(1) Whether his department keeps a blacklist of vessels that have been engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated activities in the country's fishing waters; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether any such vessels have been apprehended in the past five financial years; if not, why not; if so, in each case, (a) what charges were brought against the culprits, (b) how many successful prosecutions were made in this regard during the specified period and (c) what were the sentences and/or fines;
(3) (a) are vessels so apprehended banned from the country's waters and (b) is any action taken against the companies or countries that own the specified vessels;
(a) the above vessels have not been registered to operate in SA waters (b) If owners of the transgressing vessel is confirmed, Yes. The flag state is advised for it to take corrective measures.
(4) whether this information is shared with (a) regional fisheries and/or (b) marine organisations that the country is a member of; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
Whether any plans will be put in place by the Land Bank to assist farmers with soft loans in order to help with funding for the next season; if not, why not; if so, what are the criteria to qualify for the specified soft loans? NW5052E
The Land Bank reports to the Minister of Finance. The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has referred the questions to the Land Bank and their response is below.
(1) Whether he has found that the illegal logging and/or theft of wood is a problem to the country in terms of the destruction of forests and the financial implications; if not, why not; if so, what is the extent of the problem in terms of (a) forests destroyed and (b) cost of the wood lost; Monday, 30 November 2015 1618 INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY NO 51 - 2015 (2) what happens to the wood that have been logged or stolen; (3) what measures have been put in place to address this problem?
Whether any plans will be put in place by the Land Bank to assist farmers with soft loans in order to help with funding for the next season; if not, why not; if so, what are the criteria to qualify for the specified soft loans?
As a Development Finance Institution, we certainly share the view that the farmers are in a difficult position. The prevailing drought has aggravated this season’s conditions following an equally challenging 2014 season.
The Land Bank has been closely monitoring the distress signals of our farmers in an attempt to proactively intervene and support. We are of the view that as the prevailing weather conditions ...
(1) With regard to the R226 million drought relief fund, (a) what method was used to establish what amount would be needed for drought relief, (b) what amount would be allocated to each province, (c) how was this allocation determined and (d) who will be responsible for the management of the funds in each province; (2) what criteria will be used to determine which farmer will qualify for drought relief funding?
1.
(a) The provinces did assess the drought conditions prior to declarations requests. The verifications was done by the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) together with provincial departments and Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) in arriving at the total costs. The Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) and Ilima/Letsema grants are used to assist small scale, subsistence and commercial farmers. These grants are ...
(1) Whether his department keeps a blacklist of vessels that have been engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated activities in the country’s fishing waters; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) whether any such vessels have been apprehended in the past five financial years; if not, why not; if so, in each case, (a) what charges were brought against the culprits, (b) how many successful prosecutions were made in this regard during the specified period and (c) what were the sentences and/or fines; (3) (a) are vessels so apprehended banned from the country’s waters and (b) is any action taken against the companies or countries that own the specified vessels; (4) whether this information is shared with (a) regional fisheries and/or (b) marine organisations that the country is a member of; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
- Yes. The Department has its own transgression register. The Department also has access to the blacklisted and suspected vessels website.
- Yes. Seven vessels. (a) the charges were the contravention of the Marine Living Resources Act, Act 18 of 1998; Section 13 (1) and (2) read with section 58 (1) and (2) of the Act. Further charges related to the contravention of the Regulations, Reg ...
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(1) Whether, with reference to a number of big abalone confiscations in recent weeks, he has investigated the possibility that abalone are being poached by using boats; if not, (a) why not and (b) what is being done to try and contain the poaching of abalone; if so, (2) whether he has considered the possibility that persons with commercial boats are responsible for the poaching of abalone; if not, why not; (3) whether his department’s law enforcement sector is able to contain the poaching of abalone; if not, why not; if so, what (a) are the relevant details and (b) strategies have been put in place to prevent poaching of abalone?
(1) Yes, the possibility that abalone is being poached from boats has always been investigated.
(1)(b) As has been reported previously, the Department has developed and implemented the Integrated Fisheries Security Strategy (IFSS) which aims at protecting marine resources in general, but with the specific objective of containing the poaching of abalone. The other joint law enforcement partners have been part of this initiative. ...
Whether (a) he and/or (b) his department have received any requests for assistance as a result of the current drought; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) how many requests has (i) he and/or (ii) his department received, (b) from whom were these requests received in each case and (c) what plans does he have in place to assist those who have requested assistance respectively?
Whether the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is going to return to the country to conduct a follow-up inspection of the (a) foot-and-mouth and (b) other veterinary health controls and programmes that have been put in place after their previous visit; if not, why not; if so, when will this take place?
(1) With regard to the red-line fence erected between KwaZulu-Natal and the Republic of Mozambique, which was one of the conditions from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in order for South Africa to get its status with regard to foot-and-mouth disease back, (a)(i) who was awarded the tender to construct this fence and (ii) at what cost and (b)(i) who will be responsible for the maintenance of said fence and (ii) at what cost per year; (2) whether the construction of the specified fence has been completed; if not, why not; if so, on what date was construction completed; (3) whether any meetings took place with the affected communities to (a) inform them and (b) explain the importance of this fence to them; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details in each case; (4) whether any drinking facilities were built for livestock in the areas affected by the construction of this fence; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
