“Working For” Environmental Programmes & Green Fund EPWP projects; Famine Weed invasive alien; Value-Added Industries/Eco-Furniture; Committee Report on DEA Budget

Meeting report

Chairperson's Introductory Comments
The Chairperson noted that Parliament had taken a decision to play a role in the efforts to curb xenophobic attacks in SA. After this meeting today, Members would be able to join their various constituencies do their bit to stop violence against foreign nationals and any other people. Parliament felt that business as usual could not continue while people were being attacked, displaced and killed. Young kids were in refugee camps and the conditions of some of these camps left a lot to be desired. This was why Members of Parliament needed to go there to see what role they could play or what could be done to improve the lives of their African brothers and sisters. It was very unfortunate and regrettable that this was being experienced. He reiterated what many people had said which was that South Africans were not xenophobic – there were minorities attacking foreign nationals but this would not be done in the name of South Africans. For years SA lived side by side with other African brothers and sisters without any incidents. Even now the current xenophobic attacks were experienced in three provinces, in the main, Gauteng, KZN and the North West to a certain extent. All the other provinces had not had serious xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals and in the provinces where it was experienced, it was only limited to certain areas. An Ad Hoc Committee of Parliament had also been established to look into this matter and a report would be brought before Parliament sometime in the future to look at what happened, what the causal factors were and what must be done to ensure it does not occur again.

PCEA Briefing Job Creation and New Growth Path
Ms Lize McCourt, DEA Acting DG (while the DG was furthering her studies) said that the “Working For” programmes of the Department were important in the context of xenophobia because, whether it was factual or not, one of the root causes mentioned behind the violence was around economic empowerment and employment. The programmes presented today was 60% of the operational budget of DEA , was mostly ring-fenced funding and was where the Department envisioned carrying out transformative, radical economic empowerment of people whilst benefitting from environmental grounds. On a personal note, she noted she would be leaving DEA as the COO at the end of May to become the COO of SA National Parks (SANParks) so she would still be in the family. It had been a great honour working with the Committee.

Mr Guy Preston, DEA DDG: Environmental Programmes, asked the Committee and others present to observe a moment of silence for the death of a pilot and a safety officer in a helicopter crash that happened last Wednesday.

Ms Matilda Skosana, DEA Chief Director: Information Management and Sector Coordination, began the presentation by providing a background to the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) where the objective was to provide unemployed people with income support through work opportunities, whole providing assets and services using labour intensive methods. Structural unemployment and poverty was identified as he most significant threats to SA’s democracy. EPWP can provide poverty and income relief through temporary work for the unemployed. EPWP will be designed to provide labour-intensive assets and service and equip participants with work experience and skills and, where applicable, enhance their ability to earn a living.

The environmental programmes were responsible for the implementation of EPWP and the green economy projects in the environmental sector through 15 focus areas:
- People and Parks: increase access to protected areas for benefit sharing from use of indigenous resources
- Working for Land: rehabilitation of degraded land in order to improve and increase productivity
- Wildlife Economy: sustainable use of the wildlife for economic developments
- Greening and Open Space Management: enhance and provide access to open spaces for recreational purpose
- Working on Waste: Less waste that was better managed
- Working for the Coast: improve access, recreational and conservation of the coastline
- Working for Water: improve the integrity of natural resources by managing the impact of established invasive alien species
- Working for Fire: prevent and minimise impact of wild fires
- Working for Wetlands: restoration of ecological infrastructure of water flow management
- Working for Forests: protection of integrity of the indigenous forest
- Eco Furniture Programme: use of bio-mass for value added industries
- Working for Energy: optimal use of bio-mass for energy generation
- Working for Ecosystems: to have intact ecological infrastructure, goods and services
- Youth Environmental Services: capacitate youth with relevant skills for employment in the environmental sector
- Bio-security: prevent introduction of alien invasive species

The Committee was then taken through the performance of the EPWP sector in terms of pitting performance against targets, demographics, budgets and expenditure for EPWP projects in the environmental sector and demographic distribution where the four biggest contributing provinces included the Western Cape, Limpopo, KZN and Gauteng. Members were then presented with numbers for non-EPWP job numbers per focus areas and as reported per sphere of government for 2014/15.

