Hon Chairperson of this session, hon Deputy Minister, hon chairperson of the portfolio committee, Adv De Lange, hon members of the portfolio committee, colleagues and Members of Parliament, all the chief executives and members of the board of public entities, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I stand here before you almost a month before our country's democratic local government elections, in which South Africans will elect local government representatives of their choice. Hon members, the fact that our country will be holding these elections, our fourth since the dawn of freedom and democracy in 1994, points to the resilience of our democratic dispensation which guarantees, among others, freedom, equality and dignity for all. The forthcoming local government elections mark yet another step we are taking as a nation to consolidate and defend the gains of our democratic order.
Hon Chair, of significance to us as the Department of Environmental Affairs in these elections is that the local sphere of government is indeed critical to the sustainable development and management of our environment and natural resources. We say this because the sustainable development and management of our environment and natural resources constitute a concurrent function shared among the national, provincial and local spheres of government. We must therefore work together to build the capacity of all spheres of our government, especially local government, in order to ensure that we improve management of our environment and natural resources.
Hon Chairperson, we inhabit a country that is the envy of most people globally. Indeed, ours is a megadiverse country of immense natural beauty that has an abundance of natural mineral, fossil, cultural and biological resources, matched only by its people. That signifies a true rainbow nation indeed. This rich environmental heritage sustains many ecosystem services that are the very foundation of our South African livelihood and economy. Tragically, hon Chairperson, this rich natural treasure is being lost or threatened by unsustainable development practices.
It is disturbing to note that over 50% of our wetland ecosystems have been destroyed. In addition, over 80% of our river systems are threatened, and we rank among the world's top 20 greenhouse gas-emitting countries. Alongside Nigeria we are the biggest gas emitters on the continent.
Whilst we note that developments of this nature are indeed necessary, and a good sign for a developing country - that there is indeed something happening within the country - we believe that there is a need to do something about taking care of our environment. Unless we change to a more sustainable development path where we manage and protect these natural resources, we may not have anything left for current and future generations and this will be contrary to section 24 of our Constitution.
Part of what we must do in this regard is to instil in our people the understanding that the need for development and caring for the environment are not mutually exclusive. As part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the management of our biodiversity, we will this year be publishing a national biodiversity assessment report, and we thank the SA Management Development Institute, Samdi. The report will give us an indication of the status of threatened ecosystems in our country, inclusive of terrestrial, marine, estuarine and fresh water systems.
Further to that, the Southern Ocean provides for special oceanography and marine biodiversity. The scientific data that is collected from Antarctica and during voyages is critical to our understanding of, among other things, the impact of climate change and weather information associated with extreme events.
The Department of Environmental Affairs is progressing with the construction of a new vessel, SA Agulhas II, to replace the old SA Agulhas 1. I am pleased to announce the name of this new state-of-the-art vessel, which is - as I have said - SA Agulhas II. The vessel will be dedicated to a South African hero/heroine whose name will be announced after an engagement with the family concerned has been concluded.
Hon members, the speedy pace of development since 1994 is necessary, but should not be to the detriment of our environment. As a country, we must strive to maintain a balance between development and environmental conservation.
Hon members, like many other countries of the world, the number one threat to our long-term sustainable development, economic growth and quality of life is related to the impacts of climate change. Climate change is already a reality! Its early impacts can be seen in declining agricultural production, higher food prices and food insecurity, which are felt most severely in developing countries like ours.
We note that the New Growth Path adopted by government offers the opportunity to build new green economic sectors which create decent jobs, and also grow our economy and develop international economic competitiveness. Working together, we must ensure that our response to climate change seizes these new growth opportunities presented by the global effort to address climate change.
Hon members, President Jacob Zuma announced prior to the Copenhagen United Nations Climate Change Conference, which was held in December 2009, that South Africa would implement nationally appropriate mitigation actions which would result in the reduction of our carbon emissions by 34% by 2020 and by 42% by 2025, subject to availability and support in regard to technology, capacity-building and finance.
As a department, working together with the people of South Africa, we are ready to give practical meaning to this commitment. Consequently, our National Climate Change Response Policy is nearing completion and we will present the Climate Change White Paper for Cabinet approval later this year.
This evolving policy outlines our vision for an effective climate change response and our transition to a climate-resilient and low-carbon economy and society. Hon members, from 28 November to 9 December this year our country will host the United Nations Climate Change Conferences - two conferences in one - in Durban. At these conferences the international and national response to climate change will become the focus of attention of all participants.
As host, South Africa will use her participation in these conferences to seek a globally acceptable agreement that supports sustainable development while at the same time addressing the challenge of climate change. We are also in the process of putting together a Climate Expo that will provide a platform to showcase what is being done here locally in South Africa - local is "lekker" - in order to address the challenge of climate change.
Hon members, last year we hosted a summit on the green economy. The summit led to a better understanding and appreciation of the green economy concept in the South African context. Flowing from this summit, an implementation plan for the environment sector's contribution to the green economy was developed. This plan will be implemented through local and international partnerships, with green investments supported by domestic funding from the National Treasury's Green Fund, as well as international funding flowing through facilities such as the World Bank's Clean Technology Fund and the newly established Green Climate Fund. Our contribution as an environment sector is 47 000 jobs, whilst we look forward to creating over 300 000 jobs across departments. Hon members, we wish once more to reaffirm that the environment sector is a major contributor to job creation, and the fight against poverty as well. Over 10 000 people are employed in our national parks as conservation officers, as well as in the hospitality facilities. Even more people are employed in the various provincial parks and more than 2 000 of these are in private game farms across the country.
