Election of Chairperson; Briefings by DFFE and the Marine Living Resources Fund on Annual Performance Plans and Budgets; with Ministry

Meeting report

Election of the New Chairperson

Ms N Gantsho (ANC) was elected as the Chairperson of the Committee.

She welcomed the Members to the meeting and thanked them for electing her as the Chairperson. She was pleased and honoured to have the responsibility of chairing the Committee.

They were a team and she said they would work together as a team. She said they faced various challenges, such as climate change, unemployment, and inequalities. However, she knew that with this team, the Committee would do the best that it could do to serve the people of South Africa.

She said she did not have a speech ready but would give a proper speech during the next meeting.

She asked Ms Tyhileka Madubela, Committee Secretary, Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environmental Affairs, if there were any apologies.

Ms Madubela said she received an apology from Ms T Mchunu (ANC).

The Chairperson took the Committee through the agenda. The next item on the agenda was to be briefed by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and the Marine Living Resources Fund (MLRF) on their Annual Performance Plans (APPs) and budgets for 2024/2025. If the time allowed, they would be briefed by the entities present in the meeting.

Minister and Deputy Ministers’ Opening Remarks

The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, introduced himself and said that he was accompanied by both Deputy Ministers, namely the Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Mr Narend Singh, and the Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Bernice Swarts. He welcomed the Committee to the meeting and congratulated the Chairperson on her appointment.

He highlighted that the priorities of the APP they presented were based on the previous administration. He looked forward to engaging robustly with the Committee during his term as Minister in this vast and economically very important Department. He noted that they would organise a day with the Committee at one of their facilities in the near future so that they could go through more of the details.

The Department intended to tackle the triple global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. He emphasised that the Department was very much an economics portfolio and they needed to consider the sustainable leverage of our precious natural assets to achieve job-generating economic growth.

Like other nations, South Africa was not spared from the devastation of extreme weather patterns, such as floods, droughts, and fires, exacerbated by climate change. The Minister noted that as the country entered the seventh administration, the Department remained resolute to accelerate the transition to a low-cost economy and climate-resilient society through the Just Energy Transition Implementation Plan.

In this financial year, working together with National Treasury, the Department aimed to finalise the proposal on the establishment of the Climate Change Response Fund (CCRF) and for it to be submitted to Cabinet for approval. The President announced this fund when he highlighted the critical need for resilience in the face of global warming. In contributing to reducing the socio-economic challenges of unemployment, poverty, and inequality, the Department would continue to prioritise the economic beneficiation programme in all the core programs they were mandated to deliver and implement the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) in the environment sector.

The 2024/2025 APP included developing new benefit-sharing agreements to ensure improved access and fair, equitable sharing of benefits. They aimed to support previously disadvantaged businesses within the biodiversity economy value chain and approve five new benefit-sharing agreements. In this financial year, the Department and its entities would accelerate efforts to preserve, cherish, and protect the environment while creating jobs. Through the Department’s APP, they would ensure that the communities living along the coast benefited from the marine ecosystem. The Department would prioritise building a state that recognised its role in creating the conditions for private enterprises to flourish through environmental impact authorisation and environmental legislation enforcement. The Department would also prioritise clean government and ethical administration, free of corruption. They envisaged a future where the incentive lay in protecting the country’s precious and unique wildlife and not harming it. The Minister requested that everyone work together to safeguard the environment and promote sustainable development for the benefit of all South Africans.

The Minister handed over to Deputy Minister Singh to make a few introductory comments.

Deputy Minister Singh congratulated the Chairperson on her appointment.

He said the Department and the Committee had always had a good relationship. He assured the Chairperson and the Committee that the Department would continue to sustain that kind of relationship with the Members of the Committee.

He welcomed all the Members to the Committee.

Deputy Minister Singh stated that through their APP, the Department was committed to the constitutional mandate which guaranteed everyone the right of access to an environment that was not harmful to their health and well-being and to have the natural environment protected for the benefit of current and future generations. They aimed to strengthen the enforcement of environmental laws to combat the poaching of fauna and flora and also the impact of illegal fishing while enhancing regulatory frameworks to ensure that conservation efforts went hand-in-hand with sustainable economic growth and job creation.

The Department’s work through the Oceans and Coast Branch stood at the forefront of their efforts, aligned with two critical outcomes. One, managing threats to environmental integrity; preserving ecosystems; and strengthening the interface between knowledge, science, and policy. Central to this was implementing the National Oceans and Coast Water Quality Monitoring Programme, which was aimed at safeguarding the health of South Africa’s coastal waters. Additionally, the Department would be focused on protecting South Africa's coastal environment by developing and implementing robust management plans for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Biodiversity Management Plans, and other strategic coastal management initiatives.

