Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture and
Rural Development, Lebogang Maile’s Address on the Occasion of the
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Budget Vote,
Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Johannesburg, 23 June 2015.
Hon. Speaker
Hon. Premier
Deputy Speaker
Hon. Colleagues in the Executive Council
Chief-Whip of the majority party
Hon. Members of the Provincial Legislature
Distinguished Guests
"Hunger, inseparable companion of the poor, is the daughter of the unequal
distribution of wealth and of the injustices of this world. The rich do not know
hunger."
So retorted Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro about the food crisis facing
many countries that operate under the clenches of the contemporary global
capitalist system. Uttered at the UN World Food Summit in 1996, this
statement still holds true for the world we live in today.
Regardless of the political ideologies we subscribe to, few leaders worth their
salt would contest the reality that the food crisis plaguing many countries is an
avoidable tragedy, whose persistence can only be explained by the
omnipresent nature of market forces.
Hon. Speaker we table the Budget Vote for the Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development at a time when matters concerning food, land and the
environment are at the centre of social debates and public discourse globally.
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In three days time we will officially mark the 60th anniversary of the Freedom
Charter. It was sixty years ago, on June 26 that multitudes of South Africans
from all walks of life, united by the common interest to see a democratic South
Africa, gathered in Kliptown and declared amongst others a future free of
famine and land hunger, economic deprivation and starvation. The Charter
also commanded a future democratic state to play a developmental role and
actively support those who work the land with inputs and machinery,
implements, fertilisers and tractors.
Sixty years on, it is imperative that we accelerate the quest to attain the
Freedom Charter demands as a befitting tribute to the men and women who
made mammoth sacrifices and laid down their lives to free this country from
the shackles of apartheid.
Hon. Speaker, the World Economic Forum on Africa, which took place earlier
this month, gave resounding attention to the role of agriculture as an
economic game changer for the continent.
The “Africa Rising” narrative punctuated the mood and dominated the
discussions at this forum. We welcome this as an unambiguous sign that
indeed Africa’s time has come.
Be that as it may Madame Speaker, we remain deeply concerned that while
we see all the positive signs of economic growth in parts of our continent, the
reality is that the international division of labour still works to our
disadvantage. Our economies are largely appendages to economies in the
West and increasingly Asian economies. Although there are resounding tales
of euphoria and jubilation about the continent and its future, very few of these
narratives underscore Africa’s role as a producer of goods. In the cast of a
play about the global economy, Africa is allocated the role of a consumer. We
share Professor Mkandawire’s cautionary note that:
“The big problem is that manufacturing is not growing. That is a big
headache…. In fact, the media, when they write about Africa, quite
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remarkably, they don’t talk about Africa as producers, workers. They talk
about us as consumers. And obviously you can’t sustain growth by simply
consuming. You have to invest and produce.”
Hon. Speaker, the need to alter South Africa’s position in the global economic
system is well recognised by our ten pillar programme for Transformation
Modernisation and Re-industrialisation, which spells out the necessity to
champion the transformation of African economies.
It is our view that agriculture is a stepping stone to realising Africa’s
industrialisation. There are signs everywhere that point to agriculture as a key
element of Africa’s industrialisation story. The potential it carries is yet to be
realised.
For instance, Rwanda imports more than 60% of its food items from countries
in the continent. Meanwhile, only 21.1 per cent of food items originating from
countries in Africa is exported within the continent. Of all the countries that
have strong agricultural exports, only Zambia exports more than 50% of its
food to the continent.
The importance of taking targeted measures to boost the performance of the
agricultural sector is underscored by the fact that even countries like Ghana
and South Africa, which run net trade surpluses on food items with the rest of
the world, do not currently have agricultural products in their list of top-five
exports within the continent.
We outline these facts not to lull you into despondency but to convincingly
demonstrate to you the latent potential for Africa’s agricultural sector. The
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) makes a
convincing case for African countries to broaden the range of agricultural
goods produced and traded within the continent through targeted agricultural
and agro-industrial policies. In many ways, South Africa, through the National
Development Plan and the Agricultural Policy Action Plan (APAP) shares this
thinking.
