Address by the Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Hon. Ms Makhotso Sotyu (MP), during the 2023/24 Budget Vote at the Good Hope Chamber in Cape Town
Chairperson of the House,
Hon. Minister, Mme Barbara Creecy,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Mr. Pogiso Modise,
All Ministers and Deputy Ministers present,
Honourable Members of Parliament,
The Management of the DFFE,
All the Chairpersons and CEOs of the DFFE’s Entities,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Morning
It is once again a pleasure for me to be addressing this House, in a month that we celebrate our country, and the world’s rich biodiversity. In a few days South Africa will join the nations of the world in commemorating International Biological Diversity Day.
The commemoration is imperative for South Africa, as we are one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world. This places on us a huge responsibility to ensure that our biodiversity is managed and conserved sustainably for current and future generations that depend on it for life and livelihoods.
House Chair,
Our Government is deliberately taking pro-disadvantaged, gender- and youth-responsive environment and climate issues into the heart of transformation and economic decision-making and related programmes, in particular, local government budgeting processes.
As such, our Government has already laid solid policy, plans, budget and monitoring processes for a progressive sustainable environment.
All that is needed now, in the words of the President in his SONA 2023 address, is to “concentrate on those issues that concern South Africans the most: (i) Load Shedding; (ii) Unemployment; (iii) Poverty and the rising cost of living; and (iv) Crime and Corruption.
House Chair,
All four issues identified by the President are urgent service delivery matters that the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has mainstreamed into its Prioritised Programmes.
The District Development Model is one such programmes.
As a District Development Model National Champion, I have led a number of campaigns in communities in the North West and Free State provinces to not only discuss service delivery challenges that exist, particularly waste services, but also to look at issues such as procurement and job creation to promote and support local businesses and to involve local communities.
During each visit, we have participated in clean-up and greening campaigns to raise awareness about litter, waste collection and landfill management.
We have also handed over waste collection compactor trucks, front end loaders, and other materials required by municipalities to improve service delivery across the nine provinces.
House Chair,
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure to launch the Waste Management Intervention Cleaning and Green Project in Vryburg, North West, marking 2023 as the Year of Implementation under the District Development Model with the aim of accelerating services to the people.
To assist the municipalities, our Department engaged with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and National Treasury to enable municipalities to procure waste collection and landfill operation vehicles through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG).
DFFE has secured five (5) waste collection vehicles for the local municipalities within the Dr Ruth S. Mompati District Municipality, which I, as the National District Development Model Champion, handed over to the local mayors.
But, House Chair, our work does not stop there.
For instance, the Bethulie Dam Community Project in Kopanong Local Municipality, is one of the key projects identified to stimulate the economy of Xhariep District Municipality in the Free State province, under the ambit of the District Development Model.
In this instance, the department has appointed a suitably qualified service provider to facilitate the development of the Bethulie Dam Community Project Business plan over a period of six (6) months.
The business plan will include, but will not be limited to, the operational objectives, marketing, investment, and financial strategy.
House Chair,
The Planting of Trees and Greening is another of the prioritised Programmes.
The Department plays a leading role in the implementation of the country’s commercial forestry masterplan, which not only promotes growth, but also investment, into a sector that has the potential to contribute to job creation and increased production of forestry products.
More than 70 potential contractors have been trained in forestry skills in the Western Cape in partnership with the Fibre, Paper and Manufacturing Sector Education and Training (FPM SETA)
In terms of the expansion of the forestry footprint to support the value chain, about 30 500 hectares have been identified for Environmental Impact Assessments so that new afforestation can take place.
Forestry is also key to the greening of our country. As we commence the third year of implementation of the greening programme, we can confirm that the Department planted more than 100 000 trees in the 2022/23 financial year.
With the support and participation of broader stakeholders more than 985 000 have been planted.
House Chair,
Youth leadership is critical and essential to translate all our policies and plans into action, for a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
Eighty students are to be selected to be part of the FOREST21 project for strengthening capacity in South African higher education in forestry.
These students will work with international teams of learners, contributing and testing the knowledge generated as the new curricula are developed.
There will be a Climate-smart workshop in Hämeenlinna, Finland, followed by a Forestry Entrepreneurship initiative.
This programme has resulted in the introduction of the Forestry Qualification at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Mbombela Campus.
It will contribute immensely to the sector, especially in the afforested area of Mpumalanga.
The Department has also committed to supporting forestry students with regard to experiential learning and related matters.
In this regard, we have started supporting 14 students at one of the forestry institutions with stipends for their experiential learning from April 2023. Additional resources will assist in ensuring the sustainability of the initiative for the benefit of our students within the sector.
House Chair,
With all said and done, the above-mentioned progressive and developmental initiatives and endeavours by our Government and Department, can never come to an ever-lasting successful fruition, if corruption and crime against our environment continue to persist.
Crime and corruption are a two-pronged evil that prevents any nation from progressing.
In our mandate, when we speak about environmental crimes, the focus is largely on wildlife crimes such as rhino poaching, or on pollution of our rivers, the air and our general environment.
Not often spoken about, is the serious scourge of plant crimes in our country, particularly the poaching and smuggling of succulent plants.
Without emergency interventions there is a very high probability of them going extinct within the next 10 years.
My Department, together with SANBI, is spearheading the national effort to bring this poaching under control.
House Chair
As I conclude, I would like to highlight the fact that we are approaching the end of term of the sixth administration. And, as such, we are earnestly looking ahead and focusing on what needs to be delivered now to ensure impactful continuity for the financial year 2024/2025.
I would like to thank the Honourable Minister for her leadership within the Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental sectors in the past year, and to thank the Director-General, Ms Nomfundo Tshabalala, and the departmental officials, board chairpersons and CEOs of our Entities, for their support.
I also thank you Honourable Chair, Ntate Modise and Members of the Portfolio Committee in particular, for your robust engagement and guidance.
Allow me to close in the words of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who said: “Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
I thank you all.