Ms Skosana then looked at job creation within the environmental sector noting that in 2012, the Environmental Sector Executive (MinMEC) and Technical (MinTech) established Implementation Fora Working Groups to deal with different environmental issues. Of the 12 Working Groups, six were established to focus on job creation in the environmental sector and consolidated information on EPWP job creation and non-EPWP job creation. The job creation framework was to define environmental sector job creation, in particular non-EPWP job creation, coordinate non-EPWP job creation initiatives and reporting and promote environmental sector job creation. 11 614 jobs were achieved in 2014/15 when the target was 4 500 per annum.

Mr Tlou Ramuru, DEA Chief Policy Advisor: Sustainable Development took the Committee through the objectives of the Green Fund, which included, to support initiatives that will contribute to SA transition to a low carbon, climate resilient, resource efficient development path, to address market weaknesses to transition to a green economy by:
- Promoting innovative and high impact green programmes and projects,
- Reinforcing climate policy objectives through green interventions,
- Building an evidence base for the expansion of the green economy, and
- Attracting additional resources to support South Africa’s green economy development.

The Green Fund also created the space for catalytic financing. In terms of Green Fund projects, to date a total of 29 investment projects had been approved, 18 projects were under implementation, 7 projects were at various stages of contracting which were subjected to terms and conditions (including 4 newly approved projects), 3 projects were withdrawn and 1 project was cancelled as the project failed to meet terms and conditions as per approval. It was projected that approximately of 14 150 jobs will be created once the projects were fully implemented, noting that these were multiple year projects. Treasury approved a new allocation of R590 million to 2018/2019.

The Committee was then briefed on the financial report to date until 31 March 2015 in terms of commitments and disbursements for 2012/13 and 2014/15 followed by the geographic (per province) spread of investments projects in the contracting phase and currently implemented in terms of the numbers of projects and percentage of total projects.

To inform policy imperatives, an evidence – based approach should be supported. A total of 16 research and policy development initiatives had been approved to a value of R36 270 177 million. The contracting of all 16 projects had been undertaken and funds allocated to the research and development initiatives had been fully disbursed. Expected dates of completion envisaged were September 2015 – December 2015. In order to assist in the transition to a green economy, the Green Fund supported strategic capacity building initiatives. A total of eight capacity development projects were approved to a value of approximately R66 000 000.

Famine Weed
Mr Preston explained famine weed (parthenium hysterophorus) was an insignificant looking yet devastating invader. It was a daisy from the Caribbean invading many parts of Africa, Asia and Australasia and it may become SA’s worst invasive plant. It was usually spread by wind, its seeds were spread in car tyres and grills, by animals, by our clothing, etc. Famine weed was therefore establishing rapidly along roads, and especially in degraded areas. Once established, it can set seed within four weeks in the growing season. Through allelopathy (chemical secretions), it inhibited the growth of other plants. It can grow to over 1.8 metres high, and each plant can set tens of thousands of seeds per year. In Australia, no treatment of invaded areas had reversed seed banks in soil to below 5,000 seeds/m2. Its seed were viable for over 50 years.

Famine Weed can cause allergic reactions in humans. Skin legions and rashes were impacts that worsened over time, and people may need to move away from invaded areas. It also caused respiratory problems in humans, which can exacerbate existing human health invasives, such as tuberculosis. Famine weed thrived in degraded land, which was especially typical of the land of resource-poor farmers. It may force people to abandon their crops and grazing land, and even to leave their lands. Excessive exposure to famine weed by livestock led to allergic reactions to the plant. This can destroy the productive potential of land for grazing of livestock. Famine weed was catastrophic for biodiversity. Our wildlife species were likely to develop allergic reactions as seen in the red lip some rhino developed. Were fields of famine weed without game the future of our parks?

