Chairperson, the question from hon Worth was about the department's capacity to assist municipalities which are experiencing difficulties in maintaining waste water treatment plants. Yes, indeed, our department is assisting municipalities. We believe that even though we don't have adequate capacity, we are doing our level best to assist municipalities.
We are not only using in-house capacity; we have established what we call the rapid response teams. This afternoon we shall be announcing the establishment of the nine rapid response teams in all the provinces - we used to have only one - so that we do the necessary interventions where they are needed at any given time.
This kind of team has been in existence in Mpumalanga, the Free State and the North West. We have piloted the teams there, and it has particularly helped in the Free State. They are an illustration of the kind of exercise that came up in Ficksburg, which I was talking about earlier on.
Through the legal process of the Green Drop certification programme we provide the municipality staff, at both operational and management level, with sufficient information to ensure effective risk-based management of waste water treatment systems. This is done through a process of consultative auditing, where inspectors verify programme levels but also provide guidance where shortcomings are identified. This Green Drop programme deals with waste water treatment plants.
There is another programme called the Blue Drop programme, which is for drinking water. We go through the same exercise that we use - a voluntary, legal exercise. This is a programme that is intended to ensure that we have good quality water and that municipalities are assisted. We have seen a submission from all municipalities for this programme to be audited and inspected, and we have recently issued certificates for the Green Drop and the Blue Drop programmes in support of these programmes.
We also have the Accelerated Community Infrastructure Programme I referred to earlier on, which provided assistance to the value of R221 million in the last financial year. This was further augmented by the regional bulk infrastructure grant, which provided assistance to the value of R113 million last year.
This afternoon we will be announcing additional money, which I referred to earlier on, to support municipalities. To illustrate this, we spent over R200 million in just three or four municipalities in the Free State, because we saw that they were problematic municipalities with lots of problems in this regard. Matjhabeng Local Municipality is one of those that we helped to refurbish their infrastructure last year.
In addition to this, we actually supply and support municipalities with the necessary teams of interns, whom I spoke about earlier on and who attend training at our Roodeplaat Training Centre. That is the learning academy for Water Affairs staff. We actually get them deployed. As I speak, there are over 50 of them who have been deployed countrywide. There are still about 300 in training, and in services where they are being trained to be qualified artisans and water specialists. They are being trained in order to be redeployed to the municipalities as part of addressing a shortage of these skills. So there is the money aspect, there is the technical aspect, and there is also the skills-related support that we are giving. Thank you very much.
House Chairperson, I thank the Minister for her quite comprehensive reply. Minister, you are surrounded by "Free Staters" and I am glad that you acknowledge that the Free State has some creaking infrastructure problems.
We have something here in the NCOP that we call Provincial Week, when we go and have a look at the provinces. We visited certain municipalities in the Free State that are struggling. One of them is - I could not quite hear you correctly - Nala Local Municipality. We also visited Wesselsbron, where the sewerage treatment works are totally under water, because apparently the contractor went bankrupt and now the process has to be carried on.
What worries me even more than that is that a lot of these waste water treatment facilities have no security fencing around them. Matjhabeng and Welkom are trying to cope, but it has been done on a massive scale. There is a temporary water treatment works and then they are going to build a new one, but none of these places have security fencing. As a result the copper electrical wiring and pipes are stolen. Please, can you assist the municipalities to secure what they have there?
I also want, at the same time, to thank you very much for the fact that the interns are being trained, because capacity or technical expertise is definitely lacking in a lot of the municipalities there. Thank you.
Order! I also see the hon De Villiers, who may pose his question.
Hon House Chairperson, my concern is that if a municipality is not handling the waste water treatment properly, it is actually a danger to the community. My question is: If the waste water treatment plants are not properly managed, what will your department do to rectify the situation in that particular municipality?
Chairperson, with regard to the previous issue, I want to highlight the need for us as public representatives to do something and to say something very loudly about copper theft. We have asked the Department of Police, jointly with Minister Peters, to declare this a really serious crime, because it is actually tantamount to sabotage.
