Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier, Ms Hazel Jenkins
Colleagues in the Executive
Members of the house
Dikgosi
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
1. Introduction
It is with a great sense of excitement and humility to be accorded the opportunity to present to this august house and to the people of our province the budget of the Department of Environment and Nature Conservation for the year 2010/11.
On the 27 of April 2010 we celebrated 16 years of freedom and democracy in South Africa and the achievements we have made as a nation. Freedom Day marks a milestone in the history of the liberation struggle in South Africa from the tyranny of apartheid to constitutional democracy.
This greatest achievement, which came after the release from prison of our first democratically elected President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, other political prisoners and the unbanning of the ANC, South African Communist Party, the civic movement, organs of civil society and other liberation movements, remind us of how far we have come. We will continue to pursue the noble objectives of creating a non racial, non sexist and prosperous South Africa.
It is in line with this positive spirit of commitment and dedication that I would like to take this opportunity once more to thank my party, the African National Congress (ANC), for having elected me to head this portfolio. We wish to assure the people of this province that we are committed to executing our responsibilities to the best of our abilities and vow to rise to address the challenges which we still face as a team.
The ANC is unmatched and unparalleled by its commitment to the ideals of a free, democratic, united, non sexist and prosperous society. We pay tribute to the poor in our villages, towns and cities, workers, youth, women, public servants, professionals, students, traditional leaders, teachers, farmers, religious leaders, soldiers, police men and women's, business people, people from all walks of life, who continue to contribute to our revolution on a daily basis.
It is due to their efforts that we can now say with confidence that much has been done in addressing the legacy of apartheid over the last 16 years and that much remains to be done.
It is with this in mind that we need to reflect on the road traversed since my last budget vote in 2009, to reflect on the successes however nominal and the huge challenges that lie ahead. We remain committed to that which we spelled out as our key priority areas in the ANC's Elections Manifesto of 2009 and shall endeavour to make that a reality during my term in office.
Honourable Speaker, allow me to announce to this house that, the department has now officially changed names from the Department of Tourism, Environment and Nature Conservation to the Department of Environment and Nature Conservation. It is a change that came about as a result of the new realignment of the departments and ministries of the new administration. It is a change that we dearly welcome and would like to invite all members to embrace.
May I also take this opportunity to announce and introduce to you the new Head of Department, Ms Elizabeth "Liz" Botes who assumed office on 1 April this year. She is now the new leader of the team to keep the department on course. I also want to wish the former Head of Department Ms Patience Mokhali well in her new redeployment.
Honourable Speaker and honourable members, as I present this 2010/11 budget speech, all in my department are very mindful of the expectations we have to meet in order for the department to make a major contribution in the upliftment of our communities. With this year being a year of action, the department will seek to encourage more people to be aware of environmental issues in their respective areas.
In this regard allow me to quote from one of the fundamental pieces of legislation that regulates the management of the environment, namely the National Environmental Management Act, 107 of 1998 that states: "The environment is held in public trust for the people, The beneficial use of environmental resources must serve the public interest and the environment must be protected as the people's common heritage".
Ek het verlede jaar tydens my begrotingsrede 'n ernstige beroep gedoen dat ons almal moet verseker dat ons onself daarvan sal weerhou om dinge te doen wat ons omgewing vernietig en dat ons die grootsheid van hart sal he om ten alle koste ons biodiversitiet vir nageslagte sal bewaar. Die beroep staan nog, en ons het 'n kollektiewe plig om daaraan gestand te doen.
2. Highlights and achievements of 2009/10
Honourable Speaker, I wish to briefly highlight two to three of my departments' major achievements for the past financial year. I alluded in my budget vote speech last year that the department has noted the important contribution that the wildlife industry makes to the economy of the province.
Nature reserves and the hunting industry are key revenue generators and the department continuously strives to improve its services and efficacy particularly in handling and processing hunting permit applications received from members of the public.
As such, the department's Permit Administration unit has been recognised as the epitome of efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of quality services when it received the 2009 Premier's Gold Award for Service Excellence.
This unit is not only the leader in the province in terms of efficiency, but it is also the forerunner and the national model in relation to process and record keeping efficiency.
Our efforts to improve sustainability in terms of balancing natural resource usage and protection or conservation thereof have also received a further boost with the Northern Cape Nature Conservation Act No.9 of 2009 having been passed in the legislature and agreed to by the honourable premier during 2009.
The department has since developed the regulations to the act which have been published for comment during March 2010. We anticipate having the regulations approved during the second quarter of this financial year.
Soos u weet is die Namakwa distrik die unieke tuiste vir n ongelooflike verskeidenheid biodiversiteit, sommige waarvan uitsluitlik in die streek en nerens anders in die wereld gevind word nie. Ten einde te verseker dat ons hierdie besonderese natuurlike erfenis vir nageslagte bewaar het die department in samewerking met die Namakwa distriksmunisipaliteit, die Namakwa kritieke biodiversiteitsareakaart (Namakwa critical biodiversity area map) ontwikkel.
Die kaart is verlede jaar gedurende Julie deur ons agbare Premier, Me Hazel Jenkins van stapel gestuur, waartydens die distriksmunisipaliteit homself by wyse van n memorandum van verstandhouding daartoe verbind het om die kaart as gids te gebruik in alle beplanning en gebruik van grond ten einde volhoubare ontwikkeling en bewaring van ons kritieke en unieke biodiversiteit te bewaar.
The Namakwa Biodiversity Advisory Forum was also launched at this event, to assist municipalities and departments with biodiversity advice and the implementation of the bioregional plan.
The department collected revenue to an estimated value of R3,240 million through entrance fees to Provincial Nature Reserves, permitting processes, licenses and culling of game.
Honourable Speaker, true to my personal vision and key objective to leave a legacy of a cleaner Northern Cape where a culture of recycling and pollution prevention prevails, the department launched the Siyanda District Pilot Waste Recycling Project in October last year. 11 permanent jobs were created through this important project.
3. I will now turn to the outlook and plans for the 2010/11 financial year.
Honourable Speaker,
Government has adopted an outcomes based approach to increase its strategic focus in terms of delivery and also to clearly spell out what is it that we plan to achieve at the end of the five year electoral cycle. This outcomes based approach therefore seeks to improve service delivery by ensuring that our work as departments can be easily monitored and evaluated in relation to the five core priorities that constitute the electoral mandate of this government.
The department's performance and delivery plans are informed by the 10th strategic outcome: protected and enhanced environmental assets and natural resources. The department's strategic and annual performance plans outline the strategic goals and objectives as well as key outputs, indicators, activities and targets that we believe will enable us to advance towards the mentioned outcome and that are funded by the budget that I am tabling in this honourable today.
When delivering her budget vote speech in Parliament last month, the honourable Minister of Environmental Affairs, Mme Buyelwa Sonjica, appropriately alluded to the fact that and I quote: "the financing of the environmental sector in particular in provinces and municipalities is not high up on the agenda".
This situation needs to change if we are in agreement that in order to improve the quality of life our people, we must integrate economic growth and development with the sustainable use of natural, social and cultural resources from the environment.
It was therefore very encouraging to hear the Honourable President, Mr Jacob Zuma during his address on the occasion of the 50 days countdown to the 2010 FIFA World Cup making mention of the importance of the environment and its offerings as important for the success of the 2010 when he said the following in reference to our readiness as a host country, and I quote:
"Environmental plans to relieve stress on our natural resources are also in place and a host of beautification, green goal and waste management projects are in place".
Whilst our environmental plans for 2010 are very important, it is even more important that we join hands beyond the 2010 FIFA World Cup and work together to ensure that by the year 2014, we would have achieved a situation where environmental assets and natural resources in the Northern Cape are not only well protected, but also continually enhanced.
My budget vote speech as policy statement therefore seeks to outline the short to medium term key policy choices and priorities per programme that can and will be funded by the 2010/11 budget allocation. Our plans have been presented in detail to the Portfolio Committee on Nature Conservation and Environment and specific details of planned deliverables and targets are obtainable from the published budget statement and estimates of expenditure.
In presenting the broad policy choices and priorities that guide the work of my department this year, I need to emphasise that the department faces many challenges and constraints in delivery in terms of its mandate of which financial and human resources are immense. The budget does not adequately provide for expansion of the organisational capacity to deliver effectively and efficiently on its mandate.
Organisational capacity in this context relate to the provision of the critical enabling environment to support smooth operations and service delivery, namely the lack of adequate office accommodation, high unfunded vacancy rate in critical line and support function posts and the number of unfunded regulatory mandates in the form of new national legislation whose expected mandatory implementation is not accompanied by a budget amongst others.
However, despite these challenges, the department commits to deliver and spend in terms of its mandate within the constraints of the total allocation. We a looking positively into the future and we are confident of receiving once again an unqualified opinion from the Auditor-General for 2009/10 financial year. Our previous consecutive unqualified audit reports from the Auditor-General bear testimony.
Honourable Speaker, the overall departmental budget allocation for 2010/11 financial year is R86,269 million. This represents an overall increase of three percent from the 2009/10 financial year. Allow me to table the allocation per programme:
3.1 Programme one: Administration receives R39 836 million
The key function of this programme is to lead, manage and formulate policies and priorities to ensure an efficient and effective support service with respect to finance, personnel, information, procurement and logistical administration.
One of the key outputs of the Administration programme is to deliver in the context of fifth strategic outcomes: "Skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path" in order for the overall department to achieve on 12th outcome namely: an efficient, effective and development oriented public service that serves an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship.
Unfortunately due to budgetary constraints the department continues to struggle to achieve the requisite capacity levels, particularly in critical line function posts. The funding challenges are compounded by the fact that environmental management and nature conservation are specialist fields identified as scare skills and it is extremely difficult to attract and retain qualified officials, especially from the Northern Cape province.
There is also a need to balance employment equity because the majority of officials in these specialised fields are white. The department will therefore award financial assistance to three Northern Cape University students who are studying environmental management and nature conservation.
Additional interventions aimed at addressing the capacity constraints include the filling of 10 identified critical vacancies coupled with learner and internship programmes. The department will in collaboration with Tourism, Hospitality, Sport Education and Training authority (THETA) register 50 learnerships and place 20 interns within the department.
The website of the department has been developed to improve communication and information sharing on the activities of the department with the public. This development will also go a long way towards cutting back on expensive print media advertisements and therefore enabling the department to save costs.
This however does not imply that we will totally disregard the importance of the media in public education and awareness. The president called on us to work smarter. Dis algemene kennis dat die meeste van ons mense maar net die radio het as kommunikasie en informasiekanaal oor wat in die wereld aangaan. We will therefore primarily communicate through radio talks on environmental and conservation issues during the year 2010/11 to complement our public education and awareness raising efforts on our website.
Our special programmes sub-directorate prioritises mainstreaming of designated groups and contribution towards an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship. Six dedicated programmes will target the active participation and empowerment of a total of 500 women, youth and people with disabilities in the department's activities.
The department is also in the process of investigating possibilities to strengthen our regional presence and to devolve more functions and services to regions to enhance the accessibility of departmental services to the grassroots.
3.2 Policy coordination and environmental planning
Programme two: Policy Coordination and Environmental Planning with an allocation of R7,638 million prioritises improvement of environmental policy development and coordination, integrated planning, monitoring, evaluation and research.
High on our agenda for the 2010/11 year is the analysis and input towards municipal Integrated plans to ensure (IDPs) reflect environmental content, in particular, issues of waste management and compliance with the National Environmental Management Waste Act that came into effect in July last year. Municipalities must prioritise the licensing of landfill sites and we will be monitoring whether their respective IDPs reflect their plans in that regard.
This programme further prioritises for this year the strengthening of integrated planning as well as the development and implementation of the department's monitoring and evaluation strategy in line with the government wide monitoring and evaluation framework.
Key in this regard is the development of clear departmental standards, process descriptions and performance indicators for effective performance evaluation and verification. Again in this regard the department seeks to achieve the "working smarter" principle.
Ons wil uiteindelik daarin slaag om as department die dinge te doen wat regtig saak maak, oor die kortste moontlike tyd en met die minste moontlike hulprbronne, maar wat die grootste of beste impak moontlik sal maak.
We also understand the critical need for us to continually seek to better understand manifestations in the environment so as to make informed decisions in support of conservation and sustainable development. The department will thus be embarking on 18 biodiversity research projects and 36 biodiversity surveys during the 2010/11 financial year.
Findings of these research projects and surveys will enable the departmental specialists to make inputs and recommendations in various permit applications, environmental impact assessments and environmental management planning reports.
One of the important research projects to unfold this year, is the research on secondary asbestos pollution in Moshaweng local municipality, John Taolo Gaetsewe district to the value of R1 million undertaken by the department in collaboration with the national Department of Environmental Affairs.
Results of the research will be used to recommend ways and means on how secondary asbestos pollution will be addressed in all the four asbestos provinces of Northern Cape, the North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Other Research initiatives will be aimed at amongst others:
- monitoring our water quality via the River Health Programme (RHP)
- to improve our ability to manage sustainable utilisation of e.g. medicinal plants
- to improve our understanding of Climate Change and its potential impact on the Northern Cape and
- to evaluate the conservation status and distribution of threatened species, like the Riverine rabbit and giant quiver tree.
The department will continue to create and maintain partnerships with academic and research institutions and other wildlife organisations with biodiversity conservation and climate change as their core functions. These partnerships will contribute to skills development of our own personnel as well as other young scientists, while developing improved sustainable utilisation protocols and collaborative research initiatives.
Programme three received an allocation of R3,751 million and will focus on enforcing legislation to curb the indiscriminate disposal of medical and abattoir waste and the poor management of municipal landfill sites.
Ons het in die onlangse verlede deur die media verneem van ernstige nalatigheid en absolute vergrype in die mediese afval bedryf. Ons loof die agbare minister, nasionale Department van Omgewingsake se Groen Skerpioene asook die Suid Afrikaanse Polisiemag vir die toepaslike drastiese optrede om te verseker dat wetsoortreders en grootskaalse omgewingsbesoedelaars aanspreeklik gehou word.
Ook hier in ons eie provinsie neem die Department Leiding en gee ons op die hoogste vlak aandag aan die probleem. My ministerie is alreeds in gesprek met die Ministerie van Gesondheid ten einde strategiese leiding te gee ter identifisering van n geskikte mediese afval stortings fasiliteit in die provinsie. Ons behoort eersdaags ons planne in die verband bekend te maak.
My budget vote speech is also delivered against the backdrop of the Green Drop report launched by Honourable Minister Sonjica, last week. Whilst it is a matter of grave concern to note the level of non-compliance and poor performance in relation to waste water management both here in the province and nationally, we welcome the report and regard it as the turning point towards improvement of the situation. The report gives us a clear picture of what is wrong and where municipalities have to make the critical corrective interventions.
Ons kan ook net bevestig dat die Sol Plaatjie munisipaliteit prioriteit aandag skenk aan die Homevale Afvalwater Bewerkingswerke en dat daar alreeds goeie vordering gemaak is met die herstel en opgradering van die plant.
The department further continues to prioritise biodiversity and coastal law enforcement operations and actions and will pay special attention to strengthening cooperation with the South African Police Service (SAPS) as well as South African Revenue Service (SARS) Customs and Excise unit to curb illegal activities and the potential of biodiversity loss, particularly pre, during and post the 2010 FIFA World Cup in June.
The support of coastal municipalities will also be solicited to ensure that the National Environment Management Act (NEMA) off-road vehicle regulations are fully implemented to protect the Namakwa coastline against the damage due to indiscriminate use of 4x4’s and quad bikes.
