M van Schalkwyk: KwaZulu-Natal Chamber of Business

27 October 2006

KwaZulu-Natal - Tourism Growth and EIA Action Plan

"South Africa's growth in international arrivals at 10,3 percent was well
ahead of the global growth rate of 5,5 percent last year. However,
KwaZulu-Natal has performed better than the rest of the country and the rest of
the world achieving a growth rate of 15 percent in the past year," said
Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism,
addressing the annual KwaZulu-Natal Chamber of Business Gala Dinner, in Durban
on Friday evening.

Further addressing the importance of tourism in KwaZulu-Natal, the Minister
noted that the province hosted approximately 1,5 million international visitors
last year which brought R8,3 billion into the province. Domestic tourists
injected a further R6,28 billion into the provincial economy. The tourism
industry directly provides 77 000 jobs in the province but through all its
related industries, actually sustained 154 000 jobs last year.

Turning to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) the Minister said that "although
we still have a long way to go in terms of black economic empowerment, we must
recognise the impressive strides made by industry. In a Financial
Mail/Empowerdex survey conducted earlier this year, two of the top five
companies with the highest BEE ratings were in the tourism industry, the Don
Group and Sun International".

Linking tourism and sustainable development, the Minister commented on the
value of our national parks saying, "It is with great pride that I can point to
a place on a map, just two hours from here, where we have translated the
principles of sustainable development into action. In and around the Greater St
Lucia Wetland Park we are creating new tourism products and enhancing game
viewing and biodiversity. Malaria has been all but eradicated and new jobs have
been generated. All of this has been done in a way that positions local people
as active players in the global economy. Since 2000 there has been a 59 percent
increase in the number of tourism facilities and job creation has surpassed
that of dune mining. The town of St Lucia now boasts some 3 500 tourist
beds."

Turning his attention to the issue of environmental impact assessments
(EIAs) the Minister remarked that, "KwaZulu-Natal as a province had the third
largest backlog (874) of pending applications for EIAs in March 2006. In total
the national backlog was around 5 271. Tremendous strides have been made since
then and the backlog for the province now stands at 296. This reflects the
dedication of our department to resolving this issue."

The Minister outlined the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism's
action plans for fighting the substantial backlogs which included "putting a
more streamlined system in place without compromising environmental integrity.
In addition to containing hard deadlines for processing applications, the new
system is better aligned to our much evolved environmental management law. The
facts bear us out on this issue there is not a single backlog in the country on
applications submitted since the new system has been in place."

Shedding more light on further plans the Minister stated, "The tender for
assistance to the province of KwaZulu-Natal closes in two weeks time and we
expect additional capacity for EIA processing to be in place by the end of
November."

Expressing his concern about the quality of EIAs and the dearth of expert
assessors, the Minister informed the gathering that, "Our Department has taken
steps to speed up the process with regard to the certification of EIA
practitioners. Last month we gave the interim board of Environmental Assessment
Practitioners until the end of November to formalise their structure and action
plan, failing which we will be forced to legislate on this matter."

Emphasising the role that business can play, the Minister pointed out that
it was time for a new look at the importance of EIAs, "The broader point is
that EIAs should not be seen as restricting development. They should be
recognised as a tool for obtaining a better understanding of the implications
of business decisions. They set the stage for sustainable development by
providing a base from which businesses, communities and other stakeholders can
engage constructively with each other. EIAs can play a critical role in
ensuring that we mitigate the risks and optimise the opportunities associated
with the way we approach development. EIAs should accordingly not become a
convenient scapegoat for hold-ups in project delivery. With the new framework
in place, it is possible to plan well in advance for development that protects
one of our greatest national assets the environment."

Enquiries:
Riaan Aucamp
Cell: 083 778 9923

Issued by: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
27 October 2006