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It is against this reality that we have taken the decision to refocus the
department’s energies towards harnessing the potential for agriculture and
agro-processing in Gauteng.
Gauteng’s economy can gain more strength and increase its inclusivity with a
booming agro-processing sector.
Despite only occupying only 1.4% of South Africa’s land mass, Gauteng’s
advanced food processing architecture means that there exists huge
opportunities to grow our food processing industry and its footprints in the
continent.
We believe that the sector can play a pivotal role in our drive for
industrialisation. It places us on a better platform to increase value added
manufacturing and expand the number of jobs in the province.
There is a national consensus that agro-industry is one of the most resilient
sectors of our economy with largely untapped potential for expansion and
competitiveness.
According to statistics, the sector makes a significant contribution to South
Africa’s economy, with R124 billion share of GDP and employs 451 000
people in the formal sector.
Its resilience was aptly demonstrated during the 2008/9 global financial crisis,
with the sector experiencing marginal growth of 2% against the general trend
of a declining manufacturing sector.
A study that examined the agro-processing sector between 2006 and 2010
confirmed its significance by revealing the following:

The food processing division of the sector is the most dominant in its
economic contribution with its share of total output at 42,4%,
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employment at 31,3%, Value Added at 36,6%, Domestic Fixed
Investment at 32,1% and Exports at 28,8%.

The beverage component is the second largest contributor with value
added at 15,9% of the agro-processing industry and the third in terms
of exports at 17,3%.
In this province, the food and beverage sector has experienced an 18%
growth from 1996 – 2013 and now employs well over 120 000 people.
Although the sector’s growth potential and multiplier effects are evident, there
are also glaring challenges that need to be resolved through targeted state
action and policy.
Our exports have experienced sharp declines over time with the only
exceptions being tobacco and beverage products. Along with this has been a
sharp increase in imports in most divisions of the sector leading to the current
reality where we are net importers of food. As noted in APAP, imports are
particularly pervasive when it comes to crops like wheat, livestock, animal
feed, fertiliser and machinery.
Another cause for concern is the market concentration in agro-processing,
with SMEs commanding a marginal share of the market and facing serious
challenges related to finance and skills. Our own sector investigations confirm
that black companies own only 18% of the food and beverage divisions of the
sector. Declining levels of profitability as well as lower levels of re-investments
are additional realities that we have to contend with.
Hon. Members, the realisation of the sector’s full potential requires an
overhaul of these prevailing conditions. The Agro-Processing Summit held in
March 2015 was unequivocal in not only identifying these challenges but also
in tabling some concrete proposals for transforming and growing the sector.
Through the Agro-Processing Strategy the province articulates clear policy
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steps and actions that we should pursue to promote agro-processing as
vehicle for radical transformation, modernisation and re-industrialisation.
The objectives of the Strategy enjoins us to improve competitiveness of the
sector, create and expand sustainable, decent jobs and forge transformation
by introducing new black and township based players in the market.
In response to the strategy, the department will assume a leading role, as a
bridge that connects black farmers and township enterprenuers with
opportunties offered by established agribusiness in the form of supermarkets
and food retailers and applying the necessary pressure to induce industry
reform. In the past few months, we have met various industry leaders and
representatives in the retail business and concluded a number of ground
breaking partnerships.
We have entered into partnerships with Woolworths to support black
emerging farmers with market access, capacity building and training in areas
such as product development, quality management, brand packaging and
grading as well as post-harvest handling. This partnership will also boost local
manufacturing as the retail giant has a number of products that are earmarked
to replace imports.
A similar agreement has been reached with Pick ‘n Pay and this will pave the
way for emerging black farmers to get offtake agreements as suppliers and to
benefit from the retailers’ enterprise development initiatives.
We are also coordinating farmers in Gauteng to take advantage of enterprise
and supplier development spend in big corporates such as Tiger Brands and
Pioneer Foods.
