not be aware that in total 8028 applications were received for these long terms commercial rights roughly double the number anticipated. With 1516 successful applicants thus far awarded rights to catch about 600 000 tons of fish, the major hallmark of the process has been real empowerment; 29 percent of the Deep-sea Hake Trawl catch is now black controlled, up from 14 percent in 2001 as is 66 percent of Pilchard up from 64 percent in 2001 and 61 percent of West Coast Rock Lobster (offshore), up from 51 percent in 2001.
We have not forgotten our very poorest communities in the rights allocations either specifically those coastal fishers who depend on the sea for their own food needs and the most basic of incomes. To regulate this activity and to ensure a fair share for these fishers we will be publishing by August for comment and review, two new policies, one for subsistence fishes and one for small scale commercial fishing. We invite and urge all interested parties especially non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and our provincial and local authorities, to contribute to this process. We will also this year be tabling the new Integrated Coastal Management Bill in parliament which will promote co-ordinated and integrated coastal management one of the benefits of which will be ensuring access to the coast for coastal communities, who are increasingly restricted by development rights granted to companies and private individuals. Expanding hope - popularising the environment and ensuring a legacy
Speaker, there are signs that our environmental concerns are fast becoming part of the daily lives of South Africans. A good example of an environmental battle that is being taken up by communities across South Africa is our effort to combat and adapt to the worst effects of climate change. The agricultural sector is already in the process of developing its plan, the Department of Science and Technology is crafting a national research and development strategy, Minerals and Energy has just released appliance energy efficiency labelling and our own Department is in the process of updating South Africa's Greenhouse Gas Inventory in partnership with Business Unity South Africa (BUSA). This year will also see long term planning for climate change initiated to assist us in directing investments in major sectors like energy, transport and even tourism. We will, for example, be engaging with the tourism sector through the Tourism Grading Council to develop standards for waste recycling, reducing energy consumption and introducing green technology.
Our aim is to ensure that the 2010 Soccer World Cup for instance leaves our country with a legacy of green tourism infrastructure and practices. In this regard I would like to issue a challenge to the industry, especially in the accommodation sector that as their contribution to the 2010 legacy that all new accommodation establishments to be built should be guided by the principle of energy efficiency. I will be interacting with the industry in the next six months in order to decide on a mutually agreeable approach.
Perhaps the most visible embodiments of our environmental success and the points of greatest contact with our communities are our national parks and protected areas. I invite the honourable members to join us this year in celebrating a number of very important milestones like the 80th anniversary of the Kruger Park, the 75th anniversary of the Addo, Bontebok and Kalahari Gemsbok National Parks and the 40th anniversary of Augrabies. To honour these celebrations we will launch South Africa's National Register of Protected Areas in terms of the Protected Areas Act by the end of November. We do not have a complete and accurate record of all protected areas in South Africa and this register will meet that need as an interactive electronic database. In 2002 we set a goal for South Africa to increase the land under formal protection from 5,3 percent to eight percent by 2010. Over the next three years we have budgeted more than R175 million for further land purchases and I will give details of another 230 000 hectares of newly acquired protected areas in the National Council of Parliaments (NCOP) on Thursday. The expansion of the conservation estate and the quest to have a representative park system is important but what is equally important is how well we manage our parks. In 2004 parliament promulgated the Protected Areas Act. The Act gives us the power to institute a performance management system of our parks. We will be announcing by the end of the financial year a new park performance management system which will guide our decision making system and set the standards for the management of our national heritage.
I would also like to announce that to further improve the quality of the experience that visitors have in our national parks and to expand our ability to make conservation a driver of jobs and growth, we will be investing another R395 million in park infrastructure over the next three years. This will be concentrated on, amongst other projects, the upgrading of 520 existing accommodation units creating and supplying 100 new accommodation units, upgrading and constructing 320 km of tourist roads, developing five new camping sites and improving or creating seven park entrances.
Conclusion
In conclusion Speaker, I would like to take a moment to reflect on a few of the many positive changes that our Department has undergone to ensure that we protect, build and expand South Africa's age of hope. At the forefront of this change have been our Director-General, Pamela Yako and her management team. Management and operational structures have been streamlined with, for instance; the creation of new capacity like the specialised unit to drive our international coordination and liaison, the new Directorate: Litigation and Law Reform and the new Chief Directorate: Integrated Coastal Management, as well as the bolstering of our research capacity in Marine and Coastal Management. They have also led the charge in terms of improving the representation of women in senior management positions which by the end of March stood at 38 percent and for which we have set a target of 46 percent by the end of this financial year. Their leadership has set the pace for our departmental achievements for which they are highly commended.
I would also like to express my thanks to our Deputy Minister, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, for her hard work and support this year as well as to honourable Langa Zita, who assumed the Chairpersonship of our Portfolio Committee, to every member of our committee which remains one of the most involved, committed and active in parliament and to our hard working and greatly effective statutory bodies.
Speaker, it was Beyers Naud
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