He emphasised that the transformation of the biodiversity sector was non-negotiable. This position was cemented with the recent revision of the National Biodiversity Economy Strategy (NBES), which sought to advance an inclusive biodiversity sector that locally benefitted the rich indigenous biological and genetic resources for thriving people and nature. This renewed focus on transformation was central to discussions during the 2024 Biodiversity Economy and Investment Indaba held earlier this year in March. Concerning the Department’s work on the conservation of wetlands, they would ensure that the Ramsar site expansion strategy was developed. In this financial year, the Department would designate another wetland of international importance known as a Ramsar site. In conclusion, Deputy Minister Singh was confident that, with collaboration and concerted efforts, they could achieve a harmonious balance between environmental conservation and economic prosperity for all South Africans.

Deputy Minister Swarts congratulated the Chairperson on her appointment.

She did not want to reiterate what her colleagues said. However, she hoped they would have a relationship where the Committee participated and did their oversight of the Department to be true to the deliverables they had set. The Department encompassed a lot in terms of policy and environmental decisions. The Minister and Deputy Minister had already laid out what their core function and principles were.

She emphasised the importance of the Committee and the Department’s relationship with the Committee, and that the relationship would help them to deliver and strengthen their role with the Committee and their oversight of the Department, and equally so that they could interact with one another in meaningful ways.

The Chairperson allowed all the Members of the different entities to introduce themselves to the Committee.

She handed over to Ms Nomfundo Tshabalala, Director-General, DFFE.  

Briefing by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment on the 2024/25 Annual Performance Plan

Ms Tshabalala took the Committee through the presentation of the Department’s APP.

She said that the Department’s mandate was derived from Chapter 2 in the Bill of Rights and Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which guaranteed everyone a right to an environment that was not harmful to their health and well-being; and to have the environment protected for the benefit of the present and future generations. In ensuring that they adhered to the outlines of this section in the Constitution, as a Department they set a vision to see a society that was in harmony with our natural resources. They would achieve this vision by providing leadership in environmental management, conservation, and protection towards sustainability for the benefit of South Africans and the global community. 

As a Department they had certain values and integrity was at the centre. She said that the departmental delivery environment was mainly influenced by global environmental threats, such as climate change and the degradation of ecosystem services. A National Adaptation Strategy has been adopted to enhance a sectoral adaptation response and build society’s resilience to climate change and its associated impacts.

The Department aimed to implement several programmes to stimulate economic activities, support small and emerging enterprises, and create and/or sustain jobs. The key programmes included the implementation of government’s EPWP, Forestry Master Plan, Oceans Economy, Biodiversity Economy, and the Chemical and Waste Economy Programme.

She pointed out that the Department’s priorities aligned with government’s priorities, in terms of creating a capable, ethical, and developmental state; enhancing economic transformation and job creation; improving education, skills, and health; focusing on spatial integration, human settlement, and local government; and creating a better Africa and a better world.

The Department was developing and implementing the Coordinated and Integrated Permitting System for the environment sector, aimed at ensuring efficiency in the processing of the various environmental management authorisations and licenses, therefore, supporting economic development.

The National Waste Management Strategy was being implemented, aimed at unlocking economic opportunities through various waste beneficiation initiatives.

She pointed out that the prevailing economic challenges and the resulting fiscal constraints that the government continued to experience had an ongoing impact on the funding of departmental operations. However, the Department had implemented interventions to ensure service delivery within these fiscal constraints.

She provided the Committee with an overview of the Department’s strategic priorities for 2024/2025, aligned to the 2030 National Development Plan, the 2019-2024 Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), and the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP), being:

• Climate Change Bill which should come into law during 2024/25.
• Implementation of the White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa's Biodiversity.
• Creating 22 538 EPWP work opportunities.
• Implementation of Section 29 of National Environmental Management: Waste Act, Tyre Waste Management Plan, and Extended Producer Responsibility schemes for prioritised waste stream, including, amongst others, curbing plastic pollution and plastic waste.
•  Accelerating the implementation of the Forestry Sector Masterplan and the Ten Million Trees Programme.

She then guided the Committee through the Department’s different programmes and outlined what each of the programmes entailed, their sub-programmes and their expected outcomes.

Programme One: Administration. The main purpose of this programme was to provide strategic leadership, management, and support services to the Department.

