Budget Vote – Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment - 15 July

Thank you, House Chairperson Honourable Members South Africans,

When I was a young boy, all I ever wanted to be was a game ranger. I was entranced by South Africa’s rich diversity of nature, from bumping along in a game drive vehicle in the Kruger National Park to hiking the tracks traversing the Cape fynbos. The joy I derived from our natural environment was profound, and I felt a strong desire to share it with others while also safeguarding it from harm. That early imperative has shaped my life. I channelled my passion into academic pursuits and later into my professional career in the NGO sector, advocating for endangered species and capacitating disadvantaged communities to both protect and profit from natural habitats. Today, that young boy stands before you as a Member of Parliament, still dedicated to inspiring my fellow South Africans to cherish and protect our shared natural heritage.

The Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment Portfolio has a heavy burden to bear. Our portfolio is faced, among other issues, with two existential challenges in the double crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Irresponsible and unsustainable pillaging of our planet has birthed these twins who have pushed our environment to the brink through their wicked and mutually perpetuating ways. Our work in this Portfolio must be to urgently and pragmatically address these challenges. As the Honourable Minister Dr Dion George has communicated publicly, he is aware of the gravity of this work.

While we work to protect our natural resources and assets, we also live in one of the most unequal countries in the world, plagued by the triple challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment. Our responsibility is to not only protect but leverage our natural assets sustainably to help address each of these challenges. We can do this by creating green jobs, ensuring inclusion in the biodiversity economy, and leveraging our globally significant and unique environments to create opportunities for all. This is not an easy balancing act, but it can be achieved if there is political will and committed leadership.

With these challenges in mind, we also face an extremely tight fiscus, as our economy has not grown to meet our needs. Compared to the previous financial year, the Department is faced with an 11.4% reduction, with a dire outlook over the Medium-Term Expense Framework of over R2.5 billion in cuts. This is the legacy we have inherited from the 6th Parliament and those before it. Years and decades of poor policy, fiscal mismanagement, and the scourge of corruption have resulted in the critical work of this Department being undermined by insufficient resourcing.

We lay down the challenge to our new Minister to undo these malpractices within his sphere of influence. Our Minister, along with his Deputies and his Department, have an opportunity to set an example for the rest of the Executive by displaying impeccable management, adhering to evidence-based decision-making, recruiting suitably qualified and capable staff, and displaying strict fiscal prudence. We expect our Minister over his term to use the limited budget efficiently by ensuring good governance, rooting out wasteful and irregular expenditure, and instilling a culture of zero-tolerance towards corruption. Indeed, any diversion from this with this limited budget will inevitably result in a failure to reach one or more objectives outlined in the ambitious Annual Performance Plans. As a trained economist and a former Shadow Minister of Finance, we believe that the new Minister has the necessary skills and experience to rise to this challenge. The Department’s work is simply too important and too urgent to be plagued by mismanagement and misspending.

To address budget cuts, we welcome the Minister’s commitment to leverage funding from the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan. The tragic effects of climate change were felt just last week here in Cape Town as thousands of residents were displaced from their homes and suffered untold damage and loss from flooding. It is critical that South Africa makes its transition from a coal-driven economy to one that embraces other forms of energy, particularly renewables. This will help to ensure the stability of power supply, be kinder to our precious environment, and protect future generations from the harmful effects of climate change such as the increased threat of natural disasters.

Through a Just Energy Transition, we can ensure that we create space for the upskilling and transfer of existing workers in the energy sector as well as provide new opportunities for employment. Not only does the Just Energy Transition offer exciting prospects of its own volition, but by reducing our carbon footprint, we will position ourselves well economically. For example, by reducing carbon emissions from energy production and industry supply chains we can avoid putting 47 billion Rand of South Africa’s exports at risk under the impending Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism of the European Union. Economic arguments aside, correcting our deplorable record as the worst polluters on the continent and 14th biggest in the world is a moral imperative if we take our stewardship of the planet seriously.

We have a golden opportunity now to turn our reputation around and become leaders in the global south. The Climate Change Bill, processed by the previous parliament, is currently on the President’s desk awaiting his signature. Signing this into law would be a significant signal to the world that we are taking this issue seriously. This Bill gives us the legislative and regulatory framework within which we can start to make real progress towards the institution of sectoral emissions targets, climate mitigation and adaptation, and the movement towards cleaner energy. We encourage the Minister to remind the President of the importance and urgency in this regard.

Minister and Deputy Ministers, the hopes of that young boy are echoed by millions of South Africans across the country and enshrined in our Constitution. Please take us seriously and lead us over this next term toward a sustainable, equitable, and prosperous future. We will hold you to account while you do.

Thank you.