T Essop: Western Cape Environment, Planning and Economic Development
Prov Budget Vote 2006/07

24 May 2006

"Life is no brief candle for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have
got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible
before handing it on to future generations" - George Bernard Shaw

Mr Speaker

The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, in his Foreword to “Bioregional
Solutions for Living on One Planet” a Schumacher Briefing series states
“Achieving Sustainability is a massive challenge for humanity, requiring major
changes in the way we think and act. Neither of those things is impossible, but
I often wonder whether anything short of a series of human induced catastrophes
will be sufficient to jolt us out of our complacency. We have simply come to
take all the services provided by the natural world for granted, refusing to
accept that natural systems have limits and that all our actions have
consequences.”

The citizens of the Western Cape have indeed been jolted out of our
complacency in recent times. Water, energy and fire have dominated our day to
day lives and has certainly been a wake-up call to all the people in the
province. In the past year we experienced a long drought cycle resulting in the
need to enforce water restrictions in a number of municipalities across the
province. In February this year, we experienced the second major power outage
in the Western Cape, with critical impacts on our communities and the economy.
And the threat of further outages prevails. This past summer we witnessed a
protracted fire season with major human and ecological consequences.

We have had a taste of our fragility as a water-constrained, energy insecure
and fire vulnerable province. The impacts of climate change, rapid economic and
population growth and inadequate long-term spatial and resource planning is a
reality for us now.

2006 constructing a “Sustainable home for all” challenges

Mr Speaker

The global trend of rapid urbanisation poses a number of challenges in our
goal of building a sustainable home for all in the Western Cape. In his book
“Cities” John Reader crystallises this for us “.the pace of urbanisation has
accelerated dramatically by 1900 city dwellers comprised one-quarter of the
global population, and now at the beginning of the third millennium almost half
the world’s population lives in urban communities. And the proportion is
expected to increase still further, so that by the year 2030 two of every three
people on earth will be living in a city. In Africa, the world’s most
impoverished continent, the number of city dwellers multiplied nearly tenfold
between 1950 and 2000, rising from 32,7 million to 309,6 million and is
expected to double again by 2025 when more than half of Africa’s entire
population (predicted to be 1’5 billion by then) will be living in cities”.

This inevitable trend towards urbanisation places us under pressure. Add to
this the obligation to redress the Apartheid social and spatial legacy and add
to this our responsibility to increase growth, a shared growth, in terms of the
Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa, then it is clear that
the growth and development trajectory we choose in the Western Cape must be
rooted in the principles of sustainable development, namely, development that
“meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs”, and requires evidence-based forward
planning.

The use of the ecological footprint as a tool to measure the biologically
productive areas of land and sea required to meet the consumption needs of
human beings, namely, energy, food, materials and waste absorption, has thrown
up a number of startling findings. Just a taste to “jolt our complacency”

According to Desai and Riddlestone in their book “Bioregional Solutions for
Living on One Planet”, “Ecological studies suggest that as a global society we
started to exceed the bio-capacity of the planet its long-term carrying
capacity in the early 1970’s. Currently we are consuming around 30% more than
the planet can sustain. In other words, we need one and a third planet Earths
to meet our current global levels of consumption. In effect we are maintaining
our current lifestyles by eating into the natural reserves, or natural capital
of the planet.”

They go on to conclude that “if everyone on the planet consumed as much as
the average UK citizen we’d need three planets to support us and if we all
lived like Americans we’d need 6 planets to support us”.

According to the Green Trust and EWT Biodiversity of South Africa 2002
Report, “South Africa is currently running an annual ecological deficit of 1,6
hectares per capita.” This means that South Africa is currently exceeding the
biological capacity by more than 40%. We need to reduce this to 0% before we
can say we are on a “sustainable” path of development.

Startling! If we think of this in terms of a bank balance, honourable
members, then global society’s bank balance is in deficit, in the red, with a
large overdraft, in fact we have already placed the burden of debt on our
future generations, an odious debt indeed.