Mr Preston said the implications of famine weed for the conservation agencies was dramatically shown by efforts to spray along the fence-line of parks, with high densities of famine weed on the other side of the fence. Spraying down vehicles was a consideration but there were at least 13 gates into the Park, most without water or electricity. Ironically, the Working for Water teams will be spreading famine weed, after picking up workers in infested areas. So too will the rangers, anti-poaching teams and tourists.

The remaining question was what could be done – there could be a secure a dedicated budget for a species-specific programme against famine weed, increased investment in biological control research for agents to control famine weed, focused control efforts on emerging populations, through early detection and rapid response, protect communities in areas of high infestation and planned follow-up spraying was essential for cleared areas. Plants could also be treated before they flower or set seed had massive returns on investment, good veld management was key to suppressing famine weed invasion, advocacy aimed at farmers, local authorities, rural communities and other affected parties, taking pressure off the veld through over-stocking, thereby reducing invasion of bare ground and to ensure partnerships with conservation agencies, local authorities, the SA National Roads Agency (SANRAL), Eskom and others.

Working on Fire Programme: Support to Structural Fire-Fighters in Shack Fires in Khayelitsha,
Mr Preston took the Committee through a demonstrative video showing how new technology developed could retard flames and prevent major damage in the case of shack fires. Shack-dwellers often risked their lives to save their possessions. They can lose everything, including difficult-to-replace documents, in such fires. Most victims had little by way of saving, insurance or alternatives, and (already poor) must start over again. 1,200 shacks were lost to a fire in the Joe Slovo settlement, near the Cape Town Airport, in early 2000. The Ukuvuka Campaign dropped the number of shack fires to virtually zero over the next two years. The Department’s Working on Fire and Eco-Furniture programmes were now partnering with a local NGO, the Stellenbosch Municipality, and other partners, to see how the design and materials used in informal settlement “shacks” can help to inhibit the spread of fires. The intention was to use cement-fibre board (using invasive biomass) and not zinc for walls in the structures. The Department’s Working on Fire and Eco-Furniture programmes partnered with Design Change, the Stellenbosch Municipality, and other partners, to test the design. The purpose was to test if the cement-fibre board structures would burn, when a fire started in the structure or swept through to the structure [see video http://youtu.be/s-QaQ9tRVRI]

Value-Added Industries/The Eco-Furniture Programme (EFP)
Mr Preston took the Committee through this final presentation highlighting value-added industries which made useful products from invasive species. With eco-wood, making use of invasive alien wood for value-added industries, the Working for Water Programme harvested suitable trees for making value-added industry products, through its Eco-Furniture Programme administered by SANParks. Buoyed by funding from the Jobs Fund, and partnering with the private sector to create more jobs, the EFP was targeting employing 3,200 previously unemployed workers in making products that government needed, specifically targeting the poor.

The value-added industry turned a liability into value products particularly in addressing the needs of the poor. The EFP currently had five fully operational factories, and was establishing more to turn invasive biomass into products that government needs, such as school desks. The EFP took cleared biomass through a “wet mill”, and a drying process in kilns, to produce laminated planks that can be turned into furniture. Driven by a desire to reduce the cost of bereavement for the poor, the Working for Water programme initiated the “Eco-Coffin Programme”, working in partnership with the KZN Invasive Alien Species Programme and the Alliance for Religion and Conservation, with funding from the World Bank (after winning the Development Marketplace Award for innovation in 2005). These were basic rope-handled eco-coffins, made from invasive wood by previously unemployed workers and which could be sold for as little as R300. Gold-handled eco-coffins and eco-caskets were also made at affordable prices, working through local faith-based organisations to promote dignified funerals that did not further impoverish those left behind. Prof Kader Asmal, who gave life to the Working for Water programme, and all that had followed, chose to use a basic, rope-handled eco-coffin for his funeral.

The EFP was targeting to make high-quality furniture for government office needs, and other furniture, from invasive alien wood. The “Chess Table” was an idea inspired by President Zuma, who talked of the importance of chess for cognitive development in children. It was desk that can be used for multi-purposes in schools, and had built-in chess boards to promote the game. Umsholozi Walking Sticks were walking sticks made from invasive wood for government’s own needs (for the elderly and others in need of support). There was also an eco-bench constructed in memory of Prof Kader Asmal and Adv Dullah Omar.