• Sub-programmes and their purposes:

 

1. Ministry: Provided legislative direction, strategic leadership, and administrative support to enable the Department to implement the mandate outlined in the Constitution.
2. Departmental Management: Provided administrative support and capacity to the Office of the Director-General.
3. Corporate Management Services: Provided corporate management services to the Department.
4. Financial Management Services: Rendered effective and efficient financial budgeting and supply chain management services.
5. Internal Audit: Assisted with maintaining efficient and effective controls in the DFFE by evaluating and testing the control system to determine adequacy and effectiveness and developing recommendations for improvement where required.

On some of the outcomes, she said the Department aimed to obtain an unqualified audit opinion from the Auditor-General of South Africa on annual financial statements.

The Department wanted 50% of women to be appointed to senior management service positions to ensure that they were transformed and representative of South Africa’s national demographics and for 2% of persons with disabilities to be appointed to adhere to the Department’s employment equity targets.

The key focus areas in Programme One were good governance and compliance with legislation and finance.

On Programme Two: Regulatory Compliance and Monitoring, she said that the main purpose of this programme was to promote the development of an enabling legal regime and licensing authorisation system that would promote enforcement and compliance and ensure coordination of sector performance.

• Sub-programmes and their purposes:

1. Regulatory Compliance and Monitoring Management: Provided for the administration and functioning of the programme by carrying out its planning and performance management functions.
2. Corporate Legal Support and Litigations: Provided support for litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and departmental debts and losses.
3. Law Reform and Policy Coordination: Ensured the provision of effective and efficient support to the Department's law reform programme so that appeals were effectively dealt with.
4. Integrated Environmental Authorisations: Implemented integrated environmental authorisation systems and administered appeals processes.
5. Compliance: Promoted compliance with environmental legislation by undertaking inspections on all authorisations issued by the Department.
6. Enforcement: Coordinated the national environment programme and provided strategic support to the environmental management inspectorate.

On Programme Three: Oceans and Coasts, she said they mainly promoted, managed, and provided strategic leadership on oceans and coastal conservation.

• The sub-programmes included:

 

1. Oceans and Coasts Management: Provided for the administration and coordination of activities in the programme.
2. Integrated Coastal Management and Coastal Conservation: Provided national strategic direction, leadership, management, and support within applicable legislation and policy on integrated coastal management.
3. Oceans and Coastal Research: Provided national strategic direction, leadership, management, and support to ocean and coastal research
4. Oceans Economy and Project Management: Managed, coordinated, facilitated, analysed, and reported on implementing initiatives within the ocean’s economy.
5. Specialist Monitoring Services: Provided specialist oceans and coastal monitoring, reporting, and evaluating.

Some of the outcomes they wanted to obtain were to ensure that research or relief voyages were undertaken as part of research which was critical in providing scientific information required for the understanding and protection of the ocean environment through appropriate policy intervention.

The Department wanted the 2023/2024 Annual Science Report to be published online, as the Report considered key scientific variables, information, and science indicators measured around South Africa that tracked and updated environmental changes that would have an impact on ecosystems and be used to improve the management interventions of the South African ocean and coastal space.

Under Programme Four: Climate Change and Air Quality, she said that the Department wanted to have Sectoral Emission Targets for seven policy sectors submitted to Cabinet for approval. These were targets that were allocated to policy sectors. The seven sectors were environment and forestry, energy, mineral resources, transport, agriculture, trade and industry, and human settlements. In addition to that they wanted the Highveld priority area air quality management plan to be published for implementation.

Under Programme Five: Biodiversity and Conservation, they aimed at having 90 000 ha of land to be added to the conservation site and the objective was to increase the size of the area of land under conservation and ensure that South Africa's protected area network was of sufficient size to sustain biodiversity and ecological processes. Furthermore, they wanted the Revised Black and White Rhino Biodiversity Management Plan to be published for implementation. The Department aimed to have five approved benefit-sharing agreements.

With respect to Programme Six: Environmental Programmes, they were looking at creating equivalent full-time programmes. They wanted to focus on successfully suppressing 90% of wildfires. Their key focus here was to provide support.

Under Programme Seven: Chemicals and Waste Management, the focus was to have 45 000 tonnages of waste tyres processed. They also wanted to conduct 29 municipal cleaning campaigns. The objective here was to provide support to municipalities to help address their commitments to the delivery of effective waste management services.

The focus under Programme Eight: Forestry Management, was to have 1 800 hectares of Temporary Unplanted areas planted and 150 000 trees planted outside the forest footprint.