Closer to home in the Western Cape it has become clear that the negative
consequences of many of the current development trends, such as urban sprawl,
urban growth that continues the spatial patterns of apartheid, high water and
energy demand, private car usage and waste generation patterns will impact on
our ability to reduce our own ecological footprint.

* the Western Cape generates 8,8 million cubic metres of waste per annum
(this is equivalent to 36,6 million wheelie bins a year)
* average solid waste per annum per capita is two cubic metres, with the high
income group (which is also the smallest number of people) generating nearly
60% of all solid waste, 30% is generated by middle income groups and only 10%
by the poor
* five out of six waste sites in Cape Town are on the Cape Flats which means
that poor communities carry the brunt of the pollution generated most of these
landfill sites are nearly full
* private motor vehicle ownership in Cape Town is at a current ratio of 178
cars per 1 000 people resulting in increase in petrol consumption, pollution
(65% of CO2 emissions) and congestion
* Western Cape is heading for a water demand and supply crisis
* 80% of the city’s Waste Water Treatment Works do not comply with standards
and a number of other municipalities are experiencing serious sewerage capacity
constraints
* 54% of the total residential energy consumption is taken up by urban medium
to high income groups, 35% amongst the urban low income group, seven percent by
rural medium to high income and four percent by rural low income groups

Honourable members, it is clear that our current consumption and waste
generation patterns in the province are unsustainable. It is also clear that
the consumption and production patterns especially amongst our high income
groups have become unsustainable.

It is time we did get jolted out of complacency.

Laying the foundation for building a “sustainable home for all”

Responding to the challenges

Mr Speaker

In order for us to contextualise how my Department has geared itself up to
engage with the long-term challenges facing the province, let me remind the
Honourable members of the House of our work in the past two years. In my Budget
speech in 2004 I spelt out how my Department would make the shift towards a
sustainable development paradigm, necessary for us to provide innovative and
cutting edge leadership in preparation for these challenges. In 2005, I spelt
out, having made the paradigm shift, how we would go about practically
embedding sustainable development in all our policies, strategies and
programmes.

We have fundamentally recognised that for the Western Cape province,
sustainable development will be achieved through implementing integrated
governance systems that promote economic growth in a manner that contributes to
greater social equity and that maintains the ongoing capacity of the natural
environment to provide the ecological goods and services upon which
socio-economic development depends.

I am pleased to inform the House that we have laid the foundation to achieve
the goal of embedding sustainable development through a number of policy
interventions and other initiatives.

I am also proud to say, a number of firsts in the country at a provincial
level.

* the finalisation of the Western Cape Provincial Spatial Development
Framework
* the Golf and Polo Estate Guidelines
* the Urban Edge Guidelines
* Resort Guidelines
* a Status Quo Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment of the Physical and
Socio-Economic Effects of Climate Change in the Western Cape
* draft Western Cape Integrated Energy Strategy with a focus on Renewable
* draft Sustainable Development Implementation Plan
* integrated Law Reform Project
* 2Wise2Waste initiative
* Biodiversity Management and Protection
* Air Quality Management
* unlocking the potential of an “Environment Economy”

Provincial Spatial Development Framework

The department finalised and launched the PSDF, one of the lead strategies
of Ikapa Elihlumayo, in December last year. This is the first ever Spatial
Development Framework for the Western Cape, and I believe, contains
ground-breaking initiatives that will, if implemented correctly, ensure that
the necessary spatial changes and improvements in our living environments will
be achieved. The PSDF is aligned with the National Spatial Development
Perspective and other national policy frameworks and endorses the vision of “A
Home for All”.