Mr Preston explained the Value-Added industries Programme were exploring the potential to use invasive wood to make woodwool cement-fibre board, for use in the construction of buildings. The mixture renders the product inert, and therefore very suitable for fire-resistance, as had been successfully trialed. The Value-Added Industry Programme was seeking to partner to explore the potential to use invasive alien biomass to make wood-plastic composite products. Although school desks were competitive, the range of potential use (including pest-free packaging) offered great opportunities.

Discussion
Ms T Stander (DA) asked about the material used in the case study in shack number one which was imported material – was there any way SA could make this material itself? Could alien vegetation be turned into board to be used in these structures? Did the Department intend to approach the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) to ask if this material could be used as a standard in their structures?

Mr Preston said that effectively, the same material can be made using the invasive biomass mixed with cement which allowed it not to be done. This could be done for about a quarter of the price and jobs would be created in the country and it could open up the process of diversification. The intention was not to turn the opportunities into Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) because of cash-flow and other problems often led to things not succeeded when it should have. The intention was to get products at the lowest possible price to people who needed them so the intention was more on long-term job opportunities for people working in these programmes as was in the Eco-Furniture Programme. The Minister had tasked him to meet with the DHS but he had not been able to meet with the DG at this stage but there were meetings with the previous Minister and DG around the proposed concept. Such a project would definitely be done under the auspices of Human Settlements. DEA would not be patenting the product as it was a wide-spread technology across the world and the aim was to provide access to as many people as it could. There was a risk in using invasive biomass in creating perverse incentives but currently, there was a limited impact on the spread and growth of invasives despite the size of the budget. Value-added industries were affordable for land owners to have their land cleared through affordable and practical processes and timeframes. The risk of perverse incentives was small compared to the risk of new invasions.

Mr S Makhubele (ANC) thought the presentation provided a lot of clarification and made the Committee conscious or aware of certain things it was taking for granted particularly around famine weed. Had the Department secured the budget to deal with this weed or was it still under discussion because it was a scary prospect. What were the challenges or difficulties in meeting the targets for women, youth and persons with disabilities? In terms of the number of SMMEs empowered, why could the target not be sustained because it declined over the years? He wanted to know if the jobs created by non-EPWP projects in the local sphere were all permanent and what the nature of these particular jobs was.

Ms McCourt said the Department had only begun to conceptualise, count and monitor the non-EPWP works in 2012. In 2012, Working Groups were created for the first time which consisted of local government (represented through the SA Local Government Association (SALGA)), metros, the nine provinces and the national Department looking at how to define the jobs outside of the EPWP. Currently these were just defined as jobs not within the EPWP but were directly created by government in the sector. The definition still needed work because it ranged, for example, year-long internships to someone involved in something which could be a couple of weeks. It was still a work in progress but, at least as of last year, these jobs could be reported on. Another factor was that SALGA was very thin on the local government ground in terms of ability to support environmental functions. The Committee could benefit from a more in-depth presentation on the local government support strategy focusing on the 27 municipalities of greatest need.

Mr Preston added there was a budget for the famine weed and it could be provided to the Committee along with the strategic plan. A dent was not being made at all at this stage and efforts needed to be scaled-up considerably. One first needed to work out what really worked – it was known that suppression and early-detection worked while it was known that fire did not work. From there interventions could be worked out. In New South Wales, Australia, there was more success than most other parts of the world. DEA was working very closely with the KZN provincial authorities because it was the epicentre of the spread of the invasive right now.

Mr P Mabilo (ANC) asked about the incentives and if they were commensurate to the number of jobs created? He asked this because it was important to see if there was benefit from more job creation equalling more incentives. On the world wildlife economy, he was interested in the notion of transformation in the sector involving those previously disadvantaged especially for women and youth. In terms of the Green Fund, what role did the private sector play in this fund? He asked this because the carbon footprint left by government was less than that left by private industries. What initiatives were there to ensure these industries came to the party?

