Remarks and Introduction of the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy by the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs | International Coastal Clean-up at Amanzimtoti Beach 19 September 2020 Programme Director Minister Barbara Creecy by the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs; Cllr Sipho Kaunda, eThekwini Municipality; Representatives from the Private Sector; All categories of staff across all spheres of government; Members of the media Good Morning I rise to deliver a message on behalf of KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government. I have also been asked to introduce the Minister. We consider ourselves fortunate to have a Minister who is always available to work with us. Over the past week alone, we have had two separate meetings with the Minister. We thank you Minister for setting aside time to be with us today. Importantly, we appreciate the fact that out of many provinces, you identified KwaZulu-Natal for this important project. I do recall that we had planned to launch this Coastal management programme on the 31st March. Unfortunately this event was postponed due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. We thank you Minister for ensuring that today we adopt an integrated approach to ensure the cleaning of the coastlines - beach - and the riverbanks. We undertake to use the Council on Climate Change to mobilize civil society, academics, religious leaders, traditional leaders, leaders of all political parties and the media to sustain this work we have launched today. Programme Director, allow me to talk about matters of climate change. On the 3rd September I joined eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda and other role-players during the launch of Durban Climate Action Plan. In my address, I reminded all stakeholders that KwaZulu-Natal municipalities have experienced a number of extreme weather events in the past five years, ranging from droughts and heat waves, to extreme storms bringing severe lightning and flooding. Durban is not immune to these challenges. The people of eThekwini Municipality are still recovering from the devastating effects of the storm that swept through eThekwini municipality in October 2017 and April this year. The devastation caused by floods will take years to forget, especially given the fact that many lives were lost. I know that the city is still rebuilding the social infrastructure including houses of the affected families. Added to that, we have been warned of possible climate change effects like the rise in sea levels and temperature increases all of which will affect our residents. Minister, we congratulated eThekwini Municipality for this launch. We have no doubt that this plan of action will help reduce vulnerability across our city, especially among the poorest of the poor. It will help drive Durban's development along a low-carbon and resilient pathway as detailed in our newly adopted Deadline 2020, 1.5° Climate Action Plan. Oil Spillage Another issue that I wish to highlight Minister is that of Oil Spillage. We offer to continue to work with your department, Department of Water Affairs & Sanitation, eThekwini Municipality and other stakeholders to deal with this matter Minister. Communities of Sobantu, Inanda, KwaNyuswa, Umdloti, Umbilo and many other areas continue to be affected by oil spillage that comes from industries. These includes communities of Mount Moreland and others who were affected by the water pollution recently. I have instructed our Inspectors to be on full alert and enforce compliance with environmental management laws. Sharks Board and Beaches Minister, I wish to assure you that our entity, the Sharks Board is working with stakeholders to ensure the safety of our beaches as we are gearing up for the move to Level 1. We remember the excitement following the news of Sardine run few months ago. For many of our visitors, memories of our warm beaches come swimming back. They yearn to return to the coast and paddle out in the early morning at the Durban's beachfront, Ballito, Amanzimtoti, Shelly Beach, Margate and Richards Bay. We will continue to work with fishing communities as part of our focus on the maritime industry. In addition, the KZN Sharks Board will continue to deploy the latest technology around the Shark Safety Gear. We want to ensure that our swimmers enjoy our warm beaches. It has been proven that there is a direct correlation between tourism and safe bathing at our beaches. About 98% of our tourists visit beaches for recreational purposes. Therefore, the role played by Sharks Board in protecting the tourism sector has been strengthened. Not only does the Sharks Board provide bather protection, it also conducts research into the biology of sharks and other animals caught in the Shark Safety Gear. The entity offers public education programme on safety precautions that bathers should adhere to. Programme Director, we are humbled to have been joined by the Minister of Forestry and Fisheries and Environmental Affairs of the Republic of South Africa. She started in this position from 30 May 2019. Ms Barbara Creecy joined the Gauteng legislature in 1994, and until 2004, served in different portfolios including Deputy Chief Whip as well as Chairperson of the Social Development and Education Committees. In 2004 she was appointed MEC for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture. After the General Elections in 2009, Ms Creecy moved to the Education portfolio. She is the former Gauteng MEC of Finance, where she was responsible for Gauteng Provincial Treasury, Department of e-Government and an agency called Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency. Ms Creecy political career started when she joined the anti-apartheid movement and later the underground structures on the ANC whilst a student at Wits in the late 1970's. She worked for the Civic Desk of the United Democratic Front and later joined an NGO that offered training and organisational development support to trade unions and community structures. We request the Minister to address us !!! view more