The purpose of the PSDF is to:

* be the spatial expression of the Provincial Growth and Development
Strategy
* guide municipal Integrated Development Plans and Spatial Development
Frameworks
* help prioritise and align investment and infrastructure plans of other
provincial departments, as well as national departments and parastatals plans
and programmes in the province
* provide clear signals to the private sector about desired development
directions
* increase predictability in the development environment, for example by
establishing “no go”, “maybe” and “go” areas for development
* and most importantly it seeks to redress the spatial legacy of apartheid.

The PSDF is a living document and will continuously be updated. This year we
will be updating it with the latest economic data and projections.

It will become apparent from the PSDF that the associated policies intend to
be far reaching and will have the potential to impact on almost every aspect of
social, environmental and economic activities in the province.

It is expected that this will provoke intense debate and even resistance as
the implications of its impact on lifestyles become apparent. We must remember
to keep our eye on the bigger long-term implications if we do not use the PSDF
as the basis for achieving a sustainable growth path for the province.

R3,5 million has been set aside for the implementation phase of the PSDF.
This will ensure that the alignments between the PSDF and municipal SDFs take
place. We will also provide a training course at the Provincial Training
Academy for officials from all our municipalities, Town planners, architects,
environmentalists, transport and civil engineers.

Golf and Polo Estates Guidelines

Mr Speaker

I am pleased to inform the House that the much awaited, much debated Golf
and Polo Estate Guidelines has been finalised and approved by cabinet. Read in
conjunction with the PSDF, it will ensure that appropriate development takes
place in clearly defined areas; issues of water, accessibility to cultural and
heritage sites, quality of jobs, Broad based Black Economic Empowerment and
mixed income residential units amongst others, will now all be taken into
account in our decision-making.

I had the opportunity of addressing the golf fraternity on these Guidelines
recently, at their first annual Golf Business Summit. I am pleased to say that
there was a general understanding of and appreciation for the need for these
Guidelines. I am further pleased to say that the golfing fraternity has also
taken up the challenge I put to them to address, amongst others, the
organisation of the industry, the transformation of the industry, the
self-regulation of the industry through the development of a code of conduct.
This should serve to discourage bad practice and encourage good practice in the
sector. The positive outcome of this is that a task team has been formed to
address these matters. I want to thank the industry for being responsive and
willing to take up the challenge. We look forward to the outcomes.

Urban Edge Guidelines

The Urban Edge Guidelines, the next in the suite of guidelines and read in
conjunction with the PSDF, requires municipalities to define their urban edges.
These should incorporate forward planning for growth and must be linked to
their SDFs and IDPs. The guidelines provide clear proposals on development both
inside and outside the urban edge. It is a necessary intervention, if we want
to control the unsustainable urban sprawl, which continue to blot our
landscapes in the province. This sprawl not only poses a risk to productive
agricultural and ecologically sensitive land but is a terrible burden on our
poor who find themselves on the periphery. It is costly in terms of transport
and the provision of bulk infrastructure.

The urban edge guidelines encourage the efficient and economic use of space
through densification and in so doing provides us with an opportunity to
restructure and racially integrate our towns and city.

Mr Speaker

These policy guidelines lay the basis for a sustainable development approach
to planning and land use management in the province. It also brings about
transparency and predictability in our decision-making and we can certainly be
held accountable if our decisions fundamentally contradict the critical
elements of our guidelines. The rules of the game are clear.

A Status Quo Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment of the Physical and
Socio-Economic Effects of Climate Change in the Western Cape

During the past financial year the Department initiated a study into the
current situation regarding the impact of climate change in the Western Cape.
“A Status Quo Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment of the Physical and
Socio-Economic Effects of Climate Change in the Western Cape”. The study was
undertaken by a consortium of experts led by Dr Guy Midgley of the South
African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). The report of the study was
launched at the Sustainable Development Conference hosted by the Department in
June last year. It was also used by the Department of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism (DEAT) as a showcase of work done in this regard, during the National
Climate Change Conference in October last year. During February 2006 a Western
Cape Climate Change Conference was held at Kirstenbosch and the outcome of the
conference initiated the drafting of the Terms of Reference for the compilation
of a Western Cape Climate Change Response Strategy and Action Plan. Bids for
this project have already been issued and the appointment of an appropriate,
competent bidder will be done shortly.

