The Provincial Minister of Housing, Mr Bonginkosi Madikizela
The Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town, Dan Plato
The Reverend
The Programme Director
Ward councillors
Project partners and beneficiaries
Members of the Khayelitsha community
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
We are gathered here today to launch one of those initiatives that prove that together we are capable of making a huge difference in our own communities and are masters of our destinies. Not only are we able to craft policies that are geared towards making a huge difference in our lives, but we can also implement those policies through initiatives such as clean development mechanism projects. It is not just cheap talk or theory on our part that we are continuously exploring innovative ways and means to reduce carbon emissions menace within our environment.
No venue is more suitable to host an event of such importance than this place, which is christened after one of the greatest sons of the soil, Solomon Kalusha Mahlangu. Facing the gallows with exemplary fortitude, Mahlangu’s frightening sacrifice was not in vain. We should never forget that he paid the supreme and ultimate price so that all of us here will enjoy a better life. It is through the introduction of projects such as the one we are launching that the heroic deeds of great patriots like Mahlangu will forever be remembered.
The Kuyasa Clean Development Mechanism Project is the first of its kind in the country and the world’s first gold standard project. It is a pioneering model that will see a sustainable financial mechanism in place to ensure energy efficiency adaptations as standard for low-income housing.
More than 2 000 homes will directly benefit from this initiative. The project aims to reduce fossil fuel based consumption, and hence carbon dioxide emissions. This is done through three interventions in low-income housing units. These are the installation of solar energy heaters, the retrofitting of compact fluorescent light bulbs and the introduction of ceiling insulation. The benefits of the project are multi-faceted. These include reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and respiratory-related diseases and saving in the cost of energy services. The energy savings of the project allows it to be registered as a clean development mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol. This means it gains carbon credits. As part of the business plan, income generated from the CDM's carbon emission reduction certificates allows for the creation of a non-profit trust for the maintenance of the solar water heaters. This creates more employment opportunities in the long-term.
The success of this project is likely to lead to the retrofitting of the country’s other two million low-cost homes and further promote energy saving, emissions reductions and the local manufacture of solar heaters.
We simply cannot afford not to roll-out energy efficiency intervention in the low income housing sector. Currently, an estimated three million households make use of firewood to meet their basic energy requirements. There is huge potential to increase the contribution of renewable energy to the total energy mix. This can only contribute to improving the lives of all the people. Despite the adverse effects of the current recessionary economic conditions on our country; we will never abandon the goal of a better life for all. The provision of basic and essential services including access to clean and potable water, housing, health services and education ranks high on our agenda. By providing these services we are effectively empowering our people. Most importantly, we are addressing the concerns articulated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV and AIDS, malaria and other disease, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.
Our democratic government is determined and dedicated to improving the lives of all our people, irrespective of race, religion, creed and so forth. This has motivated us to tackle the scourge of unemployment head-on. We are pulling all the resources at our disposal to achieve this goal.
The Kuyasa housing development is a shinning example of the successes of our endeavours to create a better life for all. In the past fifteen years more than 2,5 million low-income homes and we are targeting a further 3 million by 2025. The small business development, job creation and community empowerment benefits of the project are massive. The project has created 85 fulltime job opportunities for women, youth and the disabled and over 16 500 temporary jobs.
It is encouraging that the community has taken ownership of the project in line with its motto: Siyazenzela (We are doing it for ourselves). Let me take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all those involved in the project. Keep up the good work, initiate and participate in such benign and similar initiatives countrywide.
It is projects of this magnitude that demonstrate how our country has played a leading role in shaping global debates on environmental justice, including through our participation in the Rio Earth Summit as well as hosting the World Summit for Sustainable Development. It was at these platforms that we consistently championed a progressive response to the environmental and developmental challenges facing the continent and the countries of the South. We have also resolved to work with progressive forces throughout the world to ensure that the environmental challenges are comprehensively addressed and receive the prominence they deserve.
Our country is also a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate. We may not have targets for reducing our share of the greenhouse gases but we do have responsibilities under the Convention and the Protocol.
We have also started projects to promote awareness and education regarding energy efficiency issues. The energy and water use efficiency and the auditor training project aims to create a national skills base of 1 000 youth who in the period preceding the 2010 Soccer World Cup tournament, will conduct energy audits and climate change education as part of a mass energy efficiency programme. This will be conducted in the government sector, residences and small business enterprises in order to reduce demand on the national grid and also enhance awareness regarding the benefits of climate change education.
It is in this context that we have embraced a sustainable development paradigm that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We will live up to this commitment. We are sure because together, we are doing more.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs
25 November 2009
