Hon Minister and Deputy Minister, Chairperson and hon members, sustainability is the key to preventing or reducing the effect of environmental issues. There is now clear scientific evidence that humanity is living unsustainably and that a collective effort is needed to return the human use of natural resources to within sustainable limits. For humans to live sustainably, the earth's resources must be used at a rate at which they can be replenished.
In other countries, concerns for the environment have prompted the formation of green parties - political parties that seek to address environmental issues. In South Africa, though, the ANC-led government has realised that a developmental agenda has to underpin sustainable development.
Increasingly, the concept of sustainable development is shifting from a purely environmental issue to a more social issue. The right to development is crucial for developing countries, and sustainable development not about stopping growth. The Rio Declaration, produced after the Earth Summit in June 1983, has a theme of sustainable development running through it. The 1987 Brundtland Commission first defined sustainable development as, and I quote, "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
To achieve the principles underpinning the Brundtland Commission definition highlighted above, all countries need to meet the following four objectives at the same time. First is social progress that recognises the needs of everyone. Second is the effective protection of the environment. Third is the prudent use of natural resources. Last is the maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment. Irrespective of ideologies, "environmentalism" is still key. From loss of biodiversity and ecosystems to ozone depletion, fossil-fuel use, overuse of nitrogen fertilisers, invasion of alien species, acid rain, deforestation and forest fires, global warming and water stress, this issue is complex and all-encompassing.
Therefore, as we robustly debate the Budget Vote of the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs, environmentalism within a developmental agenda is critical.
South Africa has ensured that within the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa environmental rights are also key for all citizens. The constitutional mandate of the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs is to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations through reasonable legislative and other measures. This has culminated in the formulation and adoption of several environmental laws.
The work of the department traverses a wide and complex range of issues, from conservation, air quality, environmental management, biodiversity to integrated coastal management and climate change. Looking further at some of the issues listed above, we need to understand that they are not short- term goals. These are all long-term goals, involving a recurring set of activities that evolve over time to address specific environmental problems in the process of realising the environmental goal. Implicitly, the above issues cannot be dealt with holistically in one financial year alone. For example, ensuring the protection, conservation and enhancement of environmental assets and of natural and heritage resources are long-term priorities requiring intergenerational and intergovernmental actions.
In focusing on environmentalism within a developmental agenda, I wish to focus on job creation in the waste-management sector and the importance of biodiversity and conservation. Concern over environmental degradation has recently reached an all-time high in South Africa and elsewhere. One strategic opportunity for creating jobs in the environmental sector lies in the field of municipal solid waste management.
As a major developing country, South Africa produces a considerable amount of solid waste. For example, nationally it produces an average of 8 864 000 tonnes of domestic waste per annum, let alone industrial and other categories of waste. As land filling, the traditional form of waste disposal, becomes more expensive due to closure and stricter operating requirements, recycling has become a proven waste disposal alternative. It is indisputable that thousands of South Africans earn their living from waste management activities, although it is difficult to quantify precisely the number of jobs in this industry due to ongoing value-addition activities in the waste industry.
In South Africa, the focus on waste management and job creation has been facilitated by the ANC-led government's emphasis on service delivery, together with local economic development programmes and poverty alleviation projects. With the increase in economic development came an increase in commercial, industrial, hazardous, mining, power-generation and radioactive waste, all of which have to be regulated and managed under the various pieces of legislation crafted by the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs. Today, however, we have a specific law dealing with waste management, which is the National Environmental Management Waste Act of 2008.
South Africa continues to face critical challenges in the waste management sector, such as the lack of available or current waste management information from all sectors, illegal dumping and illegal dump sites, salvaging at waste disposal facilities, use of unpermitted landfills by municipalities, etc. We need to acknowledge that, nevertheless, these challenges have not hampered South Africa's unwavering belief that effective waste management has positive effects on the economy. For example, job creation initiatives have resulted from the reclamation, recycling and reuse of waste, which have increased income in the poorer sections of the population.
With increasing unemployment, many people in South Africa are finding alternative ways to generate income. To promote this, the government, which in this particular case is the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs, sought to combine service delivery with local economic development and poverty alleviation initiatives in the waste-management sector. This resulted in the inception of Buyisa-e-Bag Company, which was established in 2003 as a section-21 company to recycle plastic-bag waste.
The Buyisa-e-Bag company is an effective implementation agency for the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs as far as waste management is concerned. It is in this regard that the department funds the activities of Buyisa-e-Bag, for which an amount of R35 million has been allocated in the current financial year, or the 2010-11 budget. Buyisa-e-Bag's scope is not limited to plastic bags only.
It suffices to state further that the department's commitment to effective service delivery and poverty eradication in the waste-management sector is shown by the increased budget allocation to the waste-management company. Buyisa-e-Bag received a nominal allocation of R5 million in addition to the 2009-10 financial year allocation of R30 million. This reflects a real increase of R2,8 million, which translates to a 9,3% real increase in budget allocation. Thus, waste management is indeed emerging as a key industry for sustainable development in South Africa.
In relation to the Biodiversity and Conservation Programme, the budget cut of about R30 million in real terms does not match the true value of this programme. In any case, the programme contains some of South Africa's flagship conservation areas, like the world-renowned Kruger National Park, which attracts tourists from all over the globe. In fact, South Africa owes its good reputation as a biodiversity-conserving country to the successful management of this programme in the past years. Thus it is of great concern that the expenditure of this important programme declined by 7,5% in real terms relative to 2009-10 expenditure. The imminent threat of climate change to biodiversity does not justify this budget cut.
The success of environmental programmes such as biodiversity, conservation, renewable energy in the face of climate change, and pollution management, among other things, mainly depends on funding and good programme management. However, in South Africa, as elsewhere, we seem to be heading towards a public spending spree. Moreover, doing more with less has already become a familiar rallying cry in the Public Service.
In conclusion, a long-term approach to planning and decision-making is necessary to harmonise the goals of economic prosperity and environmental sustainability. The focus on meeting both the needs of present and future generations requires the formulation of long-term policy priorities for the environmental sector.
In fact, environmental management is about understanding environmental change and its consequences, as well as finding remedies to those consequences. Meeting some of the policy priorities of the department requires citizens to adopt sustainable lifestyles, incorporating a range of behavioural responses, from energy saving and water conservation to waste recycling and green consumption. These changes are also key to the work of public representatives. Therefore, the ANC supports the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]