This will be done in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and an
amount of R3 million has been set aside on their budget.

Integrated Energy Strategy for the Western Cape

Mr Speaker

In the current context I am certain that I do not need to convince
honourable members about the need for an integrated energy strategy and action
plans for the Western Cape. The Provincial Energy Consumption analysis has
provided a sobering picture of current consumption patterns and future growth
in energy consumption.

We are convinced that energy security plays a vital role in ensuring that
the province can meet its economic, social and environmental objectives, and
that it remains an attractive destination for investment. A sound energy policy
and programme is essential in addressing environmental concerns, including
climate change. The need to secure sources of cleaner, non-polluting and
renewable energy as part of our future development plans is critical.

The draft strategy has been developed in partnership with key stakeholders
in the province and within the parameters set by national government. It has
also taken into account of all the various initiatives at local government
level.

One of the agreements reached in the Energy Risk Management Committee set up
to deal with the current energy problem in the province, has been the
establishment of a task team that will address the issue of renewable energy as
part of the medium to long-term plans for energy security. My Department is
part of this task team and will play a leadership role in this regard.

The final draft Strategy will be available for public comment shortly and
our social partners will engage with this through the PDC.

Draft Sustainable Development Implementation Plan

In June 2005 the Department successfully hosted a conference on Sustainable
Development. The conference was attended by more than a thousand people from
all walks of life and it was the first of its kind in the province and probably
the first by a provincial government in the country. The conference
deliberations revolved around six themes, namely, Sustainable Human
Settlements; Energy and Climate Change; Sustainable Water Use and Management;
Sustainable Waste Management; Biodiversity Management; and Sustainable
Transport. The outcome of the conference was agreement for the need to develop
a Sustainable Development Implementation Plan (SDIP). The department will be
finalising this plan in this financial year and will be capacitating
municipalities and other stakeholders to include sustainability measures in
their planning. The SDIP will also be a critical informant to the Provincial
Growth and Development Strategy for the Western Cape.

Integrated Law Reform Project

Members are aware that together with the PSDF, the Integrated Law Reform
Project forms the other critical leg to our achievement of sustainable
development objectives. The objective is to streamline and integrate Planning,
Heritage and Environmental approval processes into one entirely new piece of
legislation. This will have the impact of reducing the delays in approval
processes by cutting red-tape and thereby reducing the cost to doing business
in the Western Cape. Given the complexity of the process and the need to
address current national, provincial and municipal competencies, the progress
made has not been in line with the time-lines we originally set for ourselves.
Although a first draft has been completed, ongoing consultations with our
sister departments at a national and provincial level are still underway. As
soon as these are finalised we will publish the first draft for public
comment.

2wise2waste initiative

What started out as a departmental initiative to reduce our own ecological
footprint through the REDUCE, RE-USE and RECYCLE programme, the 2Wise2Waste
will be now catapulted into a provincial-wide project. The 2Wise2Waste brand
will, in future, identify all environmental efficiency initiatives driven by
the Department, and the Ministry will drive a campaign to embed this brand into
the minds of all Western Cape citizens. It will become the Department’s symbol
for environmental efficiency. Further to this campaign, grassroots rollout of
the 2Wise2Waste project, which will include practical implementation of water,
energy and waste management efficiency practices, in partnership with
DEA&DP, is envisaged within the Provincial Government of the Western Cape.
It is envisaged that staff working in provincial departments of the Western
Cape will have a practical understanding, through involvement and buy-in, of
water and energy efficiency and waste minimisation.

In addition, the Department aims to finalise, approve and pilot the
Departmental Green Procurement Policy which is in the process of being drafted,
with a future vision of further rolling this out to the rest of Provincial
Government, in a consultative manner. Included under our 2Wise2Waste programme
will be our very successful Cleaner Production programme, which in this year,
will target the construction sector, following the success of our interventions
with the hospitality sector in the last year. The 2Wise2Waste will also
robustly promote the recycling economy.