Under Programme Nine: Fisheries Management, the Department aimed to have the Aquaculture Development Bill [X-2023] submitted to Parliament for approval and to have the 100% National Freshwater (Inland) Wild Capture Fisheries 2024/25 action plan be implemented. Further, they aimed to have 5 500 inspections conducted in six priority fisheries.

The last two slides of the presentation contained a breakdown of the budget allocations. Ms Tshabalala finished her presentation and handed over to the Chairperson.

(See presentation for more details).

Briefing by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment on the Marine and Living Resources tabled and approved 2024/2025 Annual Performance Plan

Dr Kim Prochazka, Chief Director: Fisheries Management Branch, Fisheries Research and Development, DFFE, took the Committee through the presentation.

She highlighted that the main purpose of the MLRF was to ensure the sustainability, utilisation, and orderly access to marine living resources through improved management and regulation.

The MLRF's purpose was to manage, develop, and promote sustainable use of South Africa's fisheries resources and aquaculture. The MLRF comprised Chief Directorates namely, Aquaculture Development and Freshwater Fisheries (ADFF); Fisheries Research and Development (FRD); Marine Resource Management (MRM); Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS); and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

The high-level priorities for MLRF were to review the Marine Living Resources Act 18 of 1998 and its regulations; the finalisation of the 2021 Fishing Rights Allocation Process (FRAP) Litigations; to implement Support Programmes for Small-Scale Fishing cooperatives; and to have the Aquaculture Development Bill [X-2023] submitted to Parliament for approval.

She pointed out what the MLRF’s main challenges were and what the possible solutions to those challenges could be, as well as the APP outputs and their annual targets.

Afterwards, she guided the Committee through the budget allocation.

The budget allocation had been reduced by R2.570 billion over the MTSF period with the main reduction of R1.879 billion on the Environmental Programmes, R119.9 million on Departmental Entities, and R571 million on the rest of the Programmes in the Department.

She pointed out that the budget reduction resulted in shortfalls on existing contractual obligations, including EPWP projects and fixed costs services of the Department. Including Information and Communications Techology, Facilities Management, and Vessel Operating Costs.

(See presentation for more details).

The Chairperson allowed for a 10-minute break before continuing with the deliberations.

Before the meeting continued, the Chairperson allowed all the Members to introduce themselves to the Committee.

Discussion

The Chairperson opened the floor for discussion and questions from the Committee.

Dr L Managa (EFF) pointed out that under chemical and waste management, the presentation said that the municipalities were given the mandate to make sure that the environment was protected. The Department had stated that its role was to support the municipalities. Having read this, her mind went to waste management in areas where people were staying in townships and were faced with a lot of issues surrounding waste management. Millions and millions of tons of solid waste were being collected every year. However, there were challenges about where to go with the waste, as it ended up in rural areas across the country. She asked what the Department’s responsibility was in ensuring that the waste issues were being managed. She wanted to know what support they were lending to the municipalities to eradicate the issue of waste.

On the MLRF, she asked if they had challenges with the fishing licenses. She wanted to know how much the MLRF was generating per year.

Mr A de Bocq Van Scheltinga (DA) sympathised with the budget cuts the Department experienced. He pointed out that the Department was one of the larger drivers for employment and creating jobs and with the budget cuts, that was a big concern. He apologised if any of his questions were naïve and asked the Committee to bear with him as he was a new Member.

In terms of the 30x30 objectives, he noticed that there was no specific mention of that under the Oceans and Coasts APP. He wanted to know if the Oceans and Coasts Branch was a part of that planning or if it fell under Biodiversity and Conservation.

On the Biodiversity and Conservation Programme, he asked why the Department only had a target of having 1 Ramsar site be declared. In his opinion, it seemed unambitious. On the targets for EPWP jobs being at roughly 22 500 full-time equivalent jobs, he asked for some context and what the numbers were in the last financial year to understand how ambitious the target was.

Regarding the Fisheries Programme, relating to the inspection objectives, he asked if those were in-person inspections or if they counted instances where technology, such as electronic monitoring, was being used.

On the Chemical and Waste Management Programme, the Department introduced a municipality support campaign in 2019, to support waste removal. He asked how these municipalities had been identified and chosen.

Regarding the Forestry Programme, regarding the eight plantations that were transferred or planned to be transferred to communities, he asked if those communities had been identified and, if so, how. He asked if they were appropriately supported and capacitated to make use of the new opportunity.