*Coronavirus Update: MECs to welcome more than R3, 2 billion of investment today at Dube Trade Port* _Media invite and statement by the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Nomusa Dube-Ncube._ 04 September 2020 *Durban* : I extend an invitation to the members of the media to be part of a visit to the Dube Trade Port to welcome more than R3, 2 billion of foreign direct investment. This morning - myself and MECs who are part of the Economic Sectors, Investment, Employment and Infrastructure Development (ESIEID) Cluster of the Executive Council of the provincial government will visit this economic zone as we usher in a new era of economic growth. We will also visit the following sites:- ●SAMSUNG electronics giant with investment of R146 million and 129 jobs: Focus is on the manufacturing plant of new high-end Quantum Dot display television set and monitors. Refrigerators will also be manufactured and all will be supplied locally and exported; ●CHEM Energy Manufacturing plant with an Investment of R17 million - CHEM Energy is constructing a state of the art fuel cell factory at the Dube Tradeport. Ideally situated for import and export throughout Africa from Durban's large seaport, this facility will produce the latest generation of fuel cell products, the G5, for backup and continuous (off grid) telecom power solutions. It should be remembered that on Tuesday, I addressed the National Council of Provinces. During my address I affirmed our determination to turn COVID-19 into an opportunity. Importantly I pointed out that last week, Wednesday - the Provincial Executive Council approved the Economic Reconstruction and Transformation Plan. This plan was also presented before the KZN Economic Council held last Friday. I am on record stating that we view job creation as a primary means through which economic growth and quick recovery can occur. We want to achieve this by distributing the benefits of economic growth more widely and consequently reducing dependency on the welfare system. As we move forward, we expect an investment of more than R18 billion at the Dube Trade Port's second phase of 45 hectares of prime industrial land. There are more than 40 operational business enterprises in the zone. Below is their sectoral distribution: •Manufacturing -25% •Logistics -25% •Electronics -15% •Agriculture and Agro-processing - 20% •ColdStorage - 5% •Automotive - 5% • Pharmaceuticals -5% The investments will create an estimated 2342 direct jobs when they become operational. Currently, there is a pipeline of 28 investments worth approximately R5. 6 billion that are at various stages of evaluation. *ISSUED BY THE MEC FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND LEADER OF GOVERNMENT BUSINESS- NOMUSA DUBE-NCUBE*   view more

On the occasion of the launch of Durban Climate Action Plan 3 September 2020 Programme Director; Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Cllr Mxolisi Kaunda; Mayor of Sowah City of Accra and C40 African Vice Chair; Mayor of Garcetti - City of Loss Angels; Mayor of King Cetshwayo District Municipality Cllr Nonhle Mkhulisi; Entire Exco; Acting Municipal Manager; Mr Cele All categories of staff; Captains of Industry; NGOs and Civil Society; International Guests; Members of the Media; Ladies and Gentlemen; Good Afternoon I wish to greet everyone following this launch through various media platforms. Programme Director, when I received an invitation from the Mayor to be part of this launch I thought about the Climate Change Summit we convened last year August. That Summit generated a huge amount of optimism with conservationists and environmentalists expressing their appreciation that finally this province had deemed it fit to organize stakeholders to develop strategies required to fight for the amelioration of future climatic conditions. During that Summit, we all agreed on the single plan of action to advance our agenda on Climate Change in this province. It should be remembered that when we took part in COP 17 years ago, we were clear on our plan of action - something that amazed the international observers. Many people across the world had predicted that Durban would be the place of death and burial of Kyoto Protocol. But because of our preparedness and our collective efforts, we managed to pull it off as the province and the country. To date, Durban is remembered as a world landmark for decisive action and a global giant leap from Cancun into a positive future for mankind. In actual fact, we need to be proud of the fact that COP 17 laid a firm groundwork for the historic Climate Change Paris Agreement in 2015. This launch today, is therefore historic. This is an indication that eThekwini Municipality take matters of climate change seriously. We wish to congratulate the mayor and the entire team involved in this important work. Programme Director, it should be remembered that KwaZulu-Natal municipalities have experienced a number of extreme weather events in the past five years, ranging from droughts and heat waves, to extreme storms bringing severe lightning and flooding. Durban is not immune to these challenges. The people of eThekwini Municipality are still recovering from the devastating effects of the storm that swept through eThekwini municipality in October 2017 and April this year. The devastation caused by floods will take years to forget, especially given the fact that many lives were lost. I know that the city is still rebuilding the social infrastructure including houses of the affected families. Added to that, we have been warned of possible climate change effects like the rise in sea levels and temperature increases all of which will affect our residents. Programme Director, we have no doubt that this plan of action will help reduce vulnerability across our city, especially among the poorest of the poor. It will help drive Durban's development along a low-carbon and resilient pathway as detailed in our newly adopted Deadline 2020, 1.5° Climate Action Plan. Air Pollution and COVID-19 Programme Director, as I draw towards conclusion, I wish to reiterate our commitment as the provincial government towards working with stakeholders and eThekwini municipality in particular to deal with air pollution. As you all know, there are debates taking place in various platforms regarding air pollution and causes of COVID-19. There is a research which has shown that long term exposure to pollutants such as fine particulate matter (often called PM2.5, as these are particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres), nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide can reduce lung function and cause respiratory illness. These pollutants have also been shown to cause a persistent inflammatory response even in the relatively young and to increase the risk of infection by viruses that target the respiratory tract. The pathogen that causes COVID-19 - SARS-CoV-2 - is