13 August 2002
A Booming Tourism Industry
The result of A Sustainable Tourism Strategy
The recent tourism statistics show that South Africa is the BEST PERFORMING international tourist destination in the world.
Figures recently released by South African Tourism show that the number of foreign visitors to our country in the first five months of this year have risen by 7.5% when compared to the same period last year.
This is a demonstration of a great performance by South Africa on the international tourism platform, and is proof that the country is fast gaining the reputation of being among the safest tourism destinations in the world, and indeed of being among the top world-class tourism destinations.
We believe that the results of our sustainable tourism strategy are beginning to pay off. We are confident that the additional work put in by South African Tourism in terms of restructuring our International operations will consolidate these gains.
To give our country more exposure, journalist and Visitors who will be visiting our country during the WSSD will be treated to true South African Hospitality by SA Tourism together with the 9 Tourism authorities in South Africa. We have prepared Tourism packages to highlight what this country can offer and also showcase sustainable development projects that will boost amongst others, sustainable tourism.
SA Tourism has declared, 16 August 2002 the Welcome Day for all of the participants of the WSSD and all its side and parallel events. Details of how citizens can partake in this "Welcome" will be announced by SA Tourism this week.
During the summit itself we will showcase Tourism partnerships initiatives in the Maloti -Drakensburg TFCA; The Lubombo Spatial initiatives and the Tourism satellite accounting for African Countries.
Clean Up South Africa For A Better Life
Tackling Waste for Sustainable Development
The Cleanest Town Competition.
Today we are pleased to announce the launch of the second Cleanest Town Competition, aimed at encouraging South Africans to take pride in their environment by cleaning up their towns. The previous competition was met with much enthusiasm and many around the country took up the government's challenge to clean up the environment.
This saw the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality walking off with the R1 million prize after winning in the metro category. Other winners included the Newcastle Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal and the Klein Karoo in the Western Cape, who won in their respective categories.
The main aim behind the competition was to get South Africans to take stock of their individual contribution to waste and to re-commit themselves to cleaning their environment. The competition succeeded in doing this and I am confident the second round will bear more fruits.
We are calling on the private sector to throw its weight behind this competition to make it better.
Climate Change
The department is currently operating three climate change projects. A fund of $5 million has been donated by the US to South Africa in terms of the USA - South African Bilateral Agreement on Climate Change Support.
They are:
1) Cities for Climate Protection (CCP)
This project involves improvement of management capacity in local government. The project will run for three years, with a budget of $1,2 million to be spent to help local governments to identify and implement actions that meet their objectives as well as address Global Climate Change and will provide models for other local governments.
2) Demonstration projects linking climate change and sustainable development Various institutions including educational institutions, private, and not for profit organisations implement a number of projects on behalf of DEAT in provinces. These projects include promotion of ecovillages both in urban and rural areas; rural energisation, renewable energy technology such as biomass gasification and ethanol production; community based greening and waste recycling, low-tech energy solutions such as thermally efficient and renewable energy solutions in housing, clean transport systems; carbon sequestration and conservation, industrial energy efficiency. A sum of R12 643 000 is being spent on these projects.
3) Climate Change Public Awareness and education
The objective of this project is to increase public awareness of Global Climate Change in South Africa, and to assist the government in its efforts to educate students on the importance of GCC within the country.
Natural Resources Building Bridges
The Translocation of Animals to Mozambique
As we speak today, senior officials from my department are in Mozambique to officially hand over hundreds of wildlife to Mozambican government officials as part of a three-year programme to translocate 6000 wildlife from South Africa's Kruger National Park to Mozambique's Limpopo National Park. On October 4 last year we handed over 40 elephants to the Mozambican government. This week we will translocate over 400 wildlife onto the Mozambican side, which include Giraffe, Blue Wildebees, Warthog, Impala, Waterbuck and Zebras.
The translocation programme forms part of the development of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP), Africa's largest transfrontier conservation area that will cover South Africa's Kruger National Park, Mozambique's Limpopo National Park and the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe.
The signing of a trilateral international agreement by the Ministers of the Environment of Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe on 10 November 2000 paved the way for the establishment of the GLTP, dubbed Africa's "Super Park" and stretching over 35 000 square kilometres.