The problem that we experienced in Mpumalanga recently, about a week ago, was actually caused by copper theft. In 15 of our water treatment plants copper was stolen. When you take away the copper, you cut off the electricity, and you can't pump water. It means you have actually sabotaged the whole area. Unfortunately, people do this. When it has been stolen, we reinstall it; it is stolen, we reinstall it; it is stolen, we reinstall it. This was until last week in the area of Mpumalanga, when Eskom said: "Enough is enough; we have to get the people's commitment here." We should really talk loudly about this and agree that we will start taking care of it.
Yes, we can put a fence around them, but I think that even with the highest fence we will still have theft. No amount of fencing will stop anybody. Those who are like me and know, will tell you that pre-1994 no fence stopped us from doing anything back then. I mean the good things that we did which led to our being here. We believe that it is important that we now run a different campaign. Firstly, we must declare this a priority crime. Secondly, we must speak about it, as it is happening in other areas too.
I have actually forgotten the next question.
Management of water treatment by the municipalities.
Chairperson, my apologies. The question was on what we are doing when a municipality doesn't manage a treatment plant well, whether it is waste water or other. We agree that wherever we go there are serious challenges in many instances. This is the lack of maintenance and infrastructure capacity that I was talking about.
Let me say to hon members through you, Chairperson, that if there is anything in Water Affairs that causes me sleepless nights, it is this particular issue. If the infrastructure is not refurbished, you can't get water to the people, and in many instances such plants that are not refurbished and well treated actually cause diseases and real challenges.
There is a provision in the law, sections 19 and 20, to the effect that everybody, and not only a municipality, must comply with this section of the law: Nobody must cause pollution in our waters or cause anything in the nature of unmanaged, unrehabilitated, unmaintained water or sewage treatment plants that really spill sewage all over.
We are required in terms of the law to give pre-directives for people to comply with - it doesn't matter who it is - and we have done this before. We are also supposed to give a directive if they don't comply with the pre- directive. If they still don't comply, we then take up the matter. This is followed by negotiations and discussions and, finally, we open cases against such people. We have done so, and there are cases that have even gone to court. Of course, these are not municipality cases at this stage, but private sector cases. In most cases it is mining. We have actually got decisions by the court, in our favour, against those people. So, we have those sections, we are applying them, and we are implementing them.
At the same time as we are implementing them, we are not just looking at the municipalities in this way, but supporting them in an active manner to get the remedial processes embarked upon. The Free State has the Matjhabeng, Nala and Wesselsbron municipalities, and we have been helping them. We are now even working with Bloemfontein, Mangaung, in order to help them get some of the water treatment plants back into shape.
The problem is not small and affects areas all over the country. It is also caused by the fact that our infrastructure is not meant to carry the number of people that it is carrying. It was built in such a manner that it was not meant to help all those people, who are a multitude, especially in rural communities and townships. Towns are growing, and the fact that there is aged infrastructure, with an increasing number of people, is a challenge. This is why we are catching up through using the regional bulk infrastructure grant, as well as refurbishing what is there.
Measures to deal with escalating rhino poaching problem
48. Mr D A Worth (DA) asked the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs:
(1) Whether her department has implemented any measures in response to the escalating rhino poaching problem; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether her department has the necessary (a) funding and (b) capacity to implement a programme to (i) prevent and (ii) reduce rhino poaching; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO291E
Hon House Chairperson, the question is from Mr Worth regarding the implementation of response measures to the "escalating rhino poaching problem".
First of all, I would like to say that it is very sad indeed that we are all made to focus only on curbing rhino poaching, when the reality is that there are so many species among our plants and animals and so on that are being poached. I guess it actually relates to the very cruel manner in which the poaching happens. We have seen the way rhinos are butchered, with blood all over - that way of doing it is very depressing.
We have several measures that have been introduced. Apart from collaboration with other government institutions, our department has implemented various steps to address the escalating rhino poaching problem. They include the following, but are not limited to them.
The first is the publication of a national moratorium on the sale of individual rhino horns and any derivatives or products within South Africa to prevent the legally obtained horns from ending up in the illegal trade. That was done a few years ago - two or three years ago.