The Department is embarking on an initiative to stimulate the recycling
economy and to improve the access of the informal sector to the recycling
economy. This is my Department’s contribution to achieve the targets of shared
growth and accelerated growth. At the same time is addresses the need to
minimise waste generation due to the landfill airspace crisis which the
province is facing.

This project will also contribute towards job creation in the recycling
sector and ensures that recycling initiatives become economically sustainable
through the identifying new market for recycled material and to increase the
demand for products from recycled material by increasing the value of the
recycled material. The recycling economy presents us therefore with an
important intervention into the second economy with the opportunity of building
the linkages into the first economy.

Mr Speaker let me use this opportunity to acknowledge the presence of two
groups of special guests in the House today. The Aurora Women’s Network, who
initiated an income earning project through recycling paper, The notepads and
covers you have before you have been produced by them. The soap has been
produced using natural resources in the community, like rooibos and lavender.
In this year when we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Womens’ March to the
Union Buildings please join me in saying thank you to these inspiring
women.

We also have with us students from Ravensmead Hill High School, who have
formed partnerships with surrounding businesses and their parents, in a
recycling project. They have produced wonderful things from the recycled waste
of the private sector ranging from art, decorations, clothing etc. and have
assisted some parents in earning an income through this. Again, in the year
that we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the struggles of the Youth in
1976, join me in saying thank you to our young girls and boys for their
inspiring work.

Biodiversity Management and Protection

Currently two biospheres are approved in the Western Cape and initiatives
with regards to the Knersvlakte, Cederberg, Cape Winelands and Central Karoo
are under way. Assistance and guidance will be provided to the appropriate
municipalities that are responsible for preparing the applications.

In addition to this, CapeNature is also actively engaged in promoting and
creating conservancies and stewardship programmes with landowners surrounding
our reserves throughout the province.

CapeNature

A successful recovery plan, developed in conjunction with my Department has
lifted CapeNature out of a financial crisis. CapeNature manages a whole range
of programmes with various sub-projects too many to report on meaningfully in a
document such as this. Therefore, only the key programmes are dealt with as
follows:

* Fire Management

Frequent and large fires currently represent the most critical threat to the
Cape Floral Kingdom.

The fire season of 2005/06 has seen more than 100 uncontrolled wild fires in
protected fynbos areas managed by CapeNature across the Western Cape. It is
generally accepted that fire is an essential part of the natural ecosystem that
sustains and evolves fynbos. The problem is that, with the increased incidence
of uncontrolled fires, areas are burning repeatedly in much shorter cycles than
would occur naturally. The impact of this on biodiversity is severe.

Ongoing fire management activities include:

Developing partnerships:
CapeNature continues to maintain an excellent working partnership with working
on Fire the National Expanded Publics Works Programme. Eleven of the 44 of the
national fire-fighting ground crew bases have been established on CapeNature
reserves. CapeNature continues to develop further partnerships to increase its
capacity to address fire management challenges

Training:
Given the important but dangerous nature of fire fighting, CapeNature
endeavours to provide basic, refresher and advanced training to better equip
the Conservation Managers on the ground.

Fire Management Policy and Guidelines:
This important document is updated annually to provide guidance and
interpretation for Conservation Managers in all issues related to Fire
Management. A comprehensive integrated fire management strategy for all the
conservation areas in the Western Cape will be finalised by September 2006.

Fire Data Management Project:
The Fire Data Management Project, funded by the World Bank (under the auspices
of the C.A.P.E. Programme), will, by June 2006, provide an extensive historic
databank of all the fires that have been recorded within the Western Cape. This
databank will be 95% reliable and will form the basis on which critical queries
regarding the impact of the fire regime on biophysical processes will be
researched.