Ms McCourt said the issue of private sector involvement concerned governance – currently there was private sector investment in individual projects. There was no investment from the private sector in the Green Fund itself and this was needed as it would allow the Fund to be less dependent on the fiscus and would open it up to do more for the common good as opposed to investing in individual projects. The review of why funding was not being attracted to the Green Fund (but only to individual projects) was almost complete. The areas of most private sector investment in individual projects were in waste and renewable energy because of the ultimate commercial gain. There was no investment in the grant-type projects where there was no long term commercial benefit. Ideally, if there was investment in the Green Fund itself, as opposed to individual projects, it would allow for cross-subsidisation for projects which should receive a grant to benefit previously disadvantaged people. Most of the investment was made in soft loans or repayable grants where there would ultimately be pay-back. With the transformation of the wildlife economy, when the biodiversity programme presented it Annual Performance Plan (APP), Members would have recalled that the Minister made an input on the need for a wildlife economic strategy to come to Parliament and the Committee after its been through Cabinet. This strategy went beyond transformation and beneficiation but spoke to transformation of the sector and how to use resources from the entities, SANParks and iSimangaliso specifically, to facilitate transformation in the wildlife economy and the general resource protection environment. The work done through the EPWP was wildlife economy related projects and programmes but it did not address overall transformation of the sector because it was more of a programmatic management approach to the wildlife economy.

Ms Skosana spoke on invectives noting, when the Department of Public Works conceptualised the incentives, the national incentives model worked differently from the provincial model. Nationally, departments were expected to develop the expansion plan document for achievements based on the baseline allocation. With the decline in SMMEs, the Department had reviewed their contractual model for Working for Water. The programme used to have a contract for small SMMEs but the scope had now been widened so that it had more impact in empowering SMMEs. This explained the reduction where now fewer SMMEs were used with a bigger impact and empowerment.

Mr Preston added that incentives were designed to reduce the cost of employment and get contributions from those who benefit from outcomes achieved. Some remarkable success had been, for example, the average cost per person for Working for Water was R350 but this was now brought down to R180 by using incentives and putting the onus on the land user to contribute o bringing the cost down. The environmental monitors were coming in at R160 where the monitors contributed to decreasing rhino poaching. The demand for environmental monitors was huge and what should be happening was where a programme was very successful, the money should be made available.

Mr M Shelembe (NFP) asked how it was possible that he as an ordinary person or any member of the community residing in the area could identify the famine weed. Were there any awareness programmes for the public in this regard? He asked about some of the Green Fund projects not being rolled-out because of not meeting certain conditions – what were these conditions and when would they be met?

Mr Preston said there was advocacy material to reach as many people as possible in terms of affected communities and farmers. This could be provided to the Committee. It was important to remember famine weed was just one example and there were many other invasive species which were incredibly harmful as well. The long-term impact of not dealing with it could be measured in probably tens of billions of Rands.

Mr Ramuru explained that with the projects withdrawn or cancelled, one was cancelled in KZN which planned to test rainwater to provide communities with purified water for drinking but the two main participants could not work together and the main participant withdrew. This was an example to show Members some of the dynamics at play. In a detailed presentation, the Committee could be presented with each project to share the technicalities, progress and dynamics.

Ms H Kekane (ANC) questioned why the Department only had 1.2% of disabled employees instead of the target of 2%. She also wanted this percentage broken down into an actual figure.

Ms Skosana indicated that in phase one, the 1.2% constituted about 3355 people. In the third quarter of phase three, only 1030 disabled people were attracted. Initially there was confusion around the inclusion of disabled people into EPWP where when phase one was conceptualised, some of the disabled participants forfeited their disability grants so DEA needed to work with the Department of Social Development (DSD) to ensure blockages were dealt with to reach the target of disabled participants. The other challenge was the nature of the activities in relation to the types of disabilities, for example, projects which required construction failed to attract disabled participants due to the nature of the activity. There were also issues relating to stigma where people with disabilities did not want to declare themselves as having disabilities because of the fear of stigma. The Department was engaging DSD on this to break the barriers. The Department was also looking at which programmes in the structure would attract people with disabilities.

