Hon Members of Parliament, chief executive officers of public entities, nongovernmental organisations, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, the work of our department finds resonance and relevance in the South African Constitution. The Constitution calls for measures that promote conservation and secure ecological sustainable development and the use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development. Furthermore, it emphasises the protection of the environment for the benefit of present and future generations. However, our dynamic Constitution will remain only a piece of paper unless its promises are translated into actions, and we will try with all our might to answer its call.
Our nation must look forward to improved levels of service delivery in waste management, pollution, air quality, adaptation to the impacts of climate change, biodiversity and conservation as well as transverse programmes focusing on empowering vulnerable women, youth, children, the elderly and people with disabilities.
I'm sure that hon Zikalala - oh, she is gone - will be happy to know that our department intends to break new ground in the implementation of its waste-management policies and legislation through the implementation of the Waste Act, which came into effect in July last year. It signalled a radical shift from the traditional waste-management regime in that it seeks to address waste challenges by instituting mechanisms of waste avoidance, minimisation, re-use, recycling, recovery, appropriate collection and transport services, and environmentally sound treatment and disposal. I'm echoing what the hon Bhengu has just said.
The Act will allow us to drive a recycling economy, with the municipalities expected to be central to the effective management of waste. This will further contribute to job-creation potential, with the emphasis on waste- collection initiatives involving communities. Of course, small, medium and micro enterprises, SMMEs, and the recycling business will develop to strengthen the Buyisa-e-Bag company, which we alluded to. Hon Bhengu, that is being strengthened. Also, Indalo Yethu is leading the Education Awareness Programme, which is aimed at changing the mind-sets, behaviour and attitude of our people towards the environment.
We are extending the clean-up campaign to the borders we share with Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and Mozambique. We are already done with Zimbabwe and Lesotho. These initiatives are also used to highlight other critical environmental issues, including climate change, air quality and the need for the continent to forge strong links in matters relating to sustainable development.
With the 2010 Fifa World Cup just 55 days away, it is critical that every South African notes their rights and responsibilities in ensuring that we prepare our cities by cleaning them, for our own benefit and that of the millions of soccer lovers who will descend on our shores. Their arrival in a clean and green South Africa will create a lasting legacy.
Hon members, the department has developed a National Waste Management Strategy, which, among others, seeks to respond to challenges in respect of specific categories of waste and describes the application of different instruments for each waste category. The strategy will guide how we reduce the amount of waste generated, recover materials where possible, recycle and re-use waste. This year we will be setting recycling targets, which will help us monitor the rate at which we are implementing the waste hierarchy and, especially, diverting waste from landfills by, for example, reducing the levels of unauthorised waste management practices across the country, particularly as it relates to the use of unauthorised waste disposal facilities or sites.
We will also be training landfill site managers across the country to ensure that we build capacity to institute very basic operational management practices at most of the municipal waste disposal sites. We don't want our people to be humiliated scavengers. They should be the ones who are trained first in order that they do it in a proper, healthy way. If we separate waste at source, we won't have that problem.
I am happy to announce that we will be taking to Cabinet a policy on Free Basic Refuse Removal that seeks to extend the provision of free basic refuse removal services to indigent families in the country. This will control the growing number of illegal dumping sites created by such communities in the absence of a viable policy regime.
We have a National Co-ordinating Committee which involves a number of other departments on issues relating to chemicals in order to facilitate the implementation of the multilateral environmental agreements that regulate the handling, including export and import, and control of chemicals. South Africa is one of the eight countries participating in the Africa Stockpiles Programme. It is funded by the World Bank and is aimed at getting rid of expired pesticides and fertilisers. We are working closely with industry, because they have to take responsibility for sustaining this intervention.
Regarding medical waste, a number of companies that are involved in the treatment of medical waste have recently been found to be noncompliant with standard operating guidelines. As a result the department is taking hard decisions on closing down such non-compliant facilities. We are aware of the embedded corruption in tendering for these services in hospitals, and this will be uprooted.
Last year, we pledged our commitment to take forward the implementation of the National Environment Management: Air Quality Act and step up its enforcement measures to ensure that polluters comply with this legislation. I am happy to report that the coming into full effect of the new National Air Environment Management: Quality Act on 1 April 2010 has heralded the emergence of a piece of legislation that is outcome driven. In December 2009, we published the overall measure of this outcome: the revised Ambient Air Quality Standards.
In terms of focused interventions in respect of pollution hot spots, 2009 saw the Air Quality Management Plan for the Vaal Triangle Air-shed Priority Area being promulgated and the initiation of the development of the Highveld Priority Area Air Quality Management Plan. We are pleased with the progress to date, with just under 30 provincial and municipal air-quality management plans completed, under implementation or nearing completion.
We will not achieve cleaning our air if we ignore the pollution in our townships and informal settlements that emanates from coal being their source of energy. This also impacts on their health. We are rolling out the Clean Fires Campaign, Basa Njengo Magogo, as part of our effort to introduce a method of fire-making that reduces smoke by 80%.