* Invasive Alien Management
Invasive alien flora and fauna threaten both biodiversity and economic
progress. Alien vegetation threatens the Western Cape’s water resources by
infesting Mountain Catchment Areas, river systems and wetlands. It provides
massive fuel loads for wild fires, and threatens endemic flora, some of which
is seriously endangered.

CapeNature is the biggest Implementing Agent of the National Working for
Water Programme in South Africa. During 2005/06, R17 million was spent
eliminating roughly 112281 hectares of alien vegetation in the Western Cape. In
doing so, a total of 97 contractors were trained and equipped and now have
their own registered businesses, each employing 11 people on average. 52% of
these contractors and workers are female and CapeNature is planning to increase
this to 60% in the immediate future.

The establishment of these new small businesses has also brought benefits to
the local economies through the supply of goods and services

* Creating mega-conservation areas
CapeNature manages approximately 18% of the surface area of the Western Cape,
through proclaimed reserves, Mountain Catchment Areas, conservancies and
natural heritage sites. The majority of these areas are separated from each
other by privately owned land, human settlements and transport systems. In many
instances this seriously impedes the natural migration routes of both flora and
fauna, which, over time, can lead to the extinction of species.

The challenge, therefore, is to join up areas so that these natural
migration routes can be extended and protected from coastal areas all the way
through to mountain ranges. One such initiative is the Cederberg Corridor,
which aims at connecting the Cederberg mountain range with the coastal plains
along the West Coast through a series of stewardships on the part of private
landowners. Similar projects are being undertaken in the Gouritz and Agulhas
areas. CapeNature is also partnering such an initiative in the Garden Route and
Baviaanskloof areas.

* Investing in youth
Enabling and contributing to the development of our youth is a major strategic
priority for CapeNature and accordingly a number of initiatives are in place
amongst these:

Youth development:
CapeNature continued to conduct youth development programmes at its various
centres throughout the Western Cape. These included both formal programmes and
informal excursions and in one way or another CapeNature again hosted more than
30 000 young people during this reporting period.

Bringing conservation into the classroom:
CapeNature is currently cooperating with the Department of Education in an
exciting new venture which seeks to integrate biodiversity conservation
thinking into mainstream education thinking at a national level and align the
methods and techniques used in CapeNature’s youth development programmes with
those used in mainstream education.

* Local economic development: more then 1100 jobs created

Wherever possible, CapeNature initiatives are designed to provide
socio-economic development primarily through the provision of jobs. The
programmes currently being run include:
* Working for Water
* Working for Fire
* Working for Wetlands
* baboon monitoring
* coastal care (clearing shorelines of debris)
* community based natural resources management initiatives

To date, a total of 30 projects have created some 961 job opportunities (162
for women, 165 for men, 156 for young people and 478 for elderly and children).
This figure excludes the 38 baboon monitors and their project coordinator – an
R3,5m project funded by the National Poverty Relief Programme.

The Driftsands Environmental Education Centre, another project funded by the
National Poverty Relief Programme. With a budget of about R8 million, the
project involves the building of an amphitheatre, the refurbishing of the
conference facilities, extensions to the water wise garden, the creation of
murals and “art” walls, the construction of bus parking facilities, and,
finally, the development of a wheelchair-friendly four km walking trail from
the centre to the artificial dam that will offer a variety of bird life for
viewing. Five community conservation officers, finance and administration
officer, an admissions officer, a project coordinator and a marketing officer
have already been appointed. Once the environmental impact study has been
completed, the process of calling for tenders for the various construction jobs
will commence and this will provide the local community with at least another
100 jobs.

The department has budgeted an amount of R81,5m towards the funding of
CapeNature, this represents an increase of 13% since the last financial
year.