Mr Preston added there were various challenges around data and there were certain verified figures to report on but from the Departments own records, there were many figures not reported on for various reasons. There was an under-reporting of people with disabilities in the programmes so according to DEA’s own figures, it was over the 2% target. The question could still be if 2% was the right target because most of the stats indicated, with the definitions used, over 5% of South Africans could be classified as people with disabilities. The Department could however only present verified figures while the rest was unfortunately forfeited but more was being done than was seemed.

The Chairperson noted the geographic spread of work opportunities where most were in the Western Cape yet the geographic spread of investment projects in terms of the Green Fund was largest in Gauteng and KZN – why would there be more people employed in the Western Cape as opposed to KZN, Eastern Cape and Gauteng considering the spread of investment? Also on the Green Fund, he thought it would be good for the Committee to delve deeper into this matter to have the same knowledge as the Department had and for Members to become good ambassadors. How did people know they could apply to the Green Fund because even as a Member of Parliament he did not know so how would an ordinary person in his home town know? Was this information promoted or publicised?

Ms McCourt said a lot of the jobs and projects in EPWP were related to biodiversity and the levels of invasion as opposed to population density i.e. it depended more on the nature of the work as opposed to the spread of the Green Fund which was more linked to population. With awareness of the Green Fund, this was linked to the governance model adopted where there emphasis on advertising and calls for proposals. The Department noticed the trend where applications were coming from urban, well-developed people and those that had access to general newspapers. Intergovernmental coordination structures were then involved to facilitate and attract more active origination. In spite of limited marketing, the Department received applications more than 100% times the allocation which explained why the Green Fund needed to be grown to address this need. More could be done in terms of how people could access the Fund.

Mr Preston added the invasive biomass was particularly in the Western Cape and there were also fire seasons in the Western and Southern Cape. These were two big reasons for this geographic specificity. He would however be interrogating these figures further.

Mr Ramuru said that in terms of stakeholder communication, the Green Fund engaged intergovernmental structures, which were the working groups where provinces were represented, to share information for advertisement. The Department also issued requests for proposals which went out to the media. Furthermore, the Department used opportunities like with conferences and meetings to engage and provide information for people to be aware of opportunities. Information relating to projects was published in the Sowetan newspaper. The Green Fund also had a specialised and accessible website in the Development Bank of SA (DBSA).

Mr Mabilo asked if the Department was currently supporting studies that aimed to quantify the economic impact of the famine weed in SA. Was the Department expecting operations to be scaled down once it got full control of alien invasive species and how this would affect job creation? Working for Water was a very important programme – what did the Department anticipate from it?

Mr Preston said the Department definitely did not have control over famine weed but it was really battling to understand how to deal with this expanding problem. The Ebola virus was another invasive species to human beings as were cholera and HIV. With such epidemics, it was difficult and currently the Department simply did not have the arsenal to deal with famine weed. The economic impact had not been determined but the Department did a lot of resource economic work to guide what it should be doing. A lot of emphasis had been placed on biological control. The Department would love to get the position of scaling back the problem of famine weed because there were some many other things to do with the intensive labour for positive impacts where stopping invasives was trying to stop a negative impact. Despite the huge projects, the fight against this invasive was still being lost but the invasives would have been growing at something like 90% had the Department not being doing this work. In Hawaii, a place with very good bio-security, prior to human settlement, a new species was established every 25 years but now it was being established every 18 days – this was like getting a new cold once a year compared to getting a new cold one a minute. This was a huge issue for the entire world in terms of unintended consequences. The reality was that everyone would be long dead before getting on top of the issue of invasives. What was worse was that many of these invasive species were still in their early phases so they still had huge areas which they could continue to invade. Next time one flew over the mountains, take note of how clean they were but how they could be invaded if efforts were not taken. This meant there was no shortage of job creation for Working for Water in this regard because the scale of the problem was so big. With the recent fires in the Western Cape, although great work was done by Working for Fire, Working for Water, cleared many hectares which enabled the fire to be contained. Bringing out the regulations for alien invasive species was very significant and would make an enormous difference in the ability to deal with the problem of invasives.