Secondly, there is the publication of the national norms and standards for the marking of rhino horns and the hunting of rhinos for trophy hunting purposes, in order to further regulate the marking of horns and the hunting of rhinos. In other words, we are trying to regulate this hunting because we have seen some of the loopholes in how hunting happens, even though it is legal hunting. This relates to all provinces. We have had discussions at Minmec level and have agreed that there is a need to have these norms and standards, which we have recently promulgated.
Thirdly, the establishment of the multidepartmental National Biodiversity Investigators Forum, which we have set up, is another measure. This is a team of South Africans, constituted of specialists who work in all provinces in order to deal with this problem and share experiences. They are also working around the clock, looking for other measures that we may implement. This forum co-ordinates and acts as a contact point, where all biodiversity-related law enforcement information can be collected, assessed, distributed and made part of tasks for specific subgroups of the forum.
Fourthly, there is the establishment of a Directorate: Biodiversity Enforcement and Compliance, to co-ordinate the investigation of biodiversity-related crimes on a national basis.
Then, the national regulations in regard to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Cites, were published for the control of international trade in Cites-listed species, in which both black and white rhinos are listed. In other words, we have amended the Cites regulations and the listing as well.
A rhino summit was held to discuss the upsurge in the illegal killing of rhinos in South Africa, to augment and endorse the initiatives against rhino poaching, and to afford stakeholders an opportunity to reflect on the current interventions and harness further political and broader stakeholders' commitment.
This has given birth to the team, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, Natjoints. It is a national security team, and this matter serves as a permanent item on the agenda of Natjoints and in our Security cluster at Cabinet and other levels, for them to help us look at various other measures.
The National Strategy for the Safety and Security of Rhinoceros Populations and Horn Stocks in South Africa was also drafted and approved and it's being implemented.
There has been the establishment of the interim National Wildlife Crime Reaction Unit I have spoken about, the unit that has been established with the primary aim of ensuring that all conservation agencies in South Africa respond to the current state of rhino poaching. An official South African delegation also visited Vietnam in this regard. Let me just recap by saying that all these measures that I have spoken about - and there is no exhaustive list - deal, amongst others, with conservation and are biodiversity-related.
We have found it necessary to look at security and the international engagements of some of our people. Vietnam is one such country that has been identified in this respect. Officials visited that country regarding the challenges that we face with the involvement of Vietnamese nationals in illegal rhino hunting. We found them and actually have a number of them already in jail. One of the cases was supposed to come to court yesterday. The Deputy Presidents of these two countries - ours and theirs - agreed on the development of a memorandum of understanding, MoU, which has been drafted and is being completed.
The SA National Defence Force has deployed troops along the eastern boundary of the Kruger National Park to help us and to do service there. I am sure you have heard about their activities. Amongst many other issues, our department has also received R20 million from the National Treasury to fight the scourge of rhino poaching. We also have a memorandum of understanding, MoU, on the same matter ready to be signed with China. Thank you.
House Chairperson, I thank the hon Minister for her reply. Minister, there are a few other things that you did not touch on with regard to rhino poaching, and one of these is microchips. Firstly, has the Minister thought of making it compulsory for all owners or reserves to insert a microchip into the horn of each rhino, so that they are traceable?
Secondly, so-called "legal" hunting is still taking place - hunting safaris to hunt rhinos - but a lot of these are very dubious. It is a sort of licence that they can use to take rhino horns out again.
Thirdly, the Minister did allude to agreements being reached with countries such as China. Is it possible to go through an embassy or through our diplomatic channels to try to inform the people there that rhino horn is not an aphrodisiac, so as to get the poaching levels to drop? Thank you.
Hon House Chairperson, microchipping is part of the strategy we are applying. It is actually published in the regulations as well, that there is a need to microchip. I did not speak about the deeper strategy, but amongst other aspects there is the microchipping, which is compulsory.
There is also the following of a hunt by a well-trained conservation officer until a hunt is done - or missed, because every permit does not necessarily lead to a hunt actually happening. Therefore, the following of the hunt by a trained conservation officer, and people working very closely with him, are part of the regulations. People are no longer allowed to hunt on their own without being inspected.
