Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, colleagues and members of this House, it is an honour for me to be here today to address this House in the debate on the national policy review.
Before I start I would like to say that I met with the Minister yesterday at a clean-up project, and I spoke to him about funding a project in the Western Cape that is very dear to my heart. He was quite agreeable about it. What happened was that I then had to go back and redraft my speech. So, my speech today, if anything, is well considered. [Laughter.]
Yesterday was World Environment Day. It is thus fitting that the budget debate on the environmental portfolio should be held today, because the Unep theme for this year is: ``The Environment Millennium, Time to Act''. One's will to act is evidenced by one's will to spend. In this instance it is taxpayers' money we are spending. The question that therefore arises is not only how much we are prepared to commit, but also whether that expenditure is effective.
It is correct to target poverty alleviation and job creation as priority goals in the environmental budget, but what must also be recognised is the role that privileged people play in our society in the generation of waste and pollution. Almost inevitably, although it is not the intention, poor people get the blame for our environmental woes. The sooner poverty alleviation is linked to the causes of waste pollution, and the consumption of resources through privilege, the more balanced the budgetary approach will be. In other words, the causes of poverty and the causes of environmental degradation must be linked, not the results.
The expenditure on the development of an integrated waste management strategy must be fast-tracked, and not be held hostage by the popular issues in the environmental budget. By this I mean that the Minister has gained himself superhero status with his intention to combat plastic bags as litter. I agree with him, and will give 100% support to his initiatives, but the problem must be seen for what it is. It is a litter problem along with all the filth and litter we encounter. Whilst the plastic bag issue merits the national priority that it is enjoying, one can similarly wage a war on paper products, cans, glass and tyres. An integrated waste management strategy is needed wherein plastic bags, all the other litter problems, and incentive-linked recycling projects must be situated and be accorded relative priority. We cannot wait two or three years to implement an integrated national waste management policy.
I turn to the issue of 4x4 vehicles, and note the Minister's public statement in this regard. Whilst I feel just as strongly about 4x4 vehicles on our beaches as he does, I think that this matter has to be reconsidered. Instead of 4x4 vehicles being banned from the beaches, beaches should be graded according to their sensitivity and the impact the projected volume of 4x4 vehicles would have on that area. In some instances, one might opt for controlled access, and in others, no access whatsoever by 4x4 vehicles. A total ban is too blunt an instrument. [Interjections.] I fully endorse the hon the Minister's stance on industrial pollution. I agree that there is rampant lawlessness amongst industrial operators who pollute without regard. They tend to have the public relations machinery to sanitise their public image whilst their pollution affects the health of our children and degrades our environment. The sooner the regulations he is drafting sees the light of day, the better off we will be.
Related to this is the ubiquitous foreign investor. Whenever any decision is made on the environment, we are threatened that we will scare away one or other foreign investor. Whilst I acknowledge the importance of foreign investment, we cannot be held hostage to their demands, nor can we allow ourselves to become the dumping ground of their capital expenditure. Investment must be conducted in an environmentally sustainable manner, otherwise it will migrate anyway, but only after it has wreaked havoc in our land.
I am further pleased to see the Minister's support for local agenda 21 coming through and I trust with each successive budget more resources can be allocated to our obligations on agenda 21 issues. So, too, must our international obligations on biodiversity, climate change, transport of hazardous goods, nuclear waste, etc, be monitored and implemented.
Now I am done with the compliments. If ever there was a blot on the Minister's fine record in his portfolio up to now - and I say up to now, because I was encouraged by his words this morning - then it must be the fishing industry. It is time that the Minister concedes failure in the current marine resources management system and redesigns it. We in the Western Cape, where nearly 90% of the industry is concentrated, had the ear of the role-players, and can see that the present system is profoundly dysfunctional.
When one sees flagship empowerment initiatives being boasted about on the SABC news, and knows that a family member was a member of the Fisheries Transformation Council, then one does not need a private investigator to tell one that nepotism is rife. When the Deputy Minister stands up in Parliament and declares that the private investigator found nothing wrong, and a few days later one reads that the same private investigator is threatening to go public and uncover compromising information, then the system is seriously and profoundly corrupt. [Interjections.]
Look at the so-called transformation in the industry which is almost synonymous with an old cronies club. Very poor and desperate people are suffering because the ruling party is keen to dish out patronage. This is wrong. Please bring an end to it. If Minister Kader Asmal can rethink Curriculum 2005, then the Minister can redesign the quota system. Perhaps it is time to consider sharing the responsibility of marine and coastal management with the other spheres of government.
Finally, environmentalists understand the difficulties that are inherent in this portfolio. The Minister has done much to raise the profile of sustainable environmental management in this country. The challenge will be to see whether the legacy of this new approach will be one that meets the profile.
The Minister and I share a common vision. We will work together to realise this vision, but we will agree to differ over issues where the environment is used as a political football. The environmental challenges facing us are much bigger than the politics of the day. Let us not lose sight of the bigger picture. [Applause.]