The translocation programme is a demonstration of South Africa's commitment to the development of the African continent through regional co-operation, the cornerstone of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
We are indeed proud to be able to release wildlife into Mozambique that will assist our neighbour re-stock an area where wildlife had been decimated during 25 years. The development of the Limpopo National Park will increase eco-tourism and eventually ensure a livelihood to the people residing within its boundaries, as well as those living in the adjacent areas.
The opening of the GLTP in the near future will open to the world the biggest ever animal kingdom, increasing foreign investment into the region and creating much-needed jobs for its people. It will further act as a symbol of peace and unity for the African people.
The Chief Executive Officer of South African National Parks (SANParks), Mr Mavuso Msimang, is leading a delegation of senior DEAT and SANParks officials, and will hand over the animals to Mozambican government officials, led by National Director for Wildlife and Conservation in Mozambique's Ministry of Tourism, Dr Alfonso Madope.
This week's translocation is expected to be concluded by Friday, 16th August.
Some, For All, For Ever Sustainable Fishing Strategy Pays Off
80 Percent Increment in TAC
Last week we determined the final pelagic Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the 2002 pelagic season. The final determination, an overwhelming increase of over 80 percent from the December 2001 is clearly the fruits of sustainable use of marine resources.
We announced that the determination is of a total mass of 662 183 tons (pilchards 257 978 tons, anchovy 359 729 tons, pilchard by-catch allocation of 44 476 tons).
This final Total Allowable Catch follows the revised TAC determination announced during the Minister's budget speech in May 2002. This was a total of 553 687 tons, and the December 2001 provisional determination of 393 600 tons. The TAC for anchovy was increased as a recent recruitment survey indicated that anchovy recruitment in 2002 is well above average, which means that the availability increased. The net result reflects an increased TAC of 100 003 tons for anchovy.
Government is committed to the upliftment of our previously marginalized communities while at the same time ensuring the sustainable use of our fishing resources. Just yesterday I completed the process of fishing appeals and we will be making the findings public soon. The principle, that applies both when we are dealing with competing interests over our resources here at home and when foreign vessels wish to fish in our waters: that this increase is largely due to sound fisheries management and vindicates Governments approach to take a firm approach when it comes to the sustainable use of our marine resources. It is for this reason that we will always be cautious when allocating these resources - a careful approach means that these resources will be for all... for ever -a signature of sustainable development. With this kind of sound management, we believe many more people today and in the future will benefit from these resources.
Repair of Fishing Harbors
From a navigational point of view, the South African coastline can be described as exposed to bad sea conditions and dangerous to sea traffic as a result of volatile weather and few natural safe havens to protect vessels against the forces of nature.
This fact, and the discovery of rich fishing grounds off the Southern and Western shores of the Western Cape, gave rise to the construction of 12 proclaimed fishing harbors mainly in the period 1960 - 1985.
This infrastructure allows fishing vessels access to the sea and thus the development of a prosperous fishing industry.
Responsibility for the construction, maintenance and operational management of these harbours has frequently changed hands and this situation has impacted negatively on all aspects of their maintenance and management. Lack of continuity in management eventually led to general degradation of the entire infrastructure and its operational management.
These harbours are now in a serious state of disrepair and much of the equipment and structures are in a life-threatening condition, whereas some services had to be terminated.
However, since the return of the fishing harbours operational management function from the former Cape Provincial Administration to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) in 1996, much has been done towards laying a sound foundation for the rehabilitation and better management of this valuable infrastructure. Cooperation between DEAT and the National Department of Public Works (NDPW) has now resulted in the launching of a Repair and Maintenance Programme (RAMP) for these harbours. An initial amount of R80 million has already been set aside for expenditure the next three years, while a further amount of R45 million has been requested to complete the programme. Status quo reports on all 12 harbours were completed towards the end of 2001. The first two contractors who are responsible for repairs to the slipways and cranes at Gansbaai and St Helena Bay (Sandy Point) harbours respectively, took possession of these sites six weeks ago.
Preparations for another 12 tenders at these and some of the other harbours including Lamberts Bay, Laaiplek, Saldanha Bay, Kalk Bay, Hout Bay and Hermanus, are currently underway.
The remainder of the work, including some repair works at Gordons Bay, Struisbaai, Stilbaai and Arniston will commence as soon as the additional funding has been secured.
Issued by the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism