Programme Director
Honourable Executive Mayor of Vhembe District Municipality,
Councillor Miyelani Chauke Honourable Executive Mayor of Thulamela Local Municipality,
Councillor Sarah Rambuda His Majesty Mailausumbwa MPK Tshivhase
Traditional leaders present
Chief Executive Officer of the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Mr Shonisani Munzhedzi
All Ward and PR councillors present
Representatives of our development partners and donors Officials from government departments and municipalities
Members of the community, particularly the women and young people Members of the media
Distinguished guests Ladies and gentlemen
Ndi Matsheloni, Vhathu Vhothe!
Thank you for the warm welcome we have received here in Mavhola Village. It is a pleasure to return to this beautiful part of Limpopo and, more importantly, to meet again with a community that has chosen to take practical responsibility for its land, water and environment.
Today’s visit takes place under the theme, "Land and Environment: Everyone’s Responsibility." That theme is not merely a slogan. It captures what the Thulamela-Makhado Adopt-a-River Project, or TMAC, demonstrates every day: environmental protection succeeds when communities, traditional leaders, government, civil society and development partners work together.
I extend my sincere appreciation to the partners whose support has made today’s programme possible: the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, through the G20 Global Land Initiative; the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa; the Universal Greening Organisation; the International Union for Conservation of Nature; Lepelle Northern Water; the Limpopo Provincial Government; the Vhembe District Municipality; and the Thulamela Local Municipality.
This is my second visit to TMAC. When I came to the Vhembe District in March 2025 for the E-Waste Imbizo, I saw first-hand the scale and value of this women-led initiative. We are not here today simply to admire its work. During our visit, we were amazed by the work that TMAC is doing in the management and protection of our land and environment in a sustainable manner. TMAC is an environmental conservation project focusing on restoring and protecting wetlands, rivers, and improving waste management practices within the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve. We are here to account for commitments made, to recognise progress and to strengthen the partnership for the work that still lies ahead.
TMAC has an impressive footprint. Over a ten-year period, the project aims to restore rivers and wetlands, rehabilitate natural water sources and improve waste-management systems across the Thulamela and Makhado local municipalities. Its work reaches 105 villages and involves approximately 950 participants, many of them women and young people. This is a group of women and youth who have recognise the need to address environmental challenges that threaten water quality, ecosystem
health, community well-being and livelihoods by protecting and restoring wetlands, rivers, and waste management practices within their villages.
The figures tell a powerful story: clean-up work in 18 rivers; rehabilitation of 28 natural springs; conservation of 22 wetland areas; and 146 community waste-management systems. Behind each figure is something that matters to daily life: cleaner water, healthier ecosystems, safer communities and stronger local livelihoods.
This work is urgent. Nearly two-thirds of South Africa’s river ecosystems are threatened. Pollution, illegal dumping, invasive alien species, soil erosion and unsustainable land use place our water security, biodiversity, food systems and public health at risk. Here in Limpopo, land degradation, bush encroachment, deforestation and invasive plants add pressure to communities that depend directly on healthy land and water resources.
The consequences are not abstract. A polluted river affects the water a family uses. A degraded wetland loses its ability to store and filter water. Eroded soil weakens agricultural production. Poorly managed waste blocks drainage systems, contaminates land and water, and can harm human health. Protecting nature is therefore also about protecting people and building resilience to climate change.
Since our last engagement, progress has been made on several commitments. In July 2025, 400 refuse bags were provided to support TMAC’s clean-up work. In June this year, PETCO partnered with the Department and Thulamela Local Municipality to provide recycling training to 117 Expanded Public Works Programme beneficiaries. The training covered waste separation, the identification of recyclable materials and opportunities to build livelihoods and small enterprises in the recycling economy.
In the e-waste sector, R2E2 and GreenZA have established an active collection programme in the municipality. GreenZA has received personal protective equipment and awareness materials, while specialised training in dismantling and material recovery is being arranged. EWASA has also supported the programme with wheelie bins, trolleys, bulk bags and scales. These partnerships are helping to turn waste from an environmental burden into a resource and an economic opportunity. The Department’s procurement of additional waste bins and tools has also resumed in this financial year.
Through the Department’s Environmental Programmes, 60 participants were provided with work opportunities from April to June 2026. We recognise that short-term opportunities alone are not enough. Our larger task is to build skills, strengthen viable community enterprises and create pathways into lasting green-economy livelihoods, particularly for women and young people in rural areas.
Despite the important role that women and girls play in safeguarding and protecting of natural resources, they still face significant challenges such as discrimination, lack of equal opportunity, exclusion in decision making and development of policies and legislations.As we approach Women’s Day, we remember the approximately 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in opposition to pass laws. Their courage reminds us what organised women can achieve when they unite around a common purpose. TMAC carries that spirit forward through women who are not waiting for change, but leading it in their own communities.
I am especially encouraged that TMAC places indigenous knowledge and citizen science at the centre of its restoration work. When scientific expertise is combined with the knowledge held by local communities, restoration becomes more ecologically sound, culturally relevant and sustainable. It also builds the community ownership needed to protect restored ecosystems long after a project cycle ends. Through our continued partnership with TMAC, the DFFE through Environmental Programmes have employed a total of 60 participants for a period of 3 months from 8 April 2026 to 30 June 2026. This demonstrates our commitment towards job creation and rural development.
DFFE is developing an Integrated Restoration Programme to bring together work on land and wetland rehabilitation, invasive alien species clearing, clean-up campaigns, tree planting and catchment restoration. A more coordinated approach will help us direct resources where they can have the greatest impact, avoid duplication and build stronger partnerships with communities such as TMAC.
Today, we are pleased to hand over personal protective equipment and working tools secured with the support of our partners, Global Mechanism of the UNCCD, the G20 Global Land Initiative, Global Water Partnership, the Universal Greening Organisation and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. This is practical support for people doing demanding work on the ground. It will help TMAC participants carry out restoration and clean-up activities more safely and effectively.
Our Forestry Branch is also working with the relevant structures to identify suitable sites for the national tree-planting drive. As part of the Presidential National Greening Programme, South Africa aims to plant 10 million trees on Heritage Day, 24 September 2026. I call on government departments, public entities, traditional leaders, municipalities, businesses, civil-society organisations and communities to participate. Let us plant the right trees in the right places and ensure that they are cared for beyond the day on which they are planted.
Programme Director, TMAC shows us that environmental leadership does not begin only in boardrooms or government offices. It begins wherever people decide that a polluted river, a degraded wetland or an illegal dumping site is not someone else’s problem.
Let us leave here committed to practical action: reduce and separate our waste; recycle wherever possible; protect rivers, wetlands and springs; restore degraded land; plant and care for trees; and support the women and young people who are building sustainable livelihoods from this work.
The land and the environment belong to all of us, and so does the responsibility to protect them. By working together, we can secure healthier ecosystems, safer communities and a more resilient future for generations to come.
Aaa! Ndi a livhuwa!
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