The allocation of R9 693 million for programme four: Environmental Quality Management prioritises the implementation of the Environmental Management Framework project. The purpose of the project is the development of district environmental management frameworks that will guide and support sustainable development and management of natural resources and assets.
The framework also seeks to simplify and enhance Environmental Impact Assessment processes and will hence assist in the expeditious finalisation of environmental impact assessments (EIAs).
Following the development of the Namakwa district environment management framework in 2009, the department has completed and just launched the Siyanda district environment management framework in Postmasburg last Thursday, 29 April 2010. Every municipality in the Namakwa and Siyanda districts was given a copy of the framework to use as guideline in town and local economic development planning.
We will now be moving into the John Taolo Gaetsewe district municipality and our plan is to develop the John Taolo Gaetsewe environment management framework by August 2010 at a total cost of R500 000.
3.3.1 Air quality management
When I launched the Siyanda environment management framework I made the observation that at times we tend to be more concerned and put a higher premise on things that are less important, while we easily overlook and take for granted the very important things. One such very important thing that is mostly disregarded and taken for granted is the quality of the air that we breathe.
One way to protect and assess air quality is through the development of an Ambient Air Monitoring programme. The department therefore placed five air quality monitoring stations, one in each of the district municipalities to measure the type and quantity of particulate matter present in the ambient air.
Particulate matter samples have been submitted to an accredited laboratory for analysis. Two reports in this regard have been received which indicates that particulate matter standards have been met by the Province. Four scientifically sound surveys on indoor air quality will be completed this year.
The department established five air quality forums in the province, one in each of the district municipalities. The primary role of these air quality forums is to ensure that information on the Air Quality Act which came into effect from 1 April 2010 is disseminated. Furthermore, local authorities will be capacitated in licensing the 30 regulated registered emitters in our Province in accordance with the Air Quality Act.
3.3.2 Climate change management
Climate change is a reality that we can no longer ignore or deny and we have no option but to deal with it, and do so by responding in the most responsible way possible. What I am saying, Honourable Speaker is that it is up to us, all of us!
The department therefore plans to complete phase one of the climate change response strategy. Our response strategy will particularly focus on interventions that will enable the province to contribute towards the country's commitment at the climate change talks in Copenhagen to reduce its emissions by 34 percent by 2020 and by 42 percent by 2025 (in 15 years time). South Africa is rated amongst the top 20 culprits at number 17 in the world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
I share the sentiments and policy position of expressed by our honourable national minister as alluded during her budget vote debate namely that (and I quote): "More needs to be done to prepare our communities and arm them with information to demystify the climate change and secure their informed understanding of human activities that contribute to climate change".
The department will conduct 20 climate change awareness workshops, four per district municipality during this year. The main topic to be presented at the workshops will be the impact of climate change on our day to day lives and how to minimise the adverse effects thereof through adaptation and mitigating actions.
I however wish to remind honourable members that we have an individual and collective responsibility to use all possible platforms and public participation engagements to educate our communities and raise awareness about climate change.
The department will also coordinate and facilitate the establishment of a provincial Climate Change Committee under its leadership and comprising various stakeholders across government, private sector and civil society to harness inter-sectoral efforts and to foster a multi-pronged approach in responding to climate change in the province.
3.3.3 Waste and pollution management
I have already said quite a lot about waste management and what the department is doing about monitoring of planning as well as compliance and enforcement in regard to waste management.
Through programme four, the department further prioritises capacity building and support of municipalities in relation to waste and pollution management in line with the National Environmental Management Waste Act (NEMWA). I have mentioned in my last year's budget speech that NEMWA came into effect on 1 July 2009.
NEMWA as policy instrument is aimed at regulation of waste and ushers in a whole new dispensation on the management of waste across its value chain that is, from reduction of waste generation to the recycling or re-use of waste.
Twenty local municipalities at four per district will be trained on the implementation of the National Environmental Management Waste Act to enhance their capacity in terms of clarity, knowledge and understanding of key provisions and compliance matters for municipalities in the act.