As part of the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, we are implementing various Natural Resources Management and Social Responsibility programmes. These include programmes such as: Working for Water, Working on Fire and Working for Wetlands, as well as Working for Coasts and People for Parks. In the 2011-12 financial year, through these programmes, we plan to provide almost 5 million person-days of employment, a substantial increase from the 3 million person-days achieved in the last financial year. Those who are able to calculate this have told us that if it were equivalent to full-time jobs, it would be 20 833.
Our Working for Wetlands programme was able to rehabilitate 427 wetlands, which created close to 10 000 short-term work opportunities for people from vulnerable and marginalised communities. As pivotal as the job creation abilities of these programmes are, it is important that we also emphasise that these programmes have many other positive social and economic benefits.
I take this opportunity to salute the 20 Working on Fire firefighters who are present here today. They are all in yellow and some of them are in the other room. The young women and men who are here with us are very fit, disciplined and distinctively branded. [Applause.] I am also aware that the director-general and her team are training to be part of our fire-fighting capacity. They also tried to recruit me as I was walking in, but I said that the director-general go first and I would see when she came back. [Laughter.]
Hon members, going forward, we'll integrate all our "working for" programmes. In terms of this new approach, we will advertise all the EPWP job opportunities nationally, as well as opportunities for co-operatives provided by these programmes. We will also publicly announce the number of people we will take into the various programmes, namely, "Working for Waste Management and Recycling", "Greening our Parks", "Working for Water" and "Working for Wetlands". The Deputy Minister will take care of these programmes and I know that she will run with them, as she has energy.
This approach will ensure that we co-ordinate these programmes centrally, and determine norms and standards for working conditions, payment levels and registration, and support to those co-operatives, which must develop into business entities.
Hon members, we plan to introduce this new approach during this financial year. To this end we have already amalgamated all the various "working for" programme units, and a business plan is being developed in this regard. It has been signed off by the Minister in the Department of the Public Service and Administration, DPSA, and it will go to the Department of Environmental Affairs.
Hon members, we are saddened by the alarming rate at which our rhino population is being decimated by bandits and poachers operating with military precision. We are disturbed that from 1 April 2010 to date a total of 382 rhinos have been poached, of which 196 were poached in the Kruger National Park. Of these, 65 were poached between January and March 2011 alone.
To respond to this scourge we have, together with our stakeholders, developed a holistic approach to confronting the challenge of rhino poaching. In particular, we have adopted an integrated approach that will mobilise resources from the various anti-crime units in the country. Our approach also includes working together with the Defence Force, the SA Revenue Service and the SA Police Service. We have also established a Biodiversity Enforcement Unit tasked with the co-ordination and monitoring of compliance with our biodiversity legislation and associated regulations, norms and standards. Hon members, our partnership with key security institutions and other relevant departments, especially with regard to priority crimes such as rhino poaching, continues to yield results. We have also engaged the Department of Justice on the question of fast-tracking the prosecution of environmental crimes, dedicating special time to these cases.
Hon members, we are committed to a sustainable and responsible developmental approach which supports economic growth, combats poverty and creates jobs. As part of this commitment, we have put in place a new and improved environmental impact assessment, EIA, and management regime. In addition, we are moving towards alternative approaches to environmental impact management. These interventions take a more strategic view of development and dispel the myth that impact assessment and management tools are barriers to development.
Hon members, there has been a concerted effort by the department to move towards an integrated permitting system. The department already has fully integrated waste and environmental impact assessment permitting processes and some provinces have also followed suit. There are also plans to extend the one-stop process approach to the Department of Water Affairs' permitting process - for water licences - and in time we should actually be able to do this with the Department of Water Affairs.
Hon members, the Waste Act will allow us to address some of the challenges we have been grappling with for decades. This Act will also ensure that we institute mechanisms for waste avoidance, minimisation, re-use, recycling and recovery, and appropriate licensing, collection and storage requirements, as well as environmentally sound treatment and disposal of problematic waste streams. We are aware of the problems that we are currently experiencing in the area of medical waste and in this regard we will really endeavour to do our best and ensure that we deal with this area effectively going forward, and there is certainty regarding this.
Hon members, as I conclude, I want to point out that the budget we are presenting here today is actually a policy presentation that, firstly, reaffirms very ambitious and achievable targets on climate change mitigation and adaptation. There is also the unique opportunity to host a productive and successful Conference of the Parties, COP 17, and we have highlighted this. We will be ready to engage in detail with hon members on this and we are happy that we have dealt with this issue in the consultations with reference to the Green Paper. We have also presented our aggressive forward march to the green economy and job creation outcomes and, last but not least, we stand firm on intervening and bringing to book those responsible for crimes against our environment. We have what it takes to achieve these goals, and with your support we are guaranteed success. Hon members, I would like to thank various members, starting with the Deputy Minister, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi. Then there are the board members and staff, the members of the public entities that fall under the department and the related ones that work with us, and the Director-General Ms Nosipho Ngcaba and her team for the commitment they continue to show in the attainment of our strategic objectives.
I would also like to thank the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs, Adv Johnny de Lange, and all hon members of the committee for their support and robust engagements. We say to you, "Yes, continue to be robust!" That is what makes us strong. But more importantly, thank you for driving the Green Paper consultations process with such diligence. We appreciate the oversight role that you have played and look forward to working with you. We thank all of you. We also recognise our former Minister, who is here today. She is my twin, as we were born on the same day and at the same time, but in different places and hospitals. [Applause.] Thank you very much! [Applause.]