ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
1. As a result of the Consultative National Environmental Policy Process (CONNEPP), a Green Paper on environmental policy was released last year, and a White Paper will be finalised early in this year.
2. A Green Paper on biological diversity has been published for discussion.
3. A consultative process to develop policy for Integrated Pollution Control and Waste Management is now gathering momentum, together with other relevant departments such as water Affairs and Forestry.
4. Once these policies come into effect we will have, for the first time in our history, an overall framework for environmental management, where in the past there was fragmentation and mismanagement.
5. New environmental management policies will enable government to:
o Ensure that all future development initiatives are environmentally sustainable. The constitution protects the right to a clean and healthy environment, and entrenches the preservation of the environment for future generations;
o Bring environmental management closer to the grassroots, to make it more meaningful. In the past environmental management has been mainly conservationist. Now issues that impact on people's lives will be given more attention, e.g. waste management and litter;
o Start engaging with industry to take responsibility for their waste and pollution. Industry has been playing a contributing role to the consultative policy development processes, and we are heartened by their support of these initiatives;
o ensure consistency and co-ordination among all departments whose work impacts, often negatively, on the environment;
6. We have been receiving valuable assistance from the Danish (DANCED) and the Norwegians in the above-mentioned processes.
7. Environmental impact assessments will be made compulsory by mid 97.
SEA FISHERIES
8. A White Paper on national policy will be released soon. An accessible version will also be made available in the relevant languages, especially to the fishing communities.
9. Following on from the new fisheries policy, we will be passing legislation during this year to bring equity to the fishing industry, while at the same time ensuring that the industry maintains internationally competitive.
10. Illegal activities, such as poaching, are depleting our marine resources at an alarming rate. The perlemoen resource will be completely wiped out within five years if poaching continues. We understand that fishing communities are in desperate need, many living below the bread-line. However poaching is not the answer. In fact poaching is the greatest enemy of those communities in the long term.
The involvement of crime syndicates in poaching is being investigated together with the Law Enforcement Agencies.
We see the need to engage in some lateral thinking to address some of the problems in the fishing industry. My Ministry is investigating other solutions such as the use of mariculture in certain secure areas, to give our dwindling perlemoen resources a much needed boost.
TOURISM
11. Tourism growth has remained healthy during the peak season. While we are still awaiting official figures for the whole of 1996, it is expected that growth in international travel will be 8% in 1996, as compared to 1 995.
This translates into 100 000 more overseas tourists, bringing the total number of overseas visitors to SA to about 1,25 million. Together with visitors from the rest of Africa, there were a total number of about 4,7 million people who visited our country in 1996.
Almost 10 000 new jobs were created directly and indirectly through the growth in tourism. South Africa earned between R12 billion and R15 billion in foreign exchange during 1996. Furthermore, significant new investments were generated in the industry and various new developments were launched or are under construction during 1996.
Reports in the media, that hotel occupancy rates are down, should not be construed as a declining tourism market. This could be attributed to the high cost of hotels, the increased accommodation capacity, the increasing tendency to use guest-houses and bed-and-breakfasts, and the fact that visitors are now coming to South Africa throughout the summer months and not just in December.
12. 1n terms of the Tourism Amendment Bill passed in November 1996, a new Tourism Board will be set up. All the nominations are now in, and I am pleased to announce that I received almost 200 nominations of the highest calibre of people. I expect to appoint the new board by March this year.
This new board will spearhead the South African tourism promotion thrust and strategy. It is clear that given the democratic and highly competitive tourism environment in which we operate, an aggressive and fresh marketing approach is required to place South Africa at the forefront of tourism countries of the world.
13. One of the biggest challenges in this regard is the establishment of partnerships between public and private sector concerns. The Deputy Minister and I have already initiated various discussions with the business sector in order to combine energies and resources. We are positive that the tourism budget will progressively improve over the next three to five years.
14. My Ministry has applied to the European Union for assistance, and we plan to build dramatically on the tourism boom of the past few years. We are positive that in 1997 the tourism industry will achieve a much greater margin of growth.
15. Tourism is increasingly being integrated into the overall economic strategy of government. An example of this is the focusing of the government on specific development zones, called Spatial Development Initiatives (SDl's). These are under-developed areas which have been ear-marked as having significant potential for industrial, tourism and agricultural development. My Ministry is currently working on a number of spatial development initiatives, e.g. Northern KwaZulu-Natal (Ubombo and the Maputo Corridor) and the Wild Coast. Various anchor tourism projects have already been identified as having major development potential. These are linked to the improvement of roads and infrastructure in these areas.
16. We are planning to use the centenary of the Kruger National Park as a major tourism promotional event.
17. New tourism routes are also being explored to expose the other side of the tourism coin in South Africa. The Mission Station Route, and other routes of historical and cultural significance, which were previously ignored, will play a significant role in revealing the new South Africa to the rest of the world.
18. With regard to tourism safety, various initiatives have been taken by my department, in conjunction with the SAPS and the business community, to improve the situation:
o The deployment of a group of tourism ambassadors at the Johannesburg International airport during the peak season;
o The distribution of safety tips brochures to tourists;
o Orders by the SAPS headquarters to provinces to step up tourism policing efforts;
o Discussions with Business Against Crime to allocate tourism as a special focus in their strategy; and
o A special communication campaign will soon be launched to inform key affected parties of the proper facts concerning the tourism security situation.
Issued by the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, 14 February 1997