The Acting Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Jacob Masango;
CEO of SANBI, Dr Tanya Abrahamse;
Esteemed Chairpersons and Chief Executives of Public Entities;
Esteemed leadership of host companies, Private Sector and Non-Governmental Organisations;
Our Groen Sebenza incumbents;
Members of the media;
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is with great pride that I stand before you on the grounds of this natural marvel. We are surrounded by natural grassland and one of the rolling ridges, typical of our nation’s capital. During a short stroll, one can wander from a shaded forest, to a succulent garden, a wetland area and even a serene waterfall. All of this is home to an array of the indigenous plants, reptiles, birds and other animals that make up our natural heritage. The Pretoria National Botanical Gardens is a true system of ecosystems that is crucial to our livelihood and is also a home to the head office of our public entity, South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).
Across the globe on Wednesday 5 June 2013, we celebrated World Environment Day (WED). In South Africa the day coincides with National Environment Month and Youth Month. The theme of World Environment Day, as set by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is Think. Eat. Save. The Department of Environmental Affairs has adopted this theme for the 2013 Environment Month celebrations. The aim is to humanise the various environmental issues facing our world and empower people to make decisions that will help protect our environment.
This year’s theme looks at promoting an understanding of the impact that food waste has on the environment and in so doing, encouraging communities to change their attitudes towards environmental issues.
Had one visited the department’s head office on Environment Day during this week, you would have seen part of our new fleet of Zero Emission Green Cars, which are also on display here today. Through encouraging all South Africans to make responsible environmental choices, such as switching to solar power, using electricity responsibly, composting, buying local produce, and recycling, we hope to illustrate the positive impact of our collective decisions.
It is of utmost importance for everyone to realise that each small action makes a contribution to reducing the country’s overall carbon footprint. The Department of Environmental Affairs itself has taken a bold step towards reducing its carbon footprint by initiating the establishment of the first government department green offices. Our new green building has been awarded six green stars by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) for its use of sustainable building materials which promotes urban greening, energy and water efficiency. This is the first six star rated building in the City of Tshwane and achieved the highest score for a large commercial office space of its magnitude awarded by the Green Building Council (GBCSA) to date.
Working Together, we can do more to save our environment!
In keeping with the observation of June as Youth and Environment Month, it is very befitting that we have gathered here for such an occasion. Today we have all come to witness the launch of the Groen Sebenza Jobs Fund Partnership Project, spearheaded by the Department of Environmental Affairs’ public entity, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). This is a ground-breaking partnership with 33 environmental- and biodiversity-focused organisations, from all spheres of government, business and the NGO sector.
In 2011, SANBI submitted an application to the Development Bank of Southern Africa’s (DBSA) Jobs Fund titled Catalysing access to Employment and Job Creation in Ecosystem Management. The aim of the proposal was to grow a pool of young biodiversity professionals with the skills, confidence and competence to secure full time jobs, enjoy meaningful careers and catalyse further job creation in the biodiversity sector.
The R300 million Groen Sebenza Project, which is a combination of Afrikaans and isiZulu, translating into “Green Work” in English, is a Jobs Fund initiative that promotes major skills development and job creation in the biodiversity sector for 800 unemployed graduates and matriculants. The intake consists of 500 graduates and 300 matriculants.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Think about those numbers once again. Groen Sebenza is not simply providing job opportunities and skills to 800 individuals. It is uplifting and improving, literally thousands of lives, through the power that lies within unlocking the benefits of the Green Economy. This project is set to have a profound, positive impact on the lives of the families and communities, from which these youngsters originate.
Many of the young people benefitting from this programme, are the sole bread-winners of their extended families. Some are single parents, others have lost their parents or guardians, while others still, have beat the odds stacked against them in their communities, by pooling together what resources they had, to ensure they reached either matric or graduation from a tertiary institution.
However, as we are all aware, the battle against poverty is not won once one gains a qualification from an institution. The challenge within this sector is that students with the right qualifications struggle to bridge the gap between education and employment in the sector. So part of the motivation behind the project was the realisation that the green economy offers substantial opportunities for job creation and development, particularly in biodiversity and natural resource management.
Every single incumbent in this programme, faced one challenge or another, to arrive at this point today. Thousands of applications were received. The youngsters you see here today, represent the very best potential and passion for the environment sector, as they have had to prove themselves not only on paper, but during the selection process as well.
This project intends to equip the graduates and matriculants with the skills and experience needed to access jobs in the biodiversity sector. The unemployed youth will participate in the "incubator" scheme, an extended and coordinated skills development scheme across multiple agencies. While in the incubator, they will receive mentoring, training, a stipend and access to formal qualifications. The incubants will be in the scheme for two and a half years and are encouraged to network with one another. At present, 463of the incubants have commenced in this project, from 02 May 2013. The remaining incubants will be appointed in the course of this month.
During my delivery of the Budget Vote speech in Parliament last week, I emphasised our concern as a department over the growing number of unemployed young people.
Again ladies and gentlemen the ability of our country to create a conducive environment for young South Africans to be absorbed into active economic participation is of vital importance. I had indicated as well that last year we undertook a concerted effort to build human capital in the biodiversity sector. We will continue to ensure that the interventions we develop and all studies we conduct are aligned with the National Development Plan’s target for job creation that is set at 11 million jobs by 2030.
Our green economy interventions, such as the Groen Sebenza must support this roadmap to ensure that our programmes positively contribute to this target and centrally position our sector as a hub of job creation, whilst not deviating from our mandate of protecting the integrity of our environment.
We are committed to improving the socio-economic benefits within the environmental sector, by creating 65 494 work opportunities which will yield 34 019 Full-Time Equivalents Jobs. The targeted designated groups are women, youth and people living with disabilities.
As part of Groen Sebenza, DEA will be implementing a training programme through the New Venture Creation Learnership for 50 of the unemployed graduates and learners. This focuses on incubants who are interested in establishing or have established small or micro environmental enterprises or want to be involved in environmental enterprise expansion.
As Environment Month and the launch of the Groen Sebenza project coincides with Youth Month, this initiative highlights DEA's efforts at job creation and empowering the youth in the environment sector. It provides a great opportunity to raise awareness on the environment, environmental education, job opportunities in the sector and the green economy.
It would be a grave mistake if I leave this platform without acknowledging and appreciating the work done by SANBI and the committed partners involved in training and mentoring our chosen young people in the Groen Sebenza Project. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners for ensuring that the future of our environment is in good and safe hands in these potential leaders among us.
This is definitely a landmark project that DEA, SANBI and our partners are proud to be pioneering and using to play a leading role in contributing towards building a pool of young, vibrant, capable and confident professionals for South Africa’s biodiversity and natural resource management sector. It is the Department of Environmental Affairs’ hope that the effective implementation of the incubator concept will have a catalytic impact on skills development and job creation.
Kea leboga, I thank you, Dankie.