On the occasion of the celebration of the World Meteorological Day on 23 March 2010, the department, together with the South African Weather Service, launched the first phase of the South African Air Quality Information System. This system provides all South Africans with access to information on the quality of the ambient air that they are breathing. Already over 40 stations are reporting to it around the country, including full coverage of the national priority areas, the national air pollution hot spots, and we hope to double this number in the next few years.
Hon members, with 80% of marine pollution emanating from land, we are ready to implement the National Programme of Action for land-based sources of pollution, while refining our strategies for combating marine pollution from oil spills. Furthermore, we are also developing guidelines for water- quality standards to improve water-quality management.
Somebody referred to pollution by mine water that produces radiation. We are working together - I don't know who else we are working with, because it's environment and water. We have a committee. For example, if you go to Wonderfonteinspruit, you will find we have a project there.
The department is committed to the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of indigenous biological resources. The Regulatory System has been designed to facilitate this process and, as such, applicants who fully comply with these provisions will be successful.
Our national parks must be considered as more than mere areas of beauty and wonder; they are also a resource for the country. I will not dwell on the biological contribution of the parks to clean air, water and environment.
The Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit-sharing regulation will continue to be a key instrument in furthering sustainable utilisation and the flowing of benefits to communities. To date we have reviewed 43 permit applications to conduct bioprospecting activities involving indigenous biological resources. With these permit applications, considerable benefits will flow to the communities who are the owners of resources and associated traditional or indigenous knowledge. They will be actively involved as communities.
The expansion of protected areas is also important within the borders of the country, and in planning to achieve a scientifically based expansion plan. The National Protected Area Expansion Strategy has been developed and approved and the published strategy will soon be distributed to interested and affected parties. This strategy does not only focus on the expansion of the protected area on government-owned land but also focuses on private properties in priority biodiversity areas. The Biodiversity Stewardship Programme is a tool developed to achieve the expansion of the conservation estate on private land as well as the sustainable utilisation of resources in the productive landscape. This programme is already implemented in two provinces and four others have already established mechanisms for implementation.
The department will host the fourth National Dialogue on People and Parks in August this year. I hope this time members of this portfolio committee will attend. The purpose of the dialogue is to evaluate progress made by management authorities with the People and Parks Action Plan in pushing back the frontiers of poverty by extending benefits beyond the boundaries of protected areas, in line with the World Parks Congress Durban Accord. This initiative is specifically aimed at rolling out a training programme to 900 beneficiaries over a three-year period.
We have embarked on a process to adopt a new protocol on land-based sources of marine pollution under the Amended Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Western Indian Ocean, which we usually call WIO-LaB. Under this new and innovate protocol for the region South Africa will be obligated to take even stronger action against point and non-point sources of coastal pollution and those activities which cause the destruction of our coastal habitats. We have already identified seven sites, and South Africa has one of the sites in Hamburg.
Our work on climate change will continue to prioritise the need to identify and address the negative impacts that are likely to be experienced, especially by our poor.
This year the South African Weather Service will implement the South African Flash Flood Guidance System in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Centre in order to reduce the impact in loss of life and property.
In addition, we will prioritise environmentally sustainable natural resource management, including land rehabilitation and the extension of programmes such as Working for Water, Working on Fire and Working for Wetlands, as well as greening the environment through planting indigenous trees and through sustainable food production, especially at the local level.
Earlier this year, South Africa designated the 20th Wetland of International Importance, which was also its seventh in KwaZulu-Natal province - Mam' Zikalala, you always go away when I talk about you. The Ntsikeni Nature Reserve, located in an area rich in wetlands, is one of the largest high-altitude wetlands in South Africa and has undergone the least ecological change due to the protective measures in place as a nature reserve.
As our response to the Expanded Public Works Programme, while also addressing the need for cleaner technologies, we launched the Kuyasa Clean Development Mechanism Project last year, in Khayelitsha. The project involves the installation of solar-energy heaters, the retrofitting of compact fluorescent light bulbs and the introduction of ceiling insulation. A total of 2 000 homes will benefit from this initiative. The project aims to reduce fossil-fuel-based consumption, and hence carbon-dioxide emissions - I'm sure South Africa is, globally, the first to do this in terms of the Kyoto project.
Our department will be pro-active in developing and implementing programmes to empower women, young people and people with disabilities. During 2009, we worked tirelessly to establish women and environment forums in the nine provinces. The 2010 Women and the Environment Conference will serve as a platform to finalise provincial consultations. The conference will be held in August 2010, focusing on enhancing the role of South African women in leveraging economic opportunities from ecosystems services. South Africa, as a coach of the global network of women Ministers and leaders of the environment, will be launching the Africa Chapter. Therefore, although it will still be introduced officially, I invite all women to come. Men can attend too because it will be for the whole of Africa. We will be training trainers of women in relation to climate change. So, please, do come.
We are convinced that the priorities I outlined here respond to our nation's challenges. We are equal to the task at hand. I repeat my call: let all Members of Parliament become environmental ambassadors. I thank you.