A Member wanted to know, looking at the damage caused by the famine weed, if it was curable and what research said about this. This weed was also where she was from, Mpumalanga, so she asked if there was any training in terms of human resources to control this invasive as there were in other countries.

Mr Preston indicated the plant was a difficult species to identify because there were some indigenous plants which looked similar. However, invasives had many babies where huge areas were covered very quickly.

The Chairperson noted this programme spoke to the heart of people and the real needs of people. Was the Department making any inroads in terms of making the fire resistant material demonstrated in the video available and what would be the cost of those who wanted to get this material to improve their lives and minimise the chance of shacks burning particularly in the Western Cape where the problem was seasonal. He always wanted to know what government was doing or if they just waited for the shacks to burn. Government needed to work together to bring inclusive services and attend to this difficulty people were facing from time to time. Famine weed was everywhere but why was it called famine weed? Whilst he understood that some programmes were limited to the Western Cape like Working for Fire, invasives like famine weed affected many provinces.

Mr Preston replied that most of Working for Fire work was actually done in the Northern provinces so the Western Cape did by no means have the great proportion of these resources – the exact figures could be provided to the Committee in writing. The demonstrable video was done by DEA’s own workers but it needed to be driven by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and, particularly, DHS while DEA would be unquestionable potential service provider. There was a lot of talk on the need to upgrade settlements and DEA could play a big part under the direction of DHS and COGTA. The Committee was welcome to see the settlements constructed in Stellenbosch out of the invasive biomass. It was not the mandate of DEA to build houses but it could certainly provide the materials at a lower price and creating work opportunities at the same time.

The Chairperson heard there was a problem with capitalisation of the International Green Fund – was there a correlation between this International Green Fund and ours?

Mr Ramuru said at this stage there was no correlation hence the discussion on internal reconfiguration to develop a best model to attract any donor funding.

The Chairperson said more detailed presentations would follow on the Green Fund. The Department was doing work which made the Committee proud to be South Africans. The fight to keep the environment clean was also something to be proud of especially that it created necessary job opportunities. The emphasis was on keeping the world cleaner for future generations. The Committee wished the COO well for her work with SANParks and that she will continue what she had always been doing in terms of interacting with the Committee. The Department and entities would be called to report on quarterly performance against outlined targets so that the Committee could go to their constituencies and explain what the Department and its entities were doing practically in all areas of endeavours.

Committee Report on 2015/16 DEA Budget
Members had gone through the Report in their own time and were now provided with an opportunity to give their input on the Draft Report.

Mr Makhubele noted sometimes SANBI was used in full as the “Botanical” Institute when it was in fact the “Biodiversity” Institute. He noted further grammatical errors.

Ms Stander zoomed in on the Committee observations and noted:
- On the Green House Gas emissions, she disagreed that DEA did enough to be strict enough with industry and as a result goals would be not met or it was unrealistic they would be met. There needed to be a plan for strict compliance by all industries and decisive action

The Chairperson clarified that this point did not speak to Green House Gas emissions but other pollutants.