Government continues to utilise its procurement spend to create market
opportunities for black farmers and township busineses. Through the township
economic revitalisation campaign, our public hospitals will now be sourcing
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40% of their fresh produce supplies from black emerging farmers. We aim to
increase this figure to 80% by the year 2016/17.
Hon. Speaker, to ensure maximum results from these efforts, more will need
to be done to enhance responsiveness of our programmes and the quality of
service to farmers. Over the next few years we intend strengthening
collaboration with commodity organisations and creating relationships with
sources of financial and technical expertise. The department will also initiate
research into innovative technologies that can increase yields and reduce
costs. The allocation to research and development has risen sharply over the
years, from R24.6 million in 2012 to R53.5 million in the current financial year.
These funds will go a long way in assisting farmers with information
packaging, technology transfer, market studies and analysis as well as
research into new products.
Our agro-processing programme has assisted smallholder farmers with
economic infrastructure and machinery such as packaging facilities, egg
grading and vegetable wrapping machines, weighing scales and cold rooms.
We now have two maize milling plants in Tshwane and Randfontein.
Young people continue to be the focus of our interventions and this is evident
in the fact that the Tshwane milling plant is run by a capable youth
cooperative. The young people involved in this project are not only producing
for the local market but have heeded the call for Africa’s industrialisation and
currently export animal feed to our neighbours in Zimbabwe. Our interventions
in the form of financing the running costs of the milling plants for the first three
years ensure that the entrepreneurs dedicate their attention to building a
sustainable business with abundant potential for growth. This demonstrates
our commitment to revitalise township economies on the back of a thriving
agro-processing industry that is inclusive and creates jobs.
Hon. Speaker, the Agro-processing strategy has a number of interventions
that are tailor made to provide long lasting solutions to challenges related to
economic infrastructure such as abbatoirs and storage facilities, access to
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inputs such as seeds, animal feed and fertiliser at competetive prices, market
opportunities and integration into established value chains.
As part of implementing this strategy, we have allocated R7 milllion towards
infrastructure upgrades at the Vereeniging Fresh Produce Market while R5
million will go towards the De Deur Green House and Agro-Processing
Development Project.
Livestock farmers will also be pleased to learn that we intend to develop three
abbatoirs in different parts of Gauteng by 2019. At least one mobile abattoir
has already been procured to assist entrepreneurs in townships with meat
processing and marketing while an additional fleet of seven (7) ambulatory
veterinary clinics will be available to service livestock farmers across different
parts of the province.
At the same time, the department is undertaking feasibility studies for the
establishment of multi-year poultry abattoir project. Twenty (20) poultry
producers will benefit from this initiative and an agreement for training has
been signed with the South African Poultry Association (SAPA).
Likewise, we have made tremendous progress in establishing agri-parks
within our agricultural hubs in various townships across the province. These
agri-parks will focus on the horticulture and poultry value chains.
With the help of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform,
Mogale City municipality and The Innovation Hub the Tarlton Agri-Park will
receive more financial injections and infrastructure investments.
Plans are afoot to establish four agri-parks in townships located in the
Western, Southern and Central Corridors of the city region. These include
Bekkersdal, Khutsong, Sebokeng and Eikenhof. These agri-parks will not only
increase the volume of economic activity in townships but will expose
unemployed youths to farming opportunities, provide economic infrastructure
for clustered agricultural production and encourage value-adding activities in
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townships.
They will give township entrepreneurs in the agricultural space a major boost
and competitive edge in the production of high-value agricultural commodities
and will over time increase volumes and improve the quality of produce as
well as harness their retail presence and export capability.
Hon. Speaker, we have made inroads in transforming the agricultural sector
and empowering black farmers and township enterprenuers. Today we can
boast about the Tropical Mushroom Project, a black and worker owned
mushroom farm that is located in Magaliesburg in the Western Corridor of the
City Region. This business currently supplies mushrooms to food retail giants
like Pick ‘n Pay and employs 140 people. The project gives true expression to
our noble intents to transform economic ownership.