one such virus. Several studies have already suggested that poor air quality can leave people at greater risk of contracting the virus, and at greater risk of serious illness and death. This is an area that we need to attend to Ladies and Gentlemen. We wish to assure the people of eThekwini Municipality that environmentalists from the department will continue to with those in eThekwini Municipality and NGOs to deal with air pollution. Increased Air Pollution - South Durban and other areas As we move forward, our efforts will focus on ensuring that the private sector and all spheres of government commit and work together to improve air quality. We must step up efforts aimed at cutting emissions and cleaning up the air for communities, especially on the South Durban basin. We undertake to work with industries, communities of Jacobs, Wentworth, Bluff, Lamontville, Umlazi and the whole South Durban basin to find a long lasting solution to air pollution. Because the area has the largest concentration of chemical industries - we believe that there is an urgent need to form a partnership with an aim of protecting our environment whilst at the same time, we must create a healthy nation capable for sustaining economic growth. Emissions as a result of sugarcane burning, forest and veld fires remain a concern although these are seasonal. We also need to focus on these. I often cite "Section 24 of the South African Constitution which clearly states that "everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health and wellbeing and to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution..." Important reports on Air-Quality In conclusion, I wish to report that a comprehensive Air Quality strategy is being developed and completion expected around 30 October. The department is moving swiftly to fill in critical posts which have hindered much of the work at the Enviro unit. These include posts like Air Quality management, project officers in the IASP, climate change, EIA, pollution and waste management inter alia. Ladies and Gentlemen, once again, we are excited to be part of this launch. Let us hold hands and fight climate change across this province and across all spheres of government. The sharing of resources and integration of action provides a mechanism to upscale a climate change response beyond the boundary of individual municipalities. Acting together will ensure that we are able to effectively tackle both adaptation and mitigation. I thank you.   view more

23 August 2020 *Pietermaritzburg* : I wish to inform residents of Umsunduzi Municipality that a team of fire-fighters, environmentalists and other experts has been deployed to deal with the fire that broke out on municipal land adjacent to a manufacturing plastic factory. The fire burnt down the factory containing plastic and equipment. The incident happened few kilometres away from the New England Landfill Site. I have requested a formal report from environmentalists who have been on site since 15h30. Although I am still waiting for this formal report, I must hasten to point out that we won't hesitate to take action against anyone found responsible for this air-pollution. There is a research which has shown that long term exposure to pollutants such as fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide can reduce lung function and cause respiratory illness. These pollutants have also been shown to cause a persistent inflammatory response even in the relatively young and to increase the risk of infection by viruses that target the respiratory tract. It should be remembered that last week I briefed the Portfolio Committee on Conservation and Environmental Affairs about the importance of clean air during this period. We have stated as the department that as we move forward, our efforts will focus on ensuring that the private sector and all spheres of government commit and work together to improve air quality. We are stepping up efforts aimed at cutting emissions and cleaning up the air for communities across the province. With many companies getting back to business, we are expecting an increase in quality pollution. I have reminded the people of this province and all stakeholders that during the first weeks of lockdown that there was tranquillity. Many companies stopped production; The transport system around the world came to a grinding halt; Air and automobile travel was dramatically reduced. I have asked - how do these changes impact the quality of the air we breathe, and, if maintained, how might that affect our overall health and wellbeing? I have further questioned - what lessons can we learn from this unique time period that will help us to better manage air pollution once traditional travel and company production resumes? To deal with all these issues, a comprehensive Air Quality strategy is being developed and completion expected around 30 October. This strategy will be implemented across all municipalities. Our long term plan is to ensure that leaders of society, academics, big corporate, elected public representatives and communities adopt a single strategy for implementation to deal with air-pollution. Critically, I have indicated that as the department we are fully aware that the South Durban basin is heavily air-polluted with many people experiencing respiratory illnesses. It can't be business as usual. Regarding New England Landfill Site, we are encouraged by the positive response from number of communities who are part of Love Pietermaritzburg initiative. Weeks ago, we presented our plan aimed at turning around the situation at New England Landfill Site. We have agreed to work together with representatives of this initiative. They have also offered to share their skills and expertise on the area of waste management. The Ministerial Committee appointed by the Premier Sihle Zikalala to work on the New England Landfill Site will continue to work with all stakeholders to deal with air-pollution. The members of this committee include myself, MEC for Finance Ravi Pillay, MEC for Transport and Community Safety and Liaison Bheki Ntuli, MEC for COGTA Sipho Hlomuka, Mayor of Umsunduzi Municipality Cllr Mzimkhulu Thebolla, uMgungundlovu District Mayor Cllr Thobekile Maphumulo and the Technical Team of officials representing three spheres of government. Ends *ISSUED BY THE MEC FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND LEADER OF GOVERNMENT BUSINESS - NOMUSA DUBE-NCUBE* Enquiries Ndabezinhle Sibiya - 082 375 4742 Nathi Olifant - 060 970 5113   view more