Ms Stander suggested her point be an additional bullet to speak specifically to Green House Gas emissions. She continued with the rest of her contributions to the Committee observations:
- Need to link pollution in certain areas with certain sources of pollutants. The Committee also discussed an externality cost report and this should be reiterated in this point because someone needed to be responsible for conducting this report and its cost whether it was government or industry. This would enable a move toward the polluter pays
- With the wildlife crime initiative, the report was not clear, in reference to intelligence, whether this was crime intelligence or intelligence from the SA Security Agency (SSA). Either way she disagreed that the agencies were doing enough, as the report alluded to, otherwise the Committee would not be calling for a meeting with these agencies and even the Department said it needed more support. She understood the need for diplomacy in handling under Portfolio Committees but she did not agree that they were doing enough. The report should elaborate that the Committee would be engaging in meetings to request strengthened support
- On demand reduction and commending the steps taken by the government of Mozambique, no mention was made of Vietnam and China – this should be included and that government should develop its own demand reduction strategy
- The observation should include a bullet to deal with adjacent communities and how they were susceptible to syndicate manipulation because of poor service delivery and less economic opportunities to get involved in poaching and how this could be remedied by beneficiation schemes and programmes which allowed adjacent communities to benefit from national parks
- On the transfrontier park idea, the bullet should be expanded and make clear that whilst the Committee appreciated and took seriously the need to safeguard the country and sovereignty of the state, the idea of a transfrontier park still needed to be maintained and it would not be done away with but it needed to be managed properly and decisively
- With the introduction of education programmes for consumer states to reduce demand, it should not be left up to NGOs but should also involve government and the Committee to play an active role in demand reduction campaigns
- With the relevant security clusters conducting regular security patrols, the impression was that cross-border hot pursuit programme would go far to assist SA security agencies to deal with rhino poaching. There was agreement that rangers could go across but not the police or security forces – perhaps it should be recommended that the SA Minister of Police should speak to his Mozambican counterpart to come up with some form of agreement
- With the efforts of SA intelligence to prevent the poaching of rhino, she was not sure whether the point accurately presented matters because it was reported that intelligence was weak when early, actionable intelligence was needed. She understood the need to be diplomatic but the Committee was not happy with it.
- With the SA Weather Service (SAWS), a point should be included on the importance the Committee placed on routine maintenance plans. SAWS had a vast infrastructure and a very important part to play. It was interesting how, when, the SAWS radar was done, it affected everything. She was watching the news on one of the SA channels and the weather information was wrong due to the SAWS radar problem. This in itself showed the importance of the network information where routine maintenance was important and this needed to be emphasised in the report.
- Committee conclusions and recommendations: with the Committee indicating the urgent need for a broad parliamentary engagement with the Committees of intelligence, defence and police, she thought the SA Revenue Service (SARS) should be included because they were important in border control and the control of import and exports so the Committee could benefit hearing from them as to why so many illicit wildlife products were entering and exiting the country. With the police, the Committee specially wanted to meet with the Hawks and the crime intelligence programme
- With the ring-fenced funding for the levy on plastic bags, she was sure the Public Finance and Management Act (PFMA) did not allow for the ring-fencing of levies.
- With the centralised permitting system coming live in September, this system would only be dealing with Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and similar licences but the Committee asked that at least Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) permits should be included as well to have better control. Another possible recommendation was that as soon as possible all hunting and trophy hunting permits should be included in the system as permitting was a major issue in controlling and combating wildlife crime.

The Chairperson asked that the Member crafted her input in written form.

Mr Mabilo cautioned against unnecessary additions when enriching the report as it might cause some unnecessary consequences. He respected the articulated views of the Member but some of the consequences needed to be checked so that the recommendations were not contradictory. Also the Committee should not get involved in detailed protocol issues. In his view, there was no problem with the content and some of the input made might necessarily not be of assistance to the Committee. Furthermore, individualised points of view should not be reflected in the report especially when it was not thoroughly debated.

The Chairperson said the interaction gave input on the context of the report which otherwise might not have occurred. If there was disagreement, the matters could be debated in the House. There was nothing stopping Members from doing so because there was no proper debate or agreement on the input made today. With certain points referring to other agencies and actors, it was best for the Committee first to meet with them and hear their view before making recommendations on actions or what was being (or not) done. He broadly spoke to the points raised by Ms Stander and where they could be included or adapted slightly for inclusion. It was important that Committee reports were inclusive but broadly, there was no disagreement on the standing of the report.

Ms Stander agreed.

The Committee adopted the report.

Committee Programme
The Chairperson highlighted the Committee would interact on the recycling of waste, the fight against wildlife crime and poaching and interaction with other Portfolio Committees which were highlighted in the above report. The Committee would also engage on the previous performance of the Department and its entities in terms of their APPs, reducing carbon footprints and a visit to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens after it won the award of the world’s best botanical garden. The Committee would also visit the South Durban air pollution hotspots and other areas which had not been included in the previous parliamentary term.

A Member noted there was an incorrect time for one of the meeting and it should be corrected.

The Committee Programme was adopted with one minor amendment.

The meeting was adjourned.