“We are all Responsible to Manage our Environment Better”
Climate Change Challenges
At the end of this year, South Africa will be hosting the United Nations international Conference on Climate Change, known as The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17), in eThekwini (Durban). Two years ago, in Copenhagen, the different countries could not come to an agreement on how to reduce the prospects of climate change and global warming. It is hoped that with our rich recent history of negotiations, dialogue and consensus, South Africa will provide fertile ground for an amicable global settlement.
For people the world over, this gathering is of crucial importance to the process of arresting climate change and global warming on a significant scale. Time is fast running out!Governments have to make meaningful commitments to reduce greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions if we are to preserve the heritage of future generations.
I’m not sure how you feel about the snowfalls for which Ceres has become famous! But that too is part of what makes your area what it is and you who you are. Now with climate change, over time, you might find you have hot, intense days in July! Just think of that! Of the effect it’ll have on the crops, animals, on you. This is what climate change is basically about. The scientists and other experts have long and detailed explanations about what climate change means. For us, here, right know, it basically means fundamental, long-term changes to weather patterns that would have very destructive consequences for life on this planet. We could experience major droughts in what is our rainy season and huge thunderstorms in our dry season.
For those living along the sea, the water levels are constantly slowly rising, and unless we deal with climate change, they will, in time, be swept away by floods.
So there will be hugely destructive consequences for human, animal and plant life.
There are many reasons for climate change, but basically, it’s happening because we abusing our natural resources and are destroying our environment. There are many ways we are doing this. This includes through burning what are called fossil fuels – gas, coal and oil, which we use in our work, our private lives and in public spaces. Every time we use these fuels we release carbon dioxide. In limited quantities, trees and plants can absorb this carbon dioxide. But we are burning so much fossil fuel these days and releasing so much carbon dioxide that the trees and plants just can’t absorb all of it. Also we are cutting down so many trees, which is making the situation worse.This then, very briefly, is our problem of carbon emissions.
These carbon emissions also interfere with what is called the greenhouse effect, which keeps temperatures on the planet balanced and within limits that make life possible. And because of these carbon emissions, the planet is getting warmer on average. If this continues the way it is, it will, in time to come, become intolerably hot. This, basically, is what is what is meant by global warming.
So unless we manage our environment better, in time to come, we will have very unpredictable weather, with huge extremes in temperature. The seasons, as we know them, will have disappeared. You in Ceres will have much to lose. Your famous fruit and fynbos will be destroyed. Your tourism industry will decline. You will have veld fires. And there will be many other negative consequences.
I’m not here trying to frighten you! I’m just pointing out what awaits you and me and everybody else if we just sit back and let things continue the way they are. And yet we can act to avoid these future disasters, not just for us, but also for our children and their children. So while we require urgent consensus on tackling climate change at a global level, it matters very much what we do locally. The Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) has launched the “Clean Cities and Towns Programme” as part of our Local Government Turnaround Strategy to address basic environmental challenges, in particular the active management of the spaces we stay in.
Clean Cities and Towns Programme
Today we have come to Witzenberg to launch the ”Clean Cities and Towns Programme”. Witzenberg has, as you may know, been identified as a Presidential Poverty Node and a target of the War on Poverty Campaign.The “Clean Cities and Towns” programme is part of government’s overall programmes to improve conditions in this municipality, especially the poor.
The programme brings opportunities for your open spaces to be kept clean. We are here to help you to beautify your spaces and take ownership of your environment
The aims of the “Clean Cities and Towns Programme” are to:
- Turn open spaces into parks.
- Plant trees to promote a green environment.
- Encourage communities to conduct clean-up campaigns to keep your environment clean.
- Promote environmental education so that our people litter less.
- Promote waste management through recycling.
- Create jobs through recycling so that glass, paper and other waste are sorted and used for creating wealth.
The programme seeks to reduce waste and extends the life of landfill sites. These landfill sites have to be managed better as they are a major source of releasing harmful gases into the air. We need to convert this waste into useful energy.
The government’s New Growth Path sees green jobs as one of the five major areas of employment. We are working to, over time, create 35 000 indirect jobs from recycling waste.
The “Clean Cities and Towns Programme” also supports the provision of basic services to poor communities. Where there are broken sewerage pipes, or leaking taps, on our streets, the programme works with partners like Rand Water and the Department of Water and Environment Affairs to fix the broken pipes. To this end, officials from CoGTA and Rand Water visited this area recently.
The programme provides support for municipalities to collect waste, especially from poor communities. Where there are un-serviced areas for waste collection, through this programme CoGTA seeks to support municipalities to provide the required service to those areas.
Through the programme COGTA also tries to encourage municipalities to promote clean streams and rivers, and to remove alien vegetation along the rivers, so promoting river health and reducing water-borne diseases due to dirty rivers.
The aim is also to improve side-walks through paving to beautify the environment.
The benefits of implementing the programme include:
- A safe and clean environment for children to play.
- Green parks for communities to enjoy.
- Job-creation by “turning waste into wealth”
- Promotion of tourism and investment.
As CoGTA we seek to promote cooperative governance among the three spheres of government and between government and the people. This programme requires the active involvement of business, trade unions, other organised sections of society and ordinary people. All of us need to play our part to make this town clean, green and attractive. The government has just released a policy – a White Paper on Climate Change – to more effectively deal with carbon emissions and other aspects of our response to the need to manage our environment better. We can all, in our different ways. Play a role in implementing the White Paper.
Community Work Programme
Over time, we hope to roll-out the “Clean Cities and Towns Programme” to all municipalities in the Western Cape. The programme is also being facilitated through the Community Work Programme which has created over 80 000 employment opportunities nationally. It is through the jobs created by the Community Work Programme that the “Clean Cities and Towns Programme” has made progress in Johannesburg, Komatipoort in Mpumalanga, and Mbashe and Mthatha in the Eastern Cape so far.
We hope to contribute to creating jobs in the local community. In the past few months the programme has created over 200 jobs and we hope to increase this in the months ahead. To assist you to keep your spaces clean, CoGTA is to deliver 300 concrete cement bins to Witzenberg. Communities are encouraged not to litter, but to use these bins, to ensure that our environment is kept clean for us and our future generations.
All the little things we do add up and contribute to our saving the planet. There’s not a single person who can say that he or she cannot contribute to the global campaign to manage our environment better. So let’s do our bit and save our future!
As CoGTA, we wish the community of Ceres well, and will work with the provincial government, your municipality and you to together improve your future.
I thank you!
Enquiries:
Vuyelwa Qinga
Cell: 082 877 3898
Tel: 012 334 0995
Cell: 082 877 3898
E-mail: VuyelwaQ@cogta.gov.za
