Forestry Laws Amendment Bill: briefing

Meeting report

LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE
18 October 2005
FORESTRY LAWS AMENDMENT BILL: BRIEFING

Chairperson: Rev P Moatshe (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Department’s PowerPoint presentation
Forestry Amendment Bill [B24 – 2005]

SUMMARY

The Committee was briefed by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) on the Forestry Laws Amendment Bill; specifically on what legislation was being amended, the amendment process to be followed and the specific proposed amendments for each piece of legislation as well as the proposed Trust provision.

The Committee welcomed the objectives of the bill in promoting sustainable sources of income for the poverty stricken rural communities as well as the Department’s efforts to fast track the process of land tenure reform in these communities. The committee raised concern, however, over the lack of consultation with traditional leaders.

MINUTES

Department of Water Affairs and Forestry Briefing

Ms Jenny Kock (DWAF: Indigenous Forest Management) briefed the Committee stating that she would elucidated specifically on what legislation was being amended, the amendment process to be followed and the specific proposed amendments for each piece of legislation as well as the proposed Trust provision. The presenter noted that the legislation to be amended was the National Forests Act, 1998 (Act No. 84 of 1998) which was concerned with the sustainable management of forests and the protection of forests and trees as well as community participation; the National Veld and Forest Fires Act, 1998 (Act No. 101 of 1998), concerned with the combating of veld and forest fires and the Wattle Bark Industry Act, 1960 (Act No. 23 of 1960) which provided for the control of the wattle bark industry. The changes were necessary for the support of the Forestry BBBEE Charter and due to the implementation process, the Department had identified the need for improvements and support of the restructuring process.

In terms of the process to be followed, the Department had developed a draft bill (2003) with internal consultation in DWAF. DWAF had met with Treasury on 15 March where an agreement was reached on the Trust provision of the Bill and Cabinet had approved the Bill which was then referred to the Portfolio Committee and further presented at public hearings in August 2005. The recommendations from the Portfolio Committee were that communities be consulted with regards to the contents of the Bill and after being presented to the NCOP further consultations were recommended. The Department had then engaged with rural communities and various farmers’ organizations (Aug- Sept 2005) as well as organized groups such as the National Forestry Advisory Council, Committee for Environmental Coordination and Provincial Conservation Agencies as well as the SA National Parks Board and the Wattle Bark Industry and National Treasury.

The proposed amendments to the National Forests Act (NFA), 1998 were largely technical in nature. The presented explained that the proposed amendment to delete the word "living" in Section 7 (1) of the NFA which read, "prohibits the cutting, damaging, disturbing or destruction of any indigenous living tree in natural forests" was simply of a technical nature, since it was almost impossible to determine whether a log or a plank originated from a dead or living tree.

A further amendment provided for the extension of the Minister’s power to make regulations on any matter which was necessary for the proper implementation of the Act. She cited the reason for this being that the Chief State Law Advisor had advised that the current general provision was not wide enough to enable the Minister to draft all the regulations needed for the implementation of the Act.

In terms of the Wattle Bark Industry Act, 1960, the Act strictly regulated the activities of wattle growers and manufacturers. The proposed amendment was that the whole Act be repealed, because the legislation was very old and thus contained outdated information with restrictive provisions which no longer had a place in the new democracy. The Competition Commission had further advised that the provisions were against competition rules and general government policy.

The Trust Provision was a proposed amendment that would enable the Minister to establish a Trust. This was an amendment to Section 27 of the NFA and the reasons for this were cited as the creation of a lease rental trust which would invest all rentals received from lessees for the rightful owners. This would be paid to beneficiaries with interest accrued once the land claims were finalized and the rightful owners identified. The current status was that Singisi and Siyaqhubeka signed in 2001 and Amathole and Mountain to Ocean (MTO) signed in March 2005. The lease rentals were due to the rightful owners of the land and land claimant communities or tenure reform beneficiaries.

In terms of the identification of land owners, DWAF had assisted the Department of Land Affairs (DLA) to finalise the process of land claims. The Department stated that they had gone as far as obtaining funding from DFID to assist in research and fast tracking research on land claims in areas of Mpumulanga, Limpopo, and the Eastern Cape. Whilst some claims had been gazetted, the Department reported that none had been settled thus far.

Mr Tshepo Malatji (DWAF) further explained the proposed trust. He stated that the establishment of the trust was a decision taken in collaboration with Treasury to put the monies accrued into a "suspense account", which would not end up as revenue in Treasury. Rather it would manage lease rentals until the land owners were identified and confirmed by the DLA. The establishment of the trust would further seek to assist communities to form legal entities e.g. Trusts and CPAs, and also to invest monies obtained on behalf of affected communities. The Trust would be managed differently from the normal financial systems of the Department as had been agreed with Treasury and the DLA. The trust currently had accumulated R58 million in interest from the rental leases alone.

Discussion

Mr M. Mzizi (IFP) (Gauteng) sought clarity on what "Wattle Bark" was, and secondly, why these monies were in "suspense accounts". He asked whether these communities were aware of these accounts. Mr Tshepo Malatji (DWAF) replied that Wattle Bark was found in Kwazulu-Natal and Mpumalanga and it was derived from Wattle Trees, planted for their bark and the timber used for pulp. Mr Mzizi inquired whose decision the procedure for rentals and determining the cost was. Mr Malatji replied that government had made the decision to sell the use of the forest but not the land. As far as the determination of the cost of rental was concerned, this was subject to annual rentals based on the yield per compartment of forest as well as distance to sawmills. Whilst companies renting were currently leasing the use of these lands from government, they would in future be leased from the land owners themselves.

Mr F Adams (NNP) (Western Cape) asked for clarity on the term "CPA". Mr. Malatji replied that CPA referred to a Community Property Association.

Mr J. Le Roux (DA) (Eastern Cape) inquired whether the Act was subject to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), and whether annual reports would be submitted to Parliament. Mr Malatji responded that the PFMA would be applicable to the trust; hence it would be audited and managed like any other entity managed by government. Annual reports would indeed be submitted to Parliament.

Mr Watson sought clarity on category A, B, C and D plantations as stipulated in the Bill. Mr Malatji explained that category A referred to plantations that were deemed economically viable; while categories C and D referred to those plantations which would be handed over to communities and business. These were specifically planted to supply rural areas with sustainable sources of income. Mr Watson inquired what the process was for the new landowners in ‘taking over’ these leases. Mr Malatji explained that the current lease term was equal to 70 years; however one life cycle/rotation was equal to 20/30 years. The community (new land owner) when taking over this lease had the option of terminating the lease after one rotation or between the 20/ 30-year cycle as determined from the signing of the original lease agreement.

Ms M. Olifant (ANC) (Kwazulu-Natal) sought clarity on the provision for consultation with traditional leaders in the Act. Mr Malatji responded that traditional leaders had been consulted. Ms Kock added that on the 7^th October 2005, the Department had ‘double checked’ with traditional leaders. There was no formal submission from the Traditional Leaders; hence this was a parliamentary process and not a departmental process.

The meeting was adjourned.