Along with the Tropical Mushroom Project, Terameth and Zivuseni agricultural
cooperatives located in Nigel in the Eastern Corridor of the city region are also
good examples of our work in helping farmers to secure markets and expand
beyond South Africa. Since 2012, these farming businesses have been
exporting maize to neighbouring countries like Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
We have also assisted forty six (46) yellow and white maize farmers with
production inputs like seeds, fertilisers, animal feed as well as training and
capacity building during the previous planting season.
An additional 48 smallholder farmers in the Tshwane in the Northern Corridor
and Sedibeng in the Southern Corridor have been supplied with production
inputs. This intervention has enhanced economic opportunities and job
creation as more than 250 jobs have been created throughout the province.
Hon. Members, we believe that black farmers are the catalysts for economic
transformation. The department recently launched the Nguni Cattle Breeding
– a project geared at producing successful livestock farmers and business
people who can hold their own in the competitive world of agribusiness. This
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project qualifies as a litmus test for our programme for radical economic
transformation.
For the financial year 2015/16 the department aims to cast its net wider in
terms of the farmers that we support and nurture. At the moment, the
department is actively engaged with 1 080 farmers across the city region. We
aim to increase this number of 4500 farmers annually.
We will focus on harnessing and maximising the economic potential of the
agricultural sector as one of Gauteng’s priority economic sectors.
To this end, the department will support the project for increased barley
production in support to the Heineken Malting facility in Sedibeng. The 32
identified farmers will receive assistance with production inputs. We are also
making irrigation assessments for barley farming. Our commitment to this
project is R20 million.
We are also keen to unlock the economic potential and take full advantage of
the opportunities presented by fisheries and aquaculture sub sectors. To this
end the department is presently carrying out a detailed feasibility study to
inform the development of an aquaculture strategy for Gauteng.
Hon. Members, agriculture, along with its backward and forward linkages can
be the bedrock of the Southern and Western Corridors and help the province
to address economic stagnation and de-industrialisation stemming from
mining decline and the troubles of the steel industry in these two areas. As
aptly articulated by Premier David Makhura in the State of the Province
Address (2015), the economies of the Sedibeng and the West Rand, which
respectively grew at a measly 1% and 0.7 % last year, can acquire a new
lease on life through agro-processing and agri-business.
At present, although the two development corridors have the highest
concentration of primary agricultural activity, the reality is that aapproximately
93% of economic activity for the sector is still largely concentrated in our three
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metros and the same applies for employment. When we look at the food
processing and beverages, the West Rand and Sedibeng make marginal
contributions of 8% and 7% respectively. Our interventions must respond to
these skewed and inequitable economic patterns.
The high concentration of agricultural land in Sedibeng presents opportunities
for the production of high value commodities such as flowers and vegetables.
Our interventions will ensure that the Southern Corridor, realises its potential
and fully exploits the maize value chain. Our commitment to the Agri-tropolis
and maize triangle projects in Sedibeng and West Rand is R5.5 million.
In line with the Agricultural Policy Action Plan (APAP), farmers in the Western
Corridor will receive support to maximise the economic yields of horticultural
value chain commodities such as flowers and vegetables while those located
in the Southern Corridor will receive support to upscale maize, soya bean and
poultry production.
For the 2015/16 financial year we will be dedicating our energies towards
developing the Southern Corridor Agro-tropolis Master Plan. This plan will
dovetail the Regional Economic and Industrial Plans for the Western and
Southern Corridors whose development is led by the Gauteng Department of
Economic Development.
Hon. Speaker, an internationally competitive livestock industry is important for
our plans to reposition Gauteng’s economy through agribusiness. Our
proactive approach in managing healthy livestock production ensured that no
major exotic and trade sensitive diseases occurred in the province. As a
result, our trading partners lifted export bans on our meat products, giving
Gauteng exporters uninhibited access to these markets. This improved
disease status led to a 50% increase in the number of export certificates
issued from 12 000 in 2014 to 18 000 in 2015. This figure is impressive
considering the constrained global economic growth.