We also see this initiative as a tangible contribution on the part of the department in line with the local government turnaround strategy in that we will be building capacity of municipal landfill site managers to improve operational management of municipal dumping sites.
The department engaged the national Department of Environmental Affairs in establishing a new R7 million landfill site in Hartswater. The department will support the Department of Environmental Affairs in implementation of the project in 2010/11.
As government that is pro-poor and that continually strives to ensure the equitable access to basic services, it is important to mention that the national Department of Environmental Affairs will soon present the free basic removal policy for Cabinet approval.
The policy will provide for free basic refuse removal for indigent households similarly to free basic electricity and water. From an environmental perspective this move will also go a long way in controlling illegal dumping by communities who cannot afford to pay for household refuse to be removed.
A further R1 million is committed for the implementation of a Waste Recycling project in Warrenton and in Barkly West. The funding will be utilised to support and sustain the project and the department envisages that another eight permanent and 15 temporary jobs will be created by the project.
The department will this year support Indalo Yethu, a section 21 institution, in implementing the R7 million Street Cleaning and Greening project in John Taolo Gaetsewe district. It is envisaged that the project will create 100 jobs over a period of six months in five different communities which are close to the town of Kuruman in the Ga Segonyana local municipality.
As already mentioned the management of medical waste and waste water will continue to receive priority attention during this year alongside the Northern Cape hazardous waste management strategy which includes the management of various streams of hazardous waste such as secondary asbestos pollution, nuclear waste, abattoir waste, industrial pollution and air pollution.
3.3.4 Marine and coastal pollution management
Deriving from the national plan of action, the department will compile a strategic plan to be trained with the three coastal local municipalities in the province (Kamiesberg municipality, Nama Khoi municipality, Richtersveldt municipality) for adoption and implementation in 2010/11.
Programme five has been allocated an amount of R19,348 million.
Honourable Speaker, the year 2010 has been declared "International year of Biodiversity (IYB)" by the United Nations and the honourable national minister launched it at a media event in February this year and has requested the country to observe this significant global celebration of life on earth and the ecosystems that sustain such life.
As a result, eleven broad themes have been formulated for this year, one for each month in celebration of this momentous International Year of Biodiversity. The themes for each month are as follows:
January: The announcement of the IYB to Cabinet
February: Biodiversity is precious
March: Biodiversity is fresh water
April: Biodiversity is food and fuel
May: Biodiversity is wealth
June: Biodiversity is security
July: Biodiversity is clean air
August: Biodiversity is health
September: Biodiversity is heritage
October: Biodiversity is beautiful
November: Biodiversity is threatened
December: Biodiversity is our future.
We encourage all government departments to embrace IYB and align all planning processes, their service delivery programmes and celebratory events to the themes, and also investing in biodiversity.
As we may be aware, biodiversity means the variety of living organisms and the link between these organisms and the non-living that make up the ecosystem of the world without which our lives would not be possible.
It is through these ecosystems that we have air to breath, food to eat, medicines, fuel and many other benefits which are known as "ecosystem benefits".
I am raising this Speaker to indicate and remind the honourable house about the humongous mandate that this department has to ensure on behalf of government that holds the environment in public trust of the people, that the environment and biodiversity is protected and preserved for the benefit of future generations.
It should be clear that the department can never be able to do it on our own and without the requisite resources. It is therefore our collective responsibility to fulfil this mandate despite the changing climate conditions we are experiencing.
3.4.1 Protected areas
The partnership between the department and key non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as the Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust, the Succulent Karoo Ecosystem programme (SKEP), the Botanical Society of South Africa (BOTSOC) and the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is very critical for the department's Protected Areas Expansion programme.
These partners deserve a lot of credit for the enormous support that they give to the department considering their direct input into conservation of land under formal protection, presently a minimum amount of R18 million for four properties, which shows a very serious commitment on their side.