On the MLRF, he pointed out that there was a deficit under the Vessel Operating Cost. He asked if the enforcement part of the fleet was supplemented by the Navy again, or if that was too small scale for what was happening on the near shoreside. Was technology being used by the local fishing watch to enforce the illegal fishing that was happening along the coast?

Ms D Direko (ANC) had questions about the Ocean Economy Masterplan, what it was, the importance thereof, and if there were any challenges. On compliance and monitoring, the Department indicated that they provided support in various sub-programmes. She asked for more information on the progress that they had made. She asked what kind of support they were providing to the municipalities.

Responses

Ms Tshabalala handed over to Dr Prochazka to respond to Members’ questions.

On the challenges of issuing fishing licenses, she said that it took seven days to issue a fishing license. The main challenges were that important paperwork had not been submitted by the deadline; then they had to go back to the applicants to ask for additional paperwork, etc. It took some time, but she indicated that Ms Sue Middleton, Deputy Director-General: Fisheries Management, DFFE, had indicated that she felt that seven days was too long, and that the Fisheries Management Branch should be able to cut down that time for providing permits. They were looking into the matter.

The Department had initiated a project during the previous year where they rolled out electronic applications for recreational permits, where people were able to buy recreational permits online. They were currently in the next phase of that project.

On how much the MLRF generated annually, she said that the Fund itself generated around R300 million per year.  

On the fisheries inspections and whether they were done in-person or with the use of technology. The inspections that they were talking about were in-person inspections. They were done in control offices, and vessels or inspectors went to factories or slipways, and they observed what was happening on the ground.

Regarding the Vessel Operating Costs and whether the Navy assisted them in any way, the Navy did not assist them, and they were adamant that their role was defense. People had had discussions about whether the Navy should be trans-modified into the Coast Guard, however, the Navy was steadfast in that its only role should be defence.

On whether they used technology, she said that all fishing vessels and larger boats had to have a device called a vessel monitoring system. They had an operations room that tracked all the vessels in real time and where they were. They also used the automatic identification system that monitored their vessels and foreign vessels, and it also tracked people. It helped track people moving in and out of the coast. If they were moving along at a constant pace, you would know they were allowed to be there, but if you saw them going a little bit slower or if they stopped for a few hours, then you could monitor them or take further action. They had a satellite radar surveillance, which they partnered with France, to assist them with that and their people on the ground used technologies, such as forward-looking infrared. They were looking into using drones, however, that was coupled with various issues. Furthermore, the Department was starting to put some camera devices on the vessels, and various people also worked on official intelligence solutions to try and look into enhancing technology.

Ms Mamogala Musekene, Deputy Director-General: Chemicals and Waste Management, DFFE, said that through the Department of Cooperative Government (DCG) and municipalities, they had allocated funds through the Division of Revenue Act 5 of 2023. They were the custodians of the policies on pollution prevention and waste management. Previously, municipalities had been unable to access the funds. It was critical for logistical support for transporting waste, and they wanted to ensure that they engaged with National Treasury and the DCG to ensure that the money was being allocated to that.

The same went for the DFFE’s engagements with the Department of Human Settlements on issues related to that environment. On the training, they worked with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) to identify training needs.

On the staff-hand over, they ensured that the officers and the staff were equipped to handle their responsibilities. They needed to ensure that those designated to specific areas were aware of the developmental plans and the responsibilities that came with them.

On the environmental side, she was not too sure, because her division was responsible for the waste removal. They were not responsible for licensing. They had a waste support programme; however, this was targeted at enterprises. This allowed them to work with municipalities to assist them with waste removal. They were in the process of implementing a smaller enterprises support programme, to support small enterprises by awarding them small grants and equipment.

Through the environmental programmes, they targeted major cities and towns to assist them with cleaning. Another programme had an infrastructure element to support them with development. Due to the budget cuts, they were unable to lend the support they needed to provide.  

On the question about what kind of support they provided to municipalities, she responded that they provided infrastructure support. In terms of how the Department identified the municipalities, the metros, and big towns were a priority, but they had to ensure that they were already integrated with management plans and not part of other programmes that the Department did not fund.

Ms Pumeza Nodada, Deputy Director-General: Forestry Management, DFFE, addressed the question on plantations. She stated that the communities had been identified. The Department along with the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development, had the responsibility to provide support. They would use the Annual Audit Report to identify challenges and possible solutions. Through the Forestry Sector Masterplan, they had a guiding framework.

Regarding the National Forests Act 84 of 1998, people had to have a permit to cut down any trees; that was the general rule.