We are also proud to announce that in October last year we opened the doors
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of the country’s first state-owned veterinary clinic. Located in Themba
Hammanskraal, this clinic is now fully operational and experiencing high
demand for services from surrounding communities.
Hon. Speaker, we believe that Fidel Castro was correct to make the
observation that hunger is an inseparable companion of the poor. Let us
consider for a moment the findings of multiple studies on the incidence of food
insecurity and hunger in South Africa.

The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy showed that from October
2013 to October 2014 the cost of the basic food basket increased by
about R40 from R462 to R502

A slight improvement was recorded as the cost of the basic food basket
increased by R23 from April 2014 to April this year, from R491 to R514.
This was a 4.7% increase of food.

From February 2013 to February 2014, the price of staples increased
by 50%. When the price of staples like maize increases at this level, it
also affects the price of meat and poultry producers as maize is used
for animal feed.
These numbers may seem insignificant to most of us here but the figures
decide the fate of many families in this province and beyond. One need only
look at statistics that one in four people in South Africa experience hunger, a
figure that translates to 3.2 million when we use Gauteng’s population figures.
Many households are compelled into adopting mechanisms and strategies to
cope with the shortage of food supplies. The Oxfam Report on Hidden Hunger
and StatsSA estimate that as much as 17% of South Africans skip meals and
20% cut the size of meals for at least five days each month to prevent a
situation where food supplies completely run out. All of this happens while
over 30% of food produced locally or the equivalent of 2.1% of South Africa’s
GDP is lost through wastage every year. The cost of local food waste across
the value chain is calculated at R61, 5 billion per annum.
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Hon. Speaker, in light of the challenge of hunger facing our communities, we
will, in the next few months, spearhead a campaign for grassroots
mobilisation around hunger and food security. Through this campaign, we
seek to inspire a movement of people who are not only concerned about what
they put on their tables and the related costs, but pay equal if not more
attention to the quality and source of the food that they consume and how
communities can reclaim the power that usurped by markets. We want to see
every school, every ward, every township and neighbourhood taking charge of
the nutritional needs of their communities.
The unsightly sites of illegal dumping sites which emit nothing but stench in
our townships and cities must be turned into productive spaces where
communities can plant vegetation to meet their nutritional needs.
We are simply not comfortable with the facts underscored by the General
Household Survey, which shows that from 2002 until 2011, agricultural
production at smallholder and subsistence levels is not providing enough food
for household consumption. We want to overturn this status quo!
Hon. Members, from Fidel Castro’s injunction about hunger we also learn that
hunger is a by-product of inequality. In our specific context, hunger is a racial
phenomenon, with black people located in townships and the rural hinterlands
most exposed to its wrath. The distribution and production of food determines
access and affordability for all of us.
We find the fact that only a few monopolies dominate the food processing and
distribution value chain quite disheartening. From the staples that working
class families depend on daily; to bread, dairy and meat - monopoly and
concentration of economic power are the order of the day. The architecture of
food supply in South Africa and concentrated ownership directly translates to
higher prices and fewer players in the food value chain.
To change this reality, more work will be done to increase and multiply our
efforts in support of food security initiatives in our townships. Thus far we
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have supported thirty (30) poverty alleviation projects across different
townships with value-adding materials for storage and weighing of vegetables
as well as containers for harvesting vegetables. We aim to support 500 food
gardens located in townships with value adding equipment by the year 2019.
Our commitment towards this project is R2 million. Working together with our
communities, we continue doing our part to ensure that hunger ceases to be a
natural companion of the poor.
Our interventions on agro-processing and the transformation of the political
economy of food in Gauteng are also geared at diluting market concentration
in the sector. We have to support the entry of new players in the food
production value chain. This is the reason why 53% of our budget allocation
will be directed to measures to support farmers with production inputs,
extension services and agro- processing equipment and machinery.