Air Quality Management

Mr Speaker

The new National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act No. 39 of 2004
was signed by the State President on 19 February 2005. The National Minister of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism promulgated the commencement of certain
sections of the Act in the government notice on 9 September 2005. To meet the
requirements of the newly imposed Provincial mandate a Sub-directorate Air
Quality Management was approved by Cabinet and established with the assistance
of contract staff. In order to assist with an air quality needs assessment
within the province the Department is undertaking a passive ambient air quality
monitoring programme to assess the ambient air quality and to determine future
air quality monitoring needs. The project will be a cooperative governance
programme between the province and the District Municipalities. The
municipalities will assist with the setting up and collection of samples and
the province will be responsible for providing the passive samplers, analysis
and compilation of the final report and recommendations. The total amount
budgeted for this is R220 397.

* Unlocking the Potential of an “Environment Economy”

The environment presents a unique opportunity as an emerging sector for
economic growth, previously undervalued. I believe that the environment
presents a significant source for economic production. Globally this sector is
currently valued at approximately 500 billion USD and is growing at a rate of
5% per annum. The development of an environmental economy presents an excellent
stimulant for developing the second economy as well as contributing to our
ASGISA targets. For this to be realized it is imperative that the environment
be mainstreamed into the broader economy of the Western Cape.

The environmental economy promotes sustainable development by improving the
quality of life and conserving ecological systems while benefiting economic
growth. It creates the potential for new manufacturing processes, sectoral
economies, technologies and fair trade which promote innovative re-design for
the environment as well opportunities for niche markets, eco-branding and
eco-accreditation.

For example while Renewable Energy interventions are aimed at reducing the
impacts of pollution and climate change it also presents tremendous
opportunities for mainstreaming a new economic sector viz. through job creation
from solar heater assembly plants, wind turbine manufacturing, exploring solar
technologies and biofuel opportunities. In this context the province has a
highly experienced and creative energy sector leadership & delivery
capability. The renewable energy sector presents a high value investment and
development potential. There is also a growing market and investor confidence
and readiness through enthusiastic financiers, developers, operators and
interested consumers.

We will have to look at market access and possible ways of opening up more
business opportunities for the sector, for example affordable access to
environmentally sound technologies. We will have to focus on creating a demand
for environmental goods and services and conduct a critical analysis of market
access and supply issues. There is a need to convert trade into demand for
environmental services and not just promote supply issues. This department will
be working closely with my other Department of Economic Development and WESGRO
to facilitate trade expansion in environmental goods and services as well as
explore innovative market-based approaches to developing the environmental
economy of the Western Cape,

The utilisation of renewable energy will result in less pollution, increased
community health and more environmental benefits. There is no doubt that the
environmental economy can contribute significantly towards the province
achieving its growth targets.

In this regard my department will provide strategic leadership, guidance and
support in the province. My department will in the current year develop an
Environmental Economy Strategy and Action Plan as well as produce sector based
business plans to unlock the potential of the environmental economy.

In addition my department will over this financial year focus on the
following key interventions:

* Explore the mainstreaming of renewable energy technologies within all
public buildings, businesses and households in the province through measures
such as solar heating, retro-fitting and more energy efficient building
designs. Government will set the example by the installation of energy
efficient technologies and construction methods. This will form part of a
“green procurement” strategy whereby tenders for government projects may
require strict compliance with cleaner and greener technologies and
Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) being approved subject to the
installation and utilisation of environmental technologies.

* Explore the opportunities that exist within the recycling industry
creating value and income from waste. A breakthrough can be created between the
interaction between the 1st and 2nd economies.

* Expose the environmental economy as an emerging business sector to young
and upcoming entrepreneurs, Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs),
Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) companies

* Expand the 2-Wise-2-Waste Campaign

* Support the CapeNature poverty alleviation projects such as the
* Youth Development – YSP programme
* Working for Water and alien clearing
* Working for Wetlands
* Working for Fire
* Eco-Guides
* Enhance the Community-based Natural Resource Management and Coastal
Livelihoods programme
* Undertake a provincial wide policy review that will enable the Environmental
Economy to perform at maximum potential

The department is in the process of finalising the appointment of a team of
experts to assist us in the conceptualisation and development of this
“Environment Economy”

Hounourable members

All these and other policy and programme interventions by the Department
will continue to inform Ikapa Elihlumayo, our Growth and Development Strategy
for the Western Cape Government, be critical informants in the development of
the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS). I believe we have
therefore been able to lay the foundations for placing this province on a
sustainable growth path.

