Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, be assured, hon Minister, of some extra minutes, because there is no negative criticism that I should respond to.
Since the arrival of democracy in South Africa, the ANC's vision and position on environmental issues have been consistent. That vision has sought to embrace a transformative environmentalism based upon the idea of sustainable development, which is built upon the interconnection of environmental, social and economic justice. It is this vision that has informed the various policies, programmes and actions of this government since 1994. Acting together with other progressive forces, the ANC ensured that environmental rights are firmly entrenched in our Constitution so that both individuals and communities are able to defend their right to a safe, sound environment.
This constitutional base has provided the framework and orientation for a variety of laws. Our vision of the future includes a sustainable economy where all South Africans, present and future generations, realise their right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing.
The resolutions on the environment taken by the ANC at its Polokwane conference in December 2007 have placed our country on a historic path in its objective to get our country working towards realising our developmental goals of halving poverty and unemployment, thereby firmly entrenching environmental justice as an integral part of the national democratic revolution.
I'd like to touch on two interlinking aspects of environmental problems that closely affect citizens of our country, namely land degradation and waste management. First is the degradation of our natural resources and biodiversity, which are not only components of a priceless heritage but also fundamental to our very existence. We need not be reminded that poverty, displacement, hunger, land degradation and climate change are threats to this heritage. Land degradation affects about two-thirds of the world's agricultural land. It is predicted that by 2032 half of the world will be short of water and that 70% of our land surface will be urbanised. As a result, agricultural productivity will decline sharply, while the number of mouths to feed continues to grow. In Africa, millions of people are threatened with starvation. We must increase agricultural productivity and reverse human encroachment on forests, grasslands and wetlands.
In South Africa, land degradation is mainly the result of the injustice of centuries where land was alienated from the indigenous people. This occurred through conquest, trickery and ideology, resulting in the eventual overcrowding and degradation of communal areas. On the other hand, the advent of high-tech mechanisation has led to environmental and land degradation owing to deep tillage that put a strain on our water resources and energy. Unfortunately and sadly, it is the poor who suffer most from these environmental problems, since it is they who have inadequate access to natural resources.
The second aspect relates to waste management, more specifically to medical waste. You will remember the horror when the Green Scorpions recently found about 20 tons of medical waste, including drips, dirty bandages, used hypodermic needles and other sharp instruments, at an unused Harmony Gold Mine in the Free State. This formed part of the Green Scorpions' ongoing investigation into a waste-management company which has been implicated in the illegal dumping of medical waste. Investigators also discovered medical waste at a Welkom brick factory, the town show grounds and a private game farm.
There are complex links between poverty, wealth, environment, land degradation and waste management in South Africa. These impact directly on the quality of life of our people, including in the following ways: it is the wealthy who produce the most waste and consume the most resources, particularly water and energy. It is the poor who live close to waste dumps and mine dumps and are forced to drink unpotable water from lack of choice. It's the poor who experience poor waste management. It is them who live with air pollution in their homes from smoking "iimbawula" [braziers] and who have raw sewerage running down their streets. Much environmental degradation is the result of the overconsumption of resources and the overproduction of waste by a minority of rich consumers, who mostly live in urban areas.
The contrast between those who consume and waste too much and those who have too little is apparent in South Africa, which has a high level of inequality. We are a striking example of the concept of environmental injustices where, as a consequence of unbalanced power relations, the poor often largely bear the cost of unsustainable and unjust practices.
The relationship between poverty and environment often appear as self- perpetuating cycles. For example, many poor rural South Africans are living on inferior and degraded land and in their attempt to make a living they contribute to the downgrading of their environment. The impoverished environment makes their poverty worse, which in turn puts more pressure on the environment. Such cycles are hard to break and even more difficult to reverse, and they move us away from sustainable development. These are some of the problems to be solved by the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs.
Environmental impact assessments, the so-called EIAs, are implemented to prevent the degradation of our precious land, while relevant legislation is applied to prevent or curtail illegal and uncontrolled waste dumping. 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 legislation and other measures. This constitutional directive has led to the formulation and adoption of several environmental laws.
In line with its vision of creating a prosperous and equitable society living in harmony with the natural environment, the department's key strategic priorities includes the following: the protection, conservation and enhancement of environmental assets, natural and heritage resources; ensuring a sustainable and healthy environment; contributing to sustainable economic growth, livelihoods and social cohesion; providing leadership of climate-change action; promoting skills development and employment creation through facilitating green and inclusive economic growth; creating a better Africa and a better world by advancing national environmental interests through a global sustainable developmental agenda.
The 2010 state of the nation address clearly articulated the ANC-led government's responsibility for the wise governance of the environmental sector. It was explicitly pointed out that the government would ensure that South Africa's environmental assets and natural resources are well protected and improved upon on a sustainable basis.
Although South Africa has wide-ranging environmental legislation, growing economic demands on environmental resources by population growth and associated poverty in rural areas, the need to provide for basic human needs and to alleviate poverty strongly influences the country's priorities and policies and hence its ability to meet its environmental goals. Budgets keep departments accountable and ensure that the expenditure of public funds achieve its intended policy outcomes, ultimately improving the welfare of our people. They link the policy choices that government makes with the services that are delivered to people. Better budgeting plays an important role in improving service delivery.
Given the shortfall in government revenue collection and the pressure on the available resources of the fiscus, it is understandable that this year's budget preparation focused extensively on finding savings within the departmental baselines and on redirecting expenditure towards key priorities within these institutions. Savings which affected all departments and some of the environmental affairs programmes arose from effecting changes in public-sector spending habits and instituting cost- cutting measures.
The budget allocation to the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs grew from R2,2 billion in 2009-10 to R2,6 billion in 2010-11, reflecting a real growth rate of 8,9%. This also reflects an increase in real expenditure of about R200 million over the last financial year. However, this increased expenditure on the environment does not necessarily mean that the South African environment is safe from the many complex factors that impinge on the sustainability of environmental resources or assets. Closer scrutiny of the budget reveals that the newly introduced climate- change programme accounts for much of the expenditure ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]