Over and above this, the department will seek partnerships with various
organisations and corporates to ease the burden of hunger on poor
households. Working with FoodBank SA, the department will facilitate the
establishment of logistical infrastructure to collect food from manufacturers
and retailers for distribution to needy families and households. This will
maximise food security for poor households while curbing excessive food
waste by retailers and manufacturers. The partnership will also facilitate the
rolling out of food logistics and warehousing facilities around townships as
well as the transfer of skills to non-profit organisations working on food
security issues.
Hon. Speaker, under the apartheid system, the poor black majority in this
country had to carry the environmental costs for the expansion of racialised
capitalism and exploitation of South Africa’s natural resources. The blatant
disregard for the environment by the mining and industrial conglomerates has
inflicted deep scars on the environment, especially in this province. Our
townships today are both monuments and testimonials of the disastrous
impact of environmental racism.
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Polluting plants were often erected upstream from black townships resulting in
many township residents occupying spaces that were not environmentally
safe characterised by high levels of industrial pollution. Currently and despite
the steps taken by the democratic government to improve environmental
management and the impact of pollution on citizens and the ecosystem, many
people living in townships like Sebokeng, Sharpeville and Kagiso continue to
suffer the health consequences and the corrosive impact of pollution.
The department will tighten the screws on polluting industries through the
following:

Closely supporting municipalities with their air emission license
processes and applications

Investigating and swiftly acting on air pollution complaints received
from communities and citizens, including those committed by state
departments and agencies

Increasing investments in ambient monitoring equipment to support
municipal air quality monitoring stations

Strengthening the Air Quality Forum, which is an intergovernmental
forum on the environment

Issuing compliance notices, warnings and pursuing criminal sanction
against those contravening our environmental laws.
Hon. Speaker, based on the research findings of IBM South Africa in 2014
and cognisant of the fact that as much as 19% of businesses identify delays in
environmental approvals as one of the key factors that undermine the ease of
doing business in Gauteng, the department embarked on a rigorous process
to modernise and automate the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
system.
With this new system, the EIA application process will be completely
automated, allowing applicants to interact with the system and track their
applications as they go through various phases. Prospective developers will
now be able to submit their applications with supporting documents online
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while receiving online feedback about the status of their application. This will
ensure consistent decision-making and a seamless application process.
The additional benefit of this system is that it allows prospective developers
and investors to ascertain the land use patterns for different areas of the
province and this information will be accessible with a click of a button. In this
way, the system also provides answers to some of the burning questions
related land contestation that we have witnessed in recent months. With all
these changes, Gauteng government, working with an Advisory Panel on EIA
will finalise environmental impacts assessment applications within 90 days
instead of the regulated 107 days. The days of submitting development
applications and being kept in the dark about its status until a decision is
issued are over. The department has spent more than R5 million to date to
design, test and pilot the EIA Review System.
In the previous financial year, we approved 247 Environmental Impact
Assessments against the target of 200. These include approvals for
developments such as the Aerotropolis, Lanseria Industrial and the Ekurhuleni
Bus Rapid Transport system. We have set an efficiency target of 100% for
finalising EIA applications in 2015-16. We believe that the investments we
have made in these aspects of work make this target achievable. We will
continue to invest in our staff development and training in order to improve in
this area of work.
Radical economic transformation and decisive spatial change are some of the
vital anchors for Gauteng’s medium-term vision. In May this year we gazetted
the Gauteng Environment Management Framework (EMF), which will serve
as a guide for our spatial planning as well as significantly cut red tape and
reduce the cost of doing business in the province. This new dispensation will
reduce regulatory requirements, set the norms and standards and exempt
certain activities from requiring environmental authorisations.
Hon. Members, in order to provide sufficient energy to support industry at
competitive prices, ensuring access for poor households, while reducing
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carbon footprint, we will rollout low cost alternative energy in fifty (50)
townships across Gauteng.