The department remains hopeful that the Provincial Treasury will be able to match this amount over the next medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) for the management of our protected areas as well as providing fencing and infrastructure for the 18 000 hectares expansion for Goegap nature reserve.
The department plans to proclaim 38 635 hectares of public land and 121 300 hectares of private land as protected areas in terms of the Protected Areas Act. The department will further develop a protected area expansion strategy for the Namakwa district, which will assist the department on priorities for the expansion of existing protected areas as well as the establishment of new protected areas in the Namakwa district.
The national Department of Environmental Affairs has committed R4 million last year towards planning of the revitalisation of all five of the province's nature reserves, namely Doornkloof, Rolfontein, Witsand, Oorlogskloof and Goegap. The Department of Environmental Affairs has appointed consultants and the process of drawing up plans for infrastructure and the costing thereof is well under way.
3.4.2 Coastal resource use
The Integrated Coastal Management Act came into force on 1 December 2009 and despite severe capacity challenges the department prioritises the monitoring of compliance through site visits as a way of ensuring that the act is implemented in the province.
However, the act provides my department with more mandates than we had before and this has put more pressure on the financial resources of the department. The department has as a result submitted a request to the national department for funding to implement this act.
3.5 Programme six: Environmental Empowerment Services, R6 003 million
The aim of Environmental Empowerment Services is to strike a balance between the requirements of both economic development and environment sustainability.
This requires the Department to work with all role players, as lead agent in the province, to coordinate the work of the sector to prevent the effects of pollution and waste from harming the environment and maintaining biodiversity.
This programme also prioritises the identification of opportunities within the department to contribute towards the phase two, Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) through the creation of green jobs. Green jobs can be described as employment in industries and facilities that are designed to mitigate the effects of climate change.
We have identified a potential 400 job opportunities that can be created for the youth, women and persons with disabilities through community based biodiversity and environmental projects such as waste recycling, cleaning and greening through planting of trees as part of the Township Revitalisation project in terms of the provincial Kgotso, Pula, Nala vision, etc.
June being environment month, the department will be hosting a provincial Women and the Environment workshop on 8 June 2010 in preparation for the National Women and the Environment conference to be hosted by the national Department of Environmental Affairs in August this year.
The workshop will serve as platform for women to deliberate and conclude on how to optimise and leverage economic opportunities for women from the environment. We are also conscious of the fact that June is youth month and will therefore ensure that our young women but also our women with disabilities are well represented at the workshop.
The Northern Cape province will further for the first time host the annual conference on coastal education in January 2011. The province registered as a member of the marine and coastal educator's network which falls under the umbrella of the South African network for coastal and oceanic research.
The department will continue with environmental education awareness campaigns to ensure that the environmental literacy of schools and the broader communities increases.
3.5.1 Community based natural resources management (CBNRM)
Training of emerging farmers and farm workers will receive priority attention during this financial year. Workshops will be conducted at Khomani San, Mier, Reimvasmaak, Kheis and Schimdtsdrift to assist game farmers on the development and review of their game farming plans.
During the workshops, training will be provided on the management of the number of game in relation to the carrying capacity on the farms as to ensure sustainable utilisation of natural resources.
4. Conclusion
Honourable Speaker, as I conclude, I wish to salute our Honourable Premier, Ms Hazel Jenkins for her outstanding team leadership and support in all our endeavours. I also would like to thank my colleagues in the executive and the honourable members of the legislature for all your support. Many thanks to the members of our portfolio committee for your support and guidance and we look forward to your cooperation and contribution again this year.
Let me also thank the Former Head of Department Ms Pat Mokhali for having steered this department to where it is today, the senior managers and the staff of my department for their dedication and continued efforts and commitment towards ensuring the fulfilment of our mandate. Thanks to all our stakeholders and partners who are in attendance and to the members of the public in the gallery.
Despite the budgetary constraints that confront us, my department remains committed to the good course of delivering a better and quality service to our people. Our honourable premier always reminds us that we dare not fail our people. I table the Budget Vote 13 with the utmost commitment that my team and I shall not fail them.
I thank you all.
