L Hendricks: Limpopo Arbor City Awards

10 November 2006

Premier,
MEC for Local Government and Housing, M Mashabane,
Mayor of Lephalale,
President of the Institute for Environment and Recreation Management
(IERM),
Representatives from Total South Africa, Malanseuns and Professional Irrigation
Agencies,
Community of Ga-Seleka,
Ladies and gentlemen:

1. Introduction

It is my pleasure to be with you this morning, I am very delighted to be
visiting Limpopo again. Today we are celebrating and honouring winners of the
2006 Arbor City Awards at the Lephalale Municipality for the excellent work
they are doing in their greening initiatives.

There are people who might question why it is necessary for us to have
greening initiatives and spend resources on trees and beautifying the
environment when there is so much poverty and unemployment in our country. In
responding to these questions we need to recognise that not only do trees and
forests create enormous economic benefits and employment opportunities but by
beautifying the environment they play an important role in restoring dignity to
our people.

In rural areas the wood from trees can be used for fuel or to make furniture
or paper and create other jobs. Trees are also important for the soil and
provide windbreaks and as you know many people in our country use trees for
medicinal purposes.

In urban areas trees help make our cities and towns more liveable and
beautiful and are essential for healthy and sustainable urban settlements.
There are benefits to what we call "urban greening" and they include the social
benefits of improving health, creating opportunities for employment, being a
source of recreation and education and adding to community pride.

South Africa's apartheid history has left our townships without many trees.
Townships back then were seen has temporary locations that did not receive
sufficient investments in infrastructure and services. Democracy has resulted
in greater investments into these areas so that they can become suburbs with
proper services and amenities and importantly green spaces and parks. By
planting a tree we are saying that we are here, we are investing in our own
community and we are growing our future and beautifying our areas. Greening our
municipalities is contributing towards restoring dignity to our people and
building a country that cares for its people.

2. The 16 Days Campaign for Activism to end Violence Against Women and
Children

Ladies and gentlemen, it is sad that despite all we have achieved in our
country since democracy and all our efforts to create an age of hope there are
those take dignity away from women and children through violence and abuse.
From 25 November to 10 December we are running a campaign for 16 Days of
Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children. This campaign is a call to
all South African's to build a country that truly cares for women and children
by ending violence against them and we as the government are saying this
violence and criminal behaviour must stop!

We are working with communities, non-government organisations (NGOs) and
other structures in a united effort to eradicate this scourge of violence in
our society. It is saddening when you read the papers and there are reports of
young children being abused sometimes by the very people they trust, reports of
wives being beaten or killed by their husbands and of young women being
raped.

So while we restore dignity to our people by planting trees and greening our
areas we must work as a community to create a society that we can be proud of,
a society that cares for women and children.

3. Arbor City Awards

Programme Director, the greening initiatives that we are recognising today
complements my Department's vision for forestry which states that "forests are
managed for people and we need to create an enabling environment for economic
and social development through sustainable forestry especially at the local
level". Indeed we are creating an enabling environment for social and economic
development through this and other programmes.

The Arbor City Awards is a partnership programme between my Department and
the IERM aimed at encouraging municipalities to undertake greening initiatives
within their areas. It was revitalised in 2002 with more emphasis on the
previously disadvantaged areas such as townships and rural villages.

The aim of the programme is to recognise and provide incentives for towns
and cities for their greening efforts with a special focus on previously
disadvantaged areas. The programme is run as a competition and all
municipalities are encouraged to participate.

The main objectives of the programme are:

* to encourage municipalities to undertake greening initiatives
* support them with the development and implementation of greening plans which
include disadvantaged areas
* ensure that municipalities comply with relevant legislation regarding
greening for example the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (Act No 43
1983)
* raise general awareness about the importance and value of greening in
residential settlements
* provide incentives for local authorities that are trying their best to
implement greening projects especially in previously disadvantaged areas
* networking and sharing information.

Gauteng was the first province to hold the awards in 2002 followed by the
Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and next year it will be run in
Mpumalanga. This competition has assisted my Department to understand the
greening needs in the different municipalities that enter and provide support
for the development and implement of their greening plans.

I look forward to the municipalities in Mpumalanga becoming involved in next
year's competition and use the opportunity to improve the lives of their
communities as Lephalale and the other five municipalities in Limpopo that
entered this competition have done. Just by participating they are winners.

As in any competition there must be one overall winner. Lephalale won this
year because of the many greening projects undertaken which involve the
villages and township in their municipality. These are:

1) planting of trees along a 14 kilometre stretch of road that connects the
township and the town,
2) developing parks in the township and cleaning greenbelts of unwanted
invasive species that consume too much water and prevent the growth of
indigenous species,
3) eradicating unwanted trees within the township and residential areas and
replacing them with indigenous and fruit trees,
4) using new innovations to eradicate the cactus species, upunta.

4. Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) greening programmes

Ladies and gentlemen, the Arbor City Awards is but one programme within my
Department's greening strategy. The other initiatives we are involved in
include a programme to support local municipalities develop and implement
greening initiatives with communities. The strategy focuses on the development
of greening plans within municipalities, partnerships with non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) and the private sector. My Department also assists local
government with including greening into their Integrated Development Plans
(IDPs).

Other programmes supported by my Department include:
* Eduplant, a school greening programme
* Trees for Homes, which focuses on greening programmes for low-income housing
development
* Greening Fund aimed at funding greening projects
* Arbor Week which is held the first week of September every year to promote
and popularise the planting of trees
* Working for Water to remove alien invasive species
* a number of education and school programmes implemented with the Department
of Education so that our children learn the importance of trees from a young
age. We are also encouraging our youth to enter the field of forestry and take
advantage of the many opportunities that exist in this exciting area.

5. Conclusion

To conclude, ladies and gentlemen, I encourage and invite local government,
provincial departments and other stakeholders to join my Department to ensure
that greening takes places in the province. I am pleased to hear that in this
village some trees were planted in collaboration between my Department, the
municipality and the Limpopo Provincial Department of Economic Development,
Environment and Tourism. This shows that all spheres of government can work
together to ensure service delivery.

Programme Director, I would like to express my gratitude to our sponsors
especially Total South Africa for their continued support towards ensuring that
Arbor City Awards continues. I thank them for the prize money, the certificate
and the trophy for this programme. To the other sponsors Malanseuns, thank you
for the trees and Professional Irrigation Agencies thank you for dry water
packages. My Department appreciates your participation in this programme.

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Lepelle Northern Water for
their support of this event. To the IERM without your support and assistance
during our planning phase this programme would not be as successful. I would
also like to congratulate the adjudication team that conducted the judging of
the competition for their good work. I understand you had to travel many
kilometres to ensure that you visit each of the participating
municipalities.

Finally thank you to the community of Ga-Seleka and Lephalale. Let us green
our environment for a greater and better future.

"Plant a tree, grow our future."

I will now ask the sponsors, the President of the IERM, the Premier of
Limpopo and the MEC for Local Government and Housing to join me to present the
Lephalale Municipality with their prizes and certificate.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
10 November 2006