I did not refer to some of the things. Amongst these is how we manage the stockpiles. In South Africa it is actually illegal to possess a rhino horn when you do not have a permit. Even that was not quite clear. Therefore, we have strengthened the regulations, even to the point of prescribing how we manage our stockpiles. Our government stockpiles are audited every year, but the private sector stockpiles are not audited. So, we have extended that part of the regulations to apply to others as well. The regulations are quite broad and include these other issues.
For the people who are dubious, in the legal sense, let me say that we have embodied in the regulations a section that provides for us as provinces to be able to say a clear "no" if the people who are applying to hunt come from countries whose regulations in regard to biodiversity and conservation are not up to scratch. We want to follow these hunts. Part of this is following the hunt up to the end, wherever any rhino or other trophy head ends up. We want to follow this and the authorities on the other side can monitor it and so on. That is how we are closing the loopholes we are dealing with, in order for us to be able to ensure that even in legal hunting and trading, the product ends up in a country where the laws are very clear.
In the memorandums of agreement that we are drafting there are some issues which I am going to highlight. I will refer to just a few of them, because time is short.
There is awareness and education about its being an aphrodisiac or otherwise. We believe it is otherwise. The Chinese Minister who is my counterpart, and with whom I had a discussion about this particular matter, said to me that they didn't believe in the aphrodisiac issue, but they thought it was important we should jointly put into the memorandum of understanding a section to do with having an awareness campaign and education. We have joint chipping and joint research, and there should be any other methodology that we can use together. There are two MOUs that we are going to sign. If there had been time, if there had been 48 hours in a day, I would have been to these two countries or they would have been here, in order to sign the two MoUs, so that we can begin implementation. In the meantime we have started.
By the way, I would also like to say that the Chinese government alerted us to a consignment coming from South Africa, full of rhino horns, ivory, lizards and so forth. This ended up in Hong Kong. After we had been alerted to this, we sent people who do DNA samples to check where these things really came from. That is why chipping and all the other scientific measures are necessary.
We are working with the Department of Science and Technology to try to detect people's movements by heat. That is the kind of technology we have. This is so that if there is movement in the countryside, in the bush, where a rhino is about to be poached, we can detect it through the heat of that human being. It is something that we are working on with the Department of Science and Technology.
So, colleagues, let's talk about anything or everything that we think of, so that we can deal with the protection of our country's assets. We believe that it is all intended to give our country a bad name. Thank you very much.
Hon Chairperson, in relation to the stockpiles, I would like to know from the Minister whether the measures prevent the wrong people from buying the stock and therefore perpetuating the problem of rhino poaching. Thank you, Chairperson.
Hon Chair, as I said, in the regulations we have first of all declared a moratorium on sales of rhino horn in the country. It is illegal to do that. It is illegal to possess a rhino horn without a permit. If you have not got a permit to hunt and acquired the rhino horn with a permit, you cannot possess it. Therefore, in the stockpile management it is implied that you cannot just sell a rhino horn to anybody who does not have a licence and a permit. So, once we get them, let it be reported. Somebody from the community said to me, "Please come to this community of ours and show us what the rhino horn looks like, so that we are able to help the police to arrest these people." It is necessary to keep on educating our people and asking them to act together, so that if they see anybody who illegally possesses a rhino horn, that person can be taken to the cleaners. We are told that these days they actually carry it in powdered form - they grind it to powder. Even with that, let's just be on the alert. Thank you very much.
House Chairperson, I want to know from the Minister whether she has ever considered speaking to her counterpart regarding these criminals and heartless people who are killing the rhinos? They must be taken to the C-Max Prison and locked up there. They must be given no parole, and no reduction or remission of sentence. I am asking you, Minister, if you have spoken to your counterpart, the Minister of Correctional Services, about putting these criminals into that prison. Thank you very much.
Thank you for your recommendation or proposal.
Yes, it is a proposal.
Plans to assist artists and to empower them with survival skills by encouraging them to save 35. Ms B V Mncube (ANC) asked the Minister of Arts and Culture:
Whether his department has any plans in place to (a) help artists who are reputable icons or (b) empower artists with short- to long-term survival skills by encouraging them to save or contribute to a pension scheme or invest while they are still at the prime of their careers; if not, why not; if so, what (i) plans and (ii) are the further relevant details?