Issued by: The Office of the President
The regular fortnightly meeting of the Cabinet which would have taken place on Wednesday 1 November, was rescheduled for this morning due to the local government elections. The Cabinet met in the Union Buildings, mainly receiving reports from the Cabinet Committees.
The Cabinet took note of the successful way in which the local government elections proceeded and expressed its appreciation and congratulations to the Minister and Deputy Minister for Provincial Affairs and Constitutional Development for the way they, their department and the task group dealt with the complex operation of organising and overseeing the elections.
The Cabinet dealt with a number of environmental matters, often as agenda items co-sponsored by different cognate departments, this in keeping with the government's emphasis on inter-ministerial and inter-departmental coordination and cooperation.
Amongst the matters dealt with in this regard were the approval of a policy framework for government assistance to the mining indus- try with special reference to the pumping of extraneous water; noting the report on the proposed Saldanha steel project, giving support for all reasonable efforts to encourage and assist with the project going ahead at a suitable site and setting up an integrated planning process on the land usage of sites which is of national importance; approval for the status of the Committee of Inquiry into the importation of a consignment of material containing cupric arsenite to that of a Commission of Inquiry so as to be able to exercise powers in terms of the Commissions Act; the adoption of procedures to assist in the dewatering of the Grootvlei and neigh- bouring mines in such a way that the mines in question are kept in operation without permanently damaging the environment or other users; noting that the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry will host the Southern African Ministers Conference on Water Resource Management later this month; and approving arrangements around the hosting of the Tenth Session of the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission.
The Cabinet decided that in the new South African passport the face of the late Chief Albert Luthuli be used in the watermark and that the date of implementation of the new passport be 27 April 1996.
Two draft White Papers were considered and time provided for further comment to be sought before being brought back to Cabinet for approval for publication. These are the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service and the White Paper for Social Welfare.
As part of the on-going process of government being kept informed on the state of government finance, the Minister of Finance gave the Cabinet a briefing on the state of finance for the current fiscal year, the implications and the steps that are being taken to maintain the fiscal discipline to which the government is committed.
Further information is available from or will be released by the relevant Ministries.
SECRETARY OF THE CABINET
2 November 1995