Deputy Chairperson, members of the NCOP, hon Minister and Deputy Minister and guests, thank you for affording me the opportunity to address you on behalf of the honourable Anton Bredell, Minister of local government, environmental affairs and development planning of the Western Cape provincial government.
The national environmental strategic outcome has been defined as government having to "protect and to enhance our environmental assets and natural resources". This all-encompassing outcome has been adopted by the Western Cape department of environmental affairs and development planning within the ambit of strategic objective 7, as a working approach to addressing the environmental concerns specific to this province. This approach implies environmental service delivery without compromising the overall contribution in realising the commitment to ensure that citizens have the right to a clean and healthy environment.
Permit me to highlight significant milestones achieved by this department and provide a brief overview of what our intentions are as a means to improve service delivery through the administration of the environmental mandate.
With regard to water as a vulnerable resource, the department has been focusing on land-based pollution sources of the environment, particularly in terms of human activities that affect the quality of inland and coastal waters. A provincial programme of action has been established, and the department is also currently developing a Western Cape integrated water resource management plan.
Factors that impact on our water resources are, amongst other things, effluent discharges from waste water treatment works and industrial plants that may contain pollutants, such as heavy metals, faecal coliforms, or run- off from farms owing to agricultural activities in the form of highly organic fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides.
Such contaminated water can result in eutrophication owing to the high organic loads, or it can be a health hazard, as it may contain toxic chemicals or disease organisms, thereby making our water resources vulnerable to environmental degradation.
The following recommendations can be made in terms of protecting and managing our vulnerable water resources. There is a need for heavy metal studies to be conducted at estuaries and water resources where there is a threat of heavy metal contamination, especially where subsistence fishing is taking place. There is a need to investigate the impact of pesticides, herbicides and insecticides on the water quality in the estuaries and water resources. Setback lines to limit the impact caused by agricultural practices are required. Effluent standards should meet the water use licence conditions. Where septic tanks are leaking and polluting the ground water, the local authority has to intervene in terms of basic service delivery. In addition, accredited laboratories are required for testing saline water samples.
With regard to zoning schemes to accommodate renewable energy facilities, at present no provision is made in the individual municipal zoning schemes in the Western Cape for renewable energy facilities in the form of solar and wind energy. This type of development requires great parcels of land, and it is not anticipated that there are suitable areas of vacant land zoned for industrial purposes available within the urban edge. It is therefore anticipated that renewable energy and/or facilities will mostly be developed on agricultural zoned land.
Up until now, applications were considered as a temporary departure in terms of the zoning scheme. A temporary departure from land use is, however, only valid for a temporary period, with the result that investors have not been very keen to invest money in short-term projects. The proposal implies that their investments are secured for the lifespan of the facility and that permanent rights are allocated. On the other hand, farmers may benefit from using low-potential agricultural land for alternative uses as a supplement to their primary agricultural income.
The proposal will set a standard on how to evaluate applications of this nature and will set norms and standards which will be applicable for the province as a whole. The proposal is deemed to be the best long-term solution in rural areas and will ensure that no land use management problems will be experienced when the facilities are decommissioned.
We have also been developing a strategic assessment of sites suitable for wind energy facilities in the Western Cape. This will help to clarify the environmental impact assessment criteria used by decision-makers in assessing applications for wind energy farms, reduce uncertainty so as to discourage investment of resources in areas that may be unsuitable for wind energy developments, ensure a co-ordinated and sustainable approach to the development of wind farms that enhances the development of the renewable industry while not negatively impacting on other industries, such as tourism, and provide a balanced approach that will suit developers and communities at large.
With regard to waste management, the department is also in the process of drafting a waste management licensing plan, which will assist in ensuring that all waste management facilities in the province will be licensed to strengthen compliance monitoring and enforcement and ensure the rehabilitation and closure of waste management facilities. Furthermore, this will contribute towards the achievement of the national outcome 10 target to license 80% of the waste disposal facilities in the country by 2015.
To reach this target, extra funds will have to be secured for municipalities to enable them to license their operational and closed waste disposal facilities and to get their existing facilities in compliance, thereby minimising the impact on the environment and the health of people.
A further concern with regard to this is that municipal infrastructure grant, MIG, funds from district municipalities were taken away, and this has impacted very negatively on the regionalisation of waste disposal facilities and their licensing. This is a very important issue that will have to be addressed to ensure that the national outcome 10 target will be achieved by 2015.
With regard to sustainable energy, the first draft of the Bill has been submitted to legal services and the department - that is, internally only - for comment and vetting on 6 June 2011. The Bill will provide for provincial planning, that is both the department and the municipalities will be involved jointly in sustainable energy planning for the Bill. Planning will therefore be conducted jointly by the department and municipalities, reflecting the status quo of the sustainable practices in the province and forward planning with targets and bases.
It is intended that by addressing the manner in which households use and have access to energy, the energy poverty in this province can be addressed and improved, for example by providing and facilitating solar water geysers, as opposed to households utilising conventional geysers; by reducing the number of households using fires to cook or for warmth; by providing alternatives; and by providing electrification where necessary.
There are a number of ways to reduce energy poverty, but the underlying principle is to provide safe and more efficient use of energy. Thank you for listening to me today. [Applause.]