Mr Maesela Kekana, Deputy Director-General: Climate Change, Air Quality and Sustainable Development, DFFE, highlighted that they had a National Strategy for Sustainable Development and Action Plan. It was a five-year plan, but the actual challenge was the implementation of the plan. They did not have the Climate Change Act the previous year, but they would now be able to implement the plan following the law and allocate a budget to the plan. They had been working with other government departments to implement policies in their sphere to combat climate change. However, that had its challenges. He said they had to report to Parliament in terms of the implementation of those particular plans, and there was a long list of plans they had as a Department.

Ms Mohlago Flora Mokgohloa, Deputy Director-General: Biodiversity and Conservation, DFFE, said that there was only one wetland because it was a very involved process and there were many factors that came into play, such as engagements with stakeholders.

Ms Nonhlanhla Mkhize, Deputy Director-General: Environmental Programmes, DFFE, responded to the question about the EPWP and said the Department had created it as an approach to creating jobs. As a Department, they looked at each programme and the priorities under each programme. They had to consider all factors and determine how many jobs they could realistically contribute under each programme. For the 2024/2025 financial year, they had to adjust their expectations regarding the budget cuts. The budget cuts did not only hinder how much they as a Department could do but also how many jobs they could create. They also had to consider other factors, such as how long they could keep people employed with the jobs they had created.

She added to the question about support and said that the budget cuts have also affected the money available to the Department and the municipalities. They wanted to ensure that they assisted in terms of job creation. In that partnership, the Department paid stipends and ensured participants were registered for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). On the municipalities’ side, they provided protective clothing and assisted in monitoring the progress.

The Chairperson asked if there were any follow-up questions.

Two questions were not answered, and the Chairperson allowed the Department the opportunity to answer them.

On the 30x30 plan, Adv Radia Razack, Chief Directorate: Integrated Coastal Management: Oceans and Coasts Branch, DFFE, said that the APP was a part of the plan. Whenever the Department looked at the expansion of the estate and MPA, there were different targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), that contributed to the 30x30 plan, one of which was expansion, and they were going to embark on expansion and other areas as priorities. In addition to that, the Department needed to look at this from a much broader context so there is what is called the Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measure (OECM). This meant that they were not necessarily like MPAs, but you were looking at all other types of management systems that contributed to some kind of protection. They were looking at those to add to the expansion of the conservation estate.

In addition to that, the Department was also looking at management measures that featured in the targets. One of the targets was management plans. In Operation Phakisa, 20 additional MPAs were repaired. There were a lot of MPAs. However, it took a lot of time and a lot of money to get those plans in place and implemented. They had been having the ongoing implementation of either developing plans or continuously strengthening the implementation.

There were other issues, such as restoring degraded habitats and ecosystems. For example, if you looked at wetland rehabilitation, they had targets for that, so they were putting them into all of the areas of the GBF. They reassured the Committee that they were a part of the programme but they could not put all of the information in the APP. They had conservation plans and they worked closely with Biodiversity and Conservation to ensure that they were aligned on all aspects.

On the Ocean Economy Masterplan, she said she could provide the Committee with broad headings on the content, however, it was all in draft form. They were looking at ocean-based sub-sectors, marine manufacturing and repairs, and marine transport (including freight logistics and cargo) and this was under the mandate of the Department of Transport. There was aquaculture, freshwater marine, and fisheries (small-scale and commercial) within the Department’s mandate. Further, offshore oil and gas was mainly dealt with by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy. A lot more detail was going to be in the plan, and they planned to release the Ocean Economy Masterplan by the end of the financial year.

On managing waste in the communities, especially in rural areas and townships, Ms Tshabalala said they had programmes in place, however, there was also an aspect of raising awareness and having social education in the communities. She acknowledged that it was their responsibility, but it was also a matter of the community.

Closing remarks

The Chairperson said that they had four presentations left by the entities. However, due to time constraints, they were not going to have enough time to go through the remaining presentations. She asked the Committee for their input on what steps to take moving forward.

Mr W Peach (DA) proposed that they move the presentations by the entities to another meeting, maybe on a virtual platform, to allow them to fully engage with the presentations.

The Committee supported the proposal by Mr Peach.

The Chairperson proposed that they meet on a virtual platform on Wednesday morning. The Minister said that they had other responsibilities to attend to on Wednesday.

The Chairperson asked about Thursday. The Minister said that they had other responsibilities during the day. They agreed to Thursday at 18:00.

The Minister thanked the Committee for engaging and he was excited for further engagements.

The meeting was adjourned.