We will also encourage communities; especially those located in low income
dense settlements to move away from using fossil fuel for heating and
meeting other energy needs in favour of cleaner, safer, sustainable renewable
energy. Informal settlements and townships where the use of coal increases
during the winter months will be targeted. We have developed a Dense Low
Income Settlements Draft Strategy and Action Plan, which seeks to
permanently address challenges related to poor air quality in dense lowincome settlements.
Hon. Members, we are all aware of the impeding crisis of waste management
that haunts the city region. Landfill sites across the city region are facing
immense pressure and this is likely to continue as our population grows. I am
pleased to announce that the province is making strides in moving towards
more sustainable waste management and recycling.
According to the Gauteng Waste Information System, 34.9% of all waste in
Gauteng was recycled in 2014. This is a 10% improvement from 25% in 2010.
This improvement is also underscored by the fact that the majority of the
waste licences we issued in the previous financial year were for recycling
projects.
In line with the SOPA commitment to build clean and environmentally
sustainable development corridors, we will intensify Bontle ke Botho
campaign. Our aim is to inspire a mass movement for a clean,
environmentally sustainable and beautiful city region that has presence in
every township and community. This campaign will mobilise citizens to
become champions for environmental protection. It will be defined by tree
planting, the establishment of nurseries in townships, river clean ups,
rehabilitation of dumping sites into outdoor gyms and playgrounds and
recycling of waste by sorting at source.
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We will work closely with the Department of Education, community based
organisations and environmental groups to ensure that the youth are the
primary messengers for a clean and green Gauteng. In September, the
campaign will be rolled out in every township and every school. It will be
defined by activities such as Environmental Camps and Competitions for
Schools, province-wide clean up campaigns, relays and the establishment of
waste warriors and cadets in every ward, neighbourhood and township.
Together with local government, we will continue to sensitise communities to
the economic benefits of waste recycling by establishing three buy-back
centres and Working for Waste depots in Sedibeng, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and
West Rand. Twenty thousand (20 000) trees will be planted in Tembisa
township as part of our climate change mitigation strategy.
Moving forward, Hon. Members, ecotourism will be strategically positioned to
form an integral part of Gauteng’s tourism offerings.
We are delighted to announce that the Magaliesburg Mountain Range area has
been awarded the status of a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations
Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). This will make the
area a model biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, based on
local community efforts and sound science. The implementation of the biosphere
will coordinate development and increase the area’s value as a magnet for
tourists and globally renowned researchers.
Nature Reserves will be the lynchpin for promoting eco-tourism in Gauteng.
Subject to Exco’s approval of the Nature Reserve Repositioning Strategy, we
will spearhead engagements with the private sector with the intention to
attract investments for infrastructure upgrades and further development of our
six nature reserves, particularly the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve.
The department has committed R16.7 million to existing infrastructure assets
including a booster pump for the Northern Water Line, a New Adventure
Centre and the Southern Water Line at the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. A
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new road will be constructed between the Marievale Nature Reserve and the
mine while the Roodeplaat Nature Reserve will receive a new swimming pool,
an interpretative trail and a new pipe network.
Hon. Members
Our budget allocation for this financial year has increased significantly to
R707 million, of which R377 million will be dedicated to the agriculture and
rural development programme for the establishment of agri-parks, abattoirs,
milling plants and extensive support for farmers. Environmental affairs with an
allocation of R163 million receives the second largest share with spending
towards the department’s operational needs and capabilities at R105 million.
As I conclude I wish to thank the Hon. Premier David Makhura for his
leadership and guidance, esteemed colleagues in the cabinet, Chairperson of
the Portfolio Committee on Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture
and Rural Development Hon. Errol Magerman, the Head of Department Ms.
Thandeka Mbassa, senior managers and all the public servants in the
department for their hard work and ceaseless dedication.
I believe that we should all continue striving for a South Africa and a world in
which poor people are no longer burdened by the lonesome companionship of
hunger and the misfortune and the devastation brought about by
unsustainable use of nature’s resources.
I now table the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development budget for
consideration by this august house.
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