Department Environmental Affairs and Development Planning & CapeNature 2022/23 Annual Reports

Meeting report

Opening remarks

The Chairperson welcomed the members, representatives from the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA), the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, as well as representatives from CapeNature to the meeting. He said the meeting would be divided into three parts, with the first part of the meeting being a confidential or closed meeting of the Committee with the AGSA and Audit Committee. The second part of the meeting will be an open meeting where members will deliberate on the Annual Reports of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, and CapeNature for the 2022/23 financial year.

Members of the Committee introduced themselves and apologies were noted.

Deliberation on the annual reports of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and CapeNature for the 2022/23 financial year

Mr Anton Bredell, MEC: Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs said if it is clean, it is clean, and said the Department was happy to indulge the members of the Committee in engagement on their Annual Reports.

Mr Gerhard Gerber, HOD: Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs said he was pleased that both the Department and the entity got unqualified audit reports, with the Department achieving 99.1% of expenditure and the biggest portion of that being the transfer to CapeNature and Compensation of Employees being the second largest portion of the expenditure. The Department had a contingent liability of R6.1 billion from the previous financial year, and that matter was dealt with and withdrawn. The investigation on the irregular expenditure of R31 000 was concluded and it resulted in fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R82,80 and consequence management in that regard was done by the Department.

The Chairperson said the Committee notes the fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R82 and agreed that when it is clean, it is clean. He then asked if members had any questions for the Department and CapeNature on sections C, E, and F of the report.

Ms L Maseko (DA) congratulated the Department and the entity for their performance, noting that it was difficult to find fault in the work of the Department as it is performing well. She said the Department must find ways to be innovative with respect to the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), as it remains problematic in every department.

The Chairperson said when the AGSA presented their report, it mentioned some underfunding concerns and although this has nothing to do with the Department, it would be good to hear what the Department did about the issue.

MEC Bredell said they tried their utmost best to get a bigger budget for the Department and CapeNature understanding the environment they operate in and that they are securing a good quality of life for future generations. It is a very difficult message to land when you sit with education and health and there are budget cuts, and you must decide on the current state and people that will die if they do not get the necessary medical support. There is a lot of blood on the table in the Budget Council and between the emotions and the difficult issue of climate change.

What the Department did successfully is to get climate change vested in all the programmes throughout government and that will have positive results in the long term for the Department and CapeNature. The Department and Cape Nature would love to have a bigger budget because biodiversity, the protection of nature from alien plants, coastal management, air pollution, etc., are crucial for ensuring quality of life. However, it will get worse before it gets better because nationally, there is a big shortfall in Value Added Tax (VAT), and there is a big shortfall in corporate tax, and those will have an impact on Departments because they will be told to cut budgets.

Mr Gerber said they were concerned about the budget shortfalls and more importantly, they were concerned about their staff being under pressure while trying to work with the resources they have available, but mostly the concern is for the human rights of the current and future citizens. Looking at the risk profile, what receives the most attention is usually the things that are already broken, such as the energy supply, but there are things where the risk and velocity of the risk are very fast especially environmental risks. It is important for the Department to also focus on what is possible for it to do based on the resources that are available to it even while there are budget pressures.

The cost of employment (COE) is the staff that is looking after human rights and managing the risks on behalf of the citizens, so if the operational budget is reduced for the project funding, it becomes difficult to do some of the environmental quality work that the entity also does. If they get it wrong in terms of water quality, and air quality, then the health impacts will be visible down the line, and the Department tries to put resources towards other portfolios that focus on prevention and maintaining minimum standards.

The Department works with Provincial Treasury and the rest of the Western Cape Government Departments because everyone is in the same boat and there are interdependencies across all the Departments and unless there is investment in this critical portfolio, the rest of the infrastructure, economy, and human rights are also at risk. The discussions with Provincial Treasury and other Departments in terms of the budgeting process that is underway are important and the Department is looking within itself to see if there is some room for innovation and some efficiencies and what it needs to do to assist the citizens. The Department invested a lot of time and effort in the Growth for Jobs Strategy and the importance of the environment, climate change, water, and ecological infrastructure as part of that strategy. 

Looking at CapeNature, the allocations are not keeping up with the increased costs of operations, whether it is field costs, transport, generators, or CapeNature having to respond to flooding or the Department having to respond to increased complaints of environmental matters. A lot of the delivery is done by municipalities and a lot of people underestimate the role that the Department plays in terms of municipal oversight and support in terms of coastal management, climate change, municipal planning, waste management, etc. The Department provides a lot of support to the municipalities for them to be able to look after the environmental standards to provide the services, and there are budget pressures behind all of that.

Mr I Sileku (DA) also reiterated the MEC’s words that “when it is clean, it is clean” and added that there can be something more after being clean, and that is very clean. He said in his experience, the members always heard about irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure as a challenge, and it was the first time that he saw a Department that is consistent in having clean irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure. In local government, there are also struggles around consequence management, but this Department has dedicated people who are willing to work together, they ask when they have questions, and they address issues that need to be addressed. Other Departments could earn a lot from this Department on how to take compliance seriously and what needs to be done, as well as the importance of all the internal and external support units, including the Audit Units. He thanked the Department and encouraged it to continue doing what it is doing.

Ms Maseko said in 2014 when they became members of the Committee, they were introduced to Dr Omar and knew nothing about CapeNature, but they knew that it had someone who would ensure that they understood what it means to operate the entity. The CEO of CapeNature made massive strides in improving the standard of the entity and the Committee appreciates her for her work and she can only go higher.

Ms Maseko handed over a bouquet of flowers to the CEO of CapeNature.

The Chairperson said this was a token of appreciation for the role and contribution that the CEO had in CapeNature and added that this was done because this might have been the last time the Committee met with CapeNature and the Department in a Committee setting. The Committee was informed that the CEO would end her tenure at the end of the Calendar year, so it wanted to show appreciation and wish her the best of luck on whatever path she may choose to take.

Ms Maseko asked to hear a word from the CEO for one last time before she leaves her position at the end of the year.

Dr Razeena Omar, CEO, CapeNature, was humbled by the gesture shown by the Committee and was grateful for all the years of working together with the Committee. She thanked the MEC, the HOD, the Department and her team at CapeNature for their hard work. 

The Chairperson thanked the Department and CapeNature, as well as the AGSA for the fruitful engagement.

The meeting was adjourned.