Programme Director;
Deputy Mayor of Saldanha Bay Local Municipality;
Councillors;
Distinguished guests;
Members of the community;
Members of the media;
Ladies and gentlemen.
Molweni, Goie More & Good morning.
It is indeed a great pleasure for me to be here, participating in the 28th edition of world’s biggest coastal clean-up event, the International Coastal Cleanup Day.
The International Coastal Cleanup Day has been observed worldwide, in September, since the first gathering of 2 800 volunteers came together to clean up sections of the Texas coastline in the United States, in 1986.
South Africa is now one of the top 10 participants in this worldwide event, with between 16 000 – 35 000 participants, having taken part in 2012. Worldwide, more than 500,000 volunteers picked up over 4.5 million kilograms of litter during our 2012 International Coastal Cleanup.
The aim of event is to:
- to remove debris from all bodies of water;
- to collect valuable information about debris;
- to heighten public awareness of the causes of litter and debris;
- to make a positive change and to promote water pollution prevention efforts worldwide.
Thus, I am encouraged today, to see so many people who are willing to make a difference in the community of Saldanha Bay and make their contributions, towards a global effort to improve the state of our oceans. Such a turnout at an event of this nature shows the level of appreciation of our communities have for the environment and further creates awareness on the impacts of litter on our marine life.
Take a look around you. Feel the life force and energy one gets from this beautiful beach and ocean. Do you feel you belong to this earth, this environment? If you ask yourself: “What is it that I and do not take responsibility for?” you will realise that you only take responsibility for something that “belongs” to you. Doesn’t the ocean belong to us all? Shouldn’t we be taking responsibility for it?
Yes, there is a need for activities that involve regular cleaning of the coast in general. Therefore, we need to take ownership of that. We, ultimately, make up the communities of this bay. We, the civil society, industries, tourist and officials!
Together, we can become the “wave of change” that is needed to shift our communities’ mindsets and create a better, cleaner, and healthier environment for the future.
This year’s theme for this cleanup event is “Communities Creating Waves of Change.”
Just like the powerful waves change our coastal landscapes, we, as citizens, need to come together to create a big movement or wave, shifting our current mindsets from coastal resource use to something better and more beneficial – coastal resource ownership.
We, as communities, must become involved in the management of our coasts and must take responsibility for keeping our coasts clean and healthy, ridding it from both seen and unseen pollution. Coastal resource ownership is particularly pertinent to an area such as Saldanha Bay and the Langebaan Lagoon, as it serves as a major industrial node and port while at the same time supports important tourism and fishing industries.
Marine litter pollution in the natural environment is not only unsightly but also poses threats to wildlife, such as fish, birds, sea turtles, seals and dolphins. These animals may become entangled in debris or ingest litter along with their regular diet.
Plastic debris degrading, or fragmenting, into smaller pieces has become a serious problem to invertebrates, corals, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and marine habitats. Most importantly, the 80% of the litter that ends up in the ocean comes from the land.
Locally, Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon are considered to be some of the biodiversity “hot spots” in the country and this is an area of exceptional beauty.
Over the years, Saldanha Bay and Langebaan have been the centres of significant industrial, commercial and tourism growth along the West Coast, with the human populations almost doubling between the years 1996 and 2004.
Furthermore, the bay and lagoon also serve a greater industrial community comprising of an iron-ore industry, the small craft harbour, marine aquaculture farms and several fish processing factories, with the potential of pollution from these sources, some of which goes beyond what meets the eye, such as chemicals, bacteria and nutrients.
There is constant development along our beaches and the beneficial uses of the coastal environment are constantly under threat. Hence, awareness raising efforts, specifically through programmes such as International Coastal Clean-up Day are of utmost importance to educate all users and communities about the impacts that litter, and pollution in general, has on the marine environment.
It is always encouraging to see various organisations playing an active part in managing our sensitive coastal environments. One such organisation is the Saldanha Bay Water Quality Forum Trust, which is a voluntary organisation representing various organs of state, local industry and other relevant stakeholders and interest groups.
They have played an important role in guiding and influencing the management of the Bay and in commissioning scientific research aimed at supporting informed decision making and sustainable management of the Saldanha Bay/Langebaan Lagoon.
The Langebaan Lagoon is a Marine Protected Area and a Ramsar site. Therefore, this significant contribution to the management of the Saldanha Bay and the lagoon ecosystem must be applauded.
This day not only marks the celebration of another very successful International Coastal Clean-up event, it also marks the start of another cycle of the Department of Environmental Affairs’ very successful Working for the Coast initiative as part of its Expanded Public Works Programme. The new cycle of Working for the Coast projects has a total budget allocation of R273 700 000 (273 million, 7 hundred thousand rands). It will run for the duration of two years covering the entire coastline from Alexander Bay to Kosi Bay.
Further, an additional amount of R19 159 000 (19 million, 159 thousand rands) will be allocated for accredited training. This will result in a total budget of rendering the total budget R292, 859,000 (292 million, 859 hundred thousand rands) over the two year period.
This initiative is envisioned to provide several thousand temporary work opportunities for people across South Africa, and will have both accredited and non-accredited training initiatives for the successful candidates.
These projects will generate approximately 2 536 work opportunities and 5 500 full-time equivalent opportunities, over two years. The Working for the Coast beneficiaries will help achieve our objective of responsible coastal management by:
- their contribution to the development and maintenance of coastal infrastructure along our coast,
- assisting municipalities in obtaining and maintaining blue flag status for their beaches,
- regular coastal clean-ups,
- removal of illegal and abandoned structures,
- improvement of access to and along the coast,
- removal of invasive alien vegetation,
- compliance and monitoring, and
- rehabilitation of degraded areas which include dunes, estuaries.
The contribution of the Working for the Coast initiative has been marked in Saldanha Bay over the years, with their presence felt from the developed shores of Saldanha Bay in the North to the pristine shores of the Langebaan Lagoon in the South.
Ladies and gentlemen,
For these reasons amongst many others, the Department of Environmental Affairs together with the support our entity South African National Parks, the West Coast District Municipality, the Saldanha Bay Municipality, Working for the Coast beneficiaries and Plastics SA, is proud to bring this important cleanup up event, and most importantly, skills and access to work opportunities, to Saldanha Bay.
Let us create the waves of change across all of our communities to improve our quality of life, while caring for the environment. Working together, we can do more to keep our oceans clean! Working together we can do more to create skills, jobs and create a better life for all!
Thank you, Dankie, Ngiyabonga.