Mr Speaker

The total budget for my department in this financial year is R175,5. This
amount includes the R81,5 million that is transferred to CapeNature. This in
effect leaves a balance of R94 million for my department to fulfil both its
legislative responsibilities and its long-term strategic responsibilities.
Clearly this poses a challenge. We will need to form strong partnerships in
order to achieve our objectives as a department.

NOW THE CHALLENGE OF IMPLEMENTATION

Mr Speaker

In an evaluation of my department’s work last year, the Premier posed a
critical question “Are you frothing at the top, like a cappuccino, are your
policies implementable?” We have accepted this critical challenge and have put
in place interventions to ensure that our policies will be understood,
internalised and mainstreamed into the work of all our provincial departments
as well as at a municipal level.

I am pleased to say that on our recent local government MTECH hearings, all
of our municipalities have commenced with or are in the process of finalising
their draft Spatial Development Frameworks, in line with our PSDF. Many of them
were also finalising their Urban Edges in line with our Guidelines. My
department will be checking for conformity with our Guidelines before these are
finalised and approved. At a provincial level, the alignment with all our Ikapa
lead strategies has been effected.

Our social partners have been consulted and continuous engagements take
place through the Provincial Development Council. Broad consensus has been
reached with regards to the policy interventions we have made as a
department.

Mr Premier, I believe I can safely say to you now, that we have moved from
the frothing of a cappuccino to the percolation of a café latte!

There is a growing middle ground of consensus being reached among all our
critical role-players in the province with regards to embedding sustainable
development in our growth and development path for the Western Cape.

But I must again sadly point out, as I did in my Budget Speech last year,
that the levels of polarisation between some developers on the one hand and
environmental organizations on the other, is still a problem. The adversarial
nature of this contestation has in effect undermined the triple bottom line
approach of sustainable development. It undermines our ability to give effect
to the constitutional imperative of “securing ecologically sustainable
development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic
and social development.”

We find that the critical issues and long-term challenges confronting the
province that requires synergistic and creative solutions often get
side-tracked with the narrow self interest agenda of certain developers and the
single-issue based, narrow conservation approach of certain environmental
organizations. In this fray, the issue of social equity is sacrificed and none
of these parties speak out against the continued degradation of the quality of
life of the poor. The din of the privileged has drowned out the voices of the
poor! The din has marginalised the growing voices of the middle ground, who
just want to do the right things to achieve a shared prosperity for all in the
Western Cape.

But we will not be distracted by this. We will continue to build the middle
ground of consensus, we will continue to mainstream sustainable development, we
will continue to base our decisions on the triple bottom line approach, we will
continue to act in the interest of the public good and we will continue to
ensure that the injustices of the past which continue to impact on the lives of
the majority in this province, is redressed.

In this month, as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our constitution we
will continue to strive towards the Environmental Rights as enshrined in our
Bill of Rights.

We have experienced the fact that all our fates, and that of our future
generations, are intertwined. The crisis around Water, Fire and Energy affected
us all. Placing the Western Cape on a sustainable path requires commitment, a
change of mindset and importantly a change of lifestyle on all our parts.

Mr Speaker

The impact of the path we have taken as a department and the interventions
we are making will probably only be realised in the long-term. But as Gaylord
Nelson, founder of Earth Day said, “the ultimate test of man’s conscience may
be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose
words of thanks will not be heard”.

I thank you.

Issued by: Environment, Planning and Economic Development, Western Cape
Provincial Government
24 May 2006