Hon Deputy Speaker, Deputy President, Ministers and members, the Integrated Coastal Management Amendment Bill is for all practical reasons an improvement on the 2008 Integrated Coastal Management Act, a positive move that innovatively gives greater powers regarding coastal protection.
It amends powers relating to leases, inclusive of transitional arrangements, and draws specific attention to offences and the increase in penalties. Cope is encouraged by the legal and obligatory responsibilities it provides for, and the attempts it makes regarding correction and clarification of terminology, which make this Bill friendlier.
We appreciate the recognition of the public participation processes, and thus the inclusion of the coastal protection zone, which was previously omitted.
It is progressive and encouraging in the right direction, in protecting our environment and resources, and seeks clarity regarding coastal waters.
While it is essential to regulate and set the criteria for the environmental impact assessment applications for coastal activities, Cope notes, for the sake of future good governance relations, that it is equally important to undertake a study of the real effects of these changes. We also need a responsive database on offenses and penalties and a clear undertaking of court jurisdiction. Notwithstanding this, the Bill is an improvement and Cope thanks the Minister for her foresight.
One of the objectives of the Air Quality Amendment Bill is to align the establishment of the national Air Quality Advisory Committee with the requirements of the National Environmental Management Act of 1998. If we remember, last November we debated the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill, the Nemla Bill, giving the Minister political and legal powers to take action against other government departments regarding violations of environmental issues.
These issues often affect our people, resulting in serious health consequences. In rural areas of South Africa waste collection is almost nonexistent. In urban areas children are dying as a result of the illegal dumping of waste chemicals. Other pollution activities include the contamination of water, and pollutants as a result of illegal mining. Cope supports the insertion of section 22A and urges the Minister to act swiftly, using this law to halt the destruction of the environment, specifically in the Mpumalanga area.
For the first time the International Agency for Research on Cancer has declared that air pollution is a carcinogen, alongside known dangers such as asbestos, tobacco and ultraviolet radiation. Emissions of soot and other air pollutants are also blamed for causing climate change. Pollution poisons plants and can block sunlight, stunting their growth. The Bill, when implemented, will protect our health and aid crop growth in areas like Mpumalanga, where farming is affected by illegal mining activity.
In the communities in the South Durban townships of Wentworth, Merebank and the Bluff, who are in close proximity to the oil refineries, ambient air pollution reporting will come in handy. This Bill will bring the environmental justice that has eluded these communities from the apartheid era to this day. They have been bearing the health costs associated with the petrochemical industry. These include high levels of asthma, severe chest complaints and cancer. This Bill will help them monitor the air quality and then give them the tools to take appropriate action.
The purpose of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Amendment Bill is to give effect to the presidential proclamation, separating the functions of fisheries and environmental management by removing the marine protected areas from the Marine Living Resources Act and incorporating the marine protected areas into the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act. Therefore, the amending Bill focuses on the incorporation of marine protected areas into the existing protected areas regime. The Bill also provides for the protection and conservation of ecologically viable areas representative of South Africa's biological diversity and its natural landscapes and seascapes; the establishment of a national register of all national, provincial and local protected areas for the management of those areas in accordance with national norms and standards; and intergovernmental co-operation and public consultation in matters concerning protected areas.
Without a systematic approach under one Ministry, this Bill will float between departments and may become the subject of unique and different interpretations. We must remain vigilant.
Cope supports all the Bills. These Bills may not be embraced with the same passion and interest that Minister Pravin Gordhan's Budget Speeches are. However, I can assure you, without the protection of our air quality, water and environment, the most grandiose of budgets won't matter.
I would also like to acknowledge the cohesion of this committee under the chairmanship of the hon De Lange. I believe we worked well together to create these results today, and, of course, I am not forgetting the work of the department.
Finally, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt:
Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.
I thank you. [Applause.]