03 August 2012 - The
Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs,
Ms Edna Molewa published under section 97
of the National Environmental Management
Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004),
non-substantive amendments to the Threatened
or Protected Species (ToPS) Regulations
in Gazette No. 35565 of 2 August 2012, for
immediate implementation.
The original Regulations
provide for certain legal responsibilities
to be carried out specifically by provincial
departments where “provincial department”
is defined in the ToPS Regulations as being
the provincial department responsible for
the conservation of biodiversity in a province.
However, in the case of Mpumalanga, Western
Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, the function of
biodiversity conservation are performed
by organs of the state and not the provincial
department. Therefore the definition of
“provincial department” was not clear and
capable of different interpretations as
it could be argued that an organ of state
in the above-mentioned provinces do not
have the legal mandate to perform specific
functions in terms of the ToPS Regulations,
and are also not in a position to comply
with the ToPS Regulations. The amendments
published today rectify this with a definition
of provincial departments that is inclusive
of an organ of state responsible for the
conservation of biodiversity in a province.
In the original version
of the ToPS Regulations, only the Minister
was the issuing authority for restricted
activities carried out by national and provincial
departments on land under their jurisdiction;
and in national protected areas. This provision
was therefore not clear as to whom the issuing
authority was when provincial officials
are tasked with carrying out restricted
activities on private land. Consequently,
the amendment of regulation 3(2) of the
ToPS Regulations clarifies that the Minister
is the issuing authority for permits relating
to the carrying out of restricted activities
involving any listed threatened or protected
species: in a national protected area; by
an official of an organ of state and by
an organ of state for the control of damage
causing animals originating from protected
areas or private land.
Furthermore, regulation
3(3) of the ToPS Regulations has been amended
to provide clarity. The MEC is the designated
issuing authority for permits relating to
the carrying out of restricted activities
involving specimens of any listed threatened
or protected species, excluding permits
relating to: restricted activities carried
out in a national protected area; restricted
activities carried out by an official of
an organ of state; listed threatened or
protected marine species and the control
of damage causing animals by an organ of
state originating from protected areas or
private land in compliance with regulation
14.
On 14 May 2012 the Minister
published in Gazette No. 35343 the “Prohibition
of trade in certain Encephalartos (Cycad)
Species”; this notice was found to be in
direct conflict with ToPS Regulations 25
and 71(3). Accordingly, Minister Molewa
has now repealed the above-mentioned regulations.
In order to facilitate
effective implementation of the ToPS Regulations,
these amendments will become effective immediately
on the date of publication.
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South Africa to sign
MoU with Vietnam to address ongoing scourge
in poaching and other environment crimes
03 September 2012 -
South Africa’s efforts to address the ongoing
poaching of rhino for its horns will be
taken to a new level when South Africa signs
a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Vietnam at the 11th meeting of the Conference
of the Parties (COP 11) to the Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD).
COP 11 will be held
in Hyderabad, India, from 8 to 19 October
2012.
This comes as the latest
rhino poaching statistics indicate that
a total of 373 rhinos have been killed since
the beginning of this year. The total number
of arrests stands at 199.
Thus far, the Kruger
National Park has lost 229 rhinos to poaching.
Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the North West
provinces continue to be the hardest hit
by poachers- collectively accounting for
the loss of 117 rhinos.
The Memorandum of Understanding
on Cooperation in the field of Biodiversity
Conservation and Protection will coverco-operation
between South Africa and Vietnam in the
field of biodiversity management, law enforcement,
compliance with the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)and other
relevant legislation.
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Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi
to lead the Women in Water & Environment
Dialogue at Birchwood Hotel Boksburg
17 August 2012 - The
Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental
Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, will lead
the Women in Water and Environment Dialogue
at Birchwood Hotel, Boksburg, Gauteng Province
on 20 and 21 August 2012.
The objective of the
Dialogue is to explore the extent of women's
involvement in the water and environmental
sectors and Green Economy business enterprises,
assess level of support such as funding
mechanisms, the challenges encountered and
recommend solutions to help women get into
mainstream economy.
The theme for the conference
is “Addressing unemployment, poverty and
inequality: together contributing towards
the progressive future for women.”
The conference also
aims to provide a platform to encourage
women to share knowledge, expertise, skills
and success stories to increase impact and
benefits of those still developing.The building
and strengthening of relationships will
be achieved by bringing under one roof women
professionals coming from diverse backgrounds
such as government, NGOs, private sector,
experts, academics, business leaders and
other women in South Africa
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The Minister of Water
and Environmental Affairs gazettes the Integrated
Industry Waste Tyre Management Plan of REDISA
for immediate implementation
01 August 2012 - The
Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs,
Ms Edna Molewa published the Integrated
Industry Waste Tyre Management Plan (IIWTMP)
of the Recycling and Economic Development
Initiative of South Africa (REDISA) in terms
of Regulation 11(4) of the Waste Tyre Regulations,
2009 in Gazette No 35534 of 23 July 2012
for immediate implementation.
The Minister approved
the REDISA IIWTMP in a letter dated 15 November
2011 and published it in Gazette No 34796
of 28 November 2011.
The approval of this
plan was subsequently withdrawn through
a notice in theGazette on 26 January 2012.
The approval was withdrawn to ensure that
all stakeholders and the public were given
more opportunity to make comments on the
proposed plan since some industry members
had raised concerns regarding the consultation
process that was followed for this plan.
REDISA then advertised the availability
of their plan and called for comments in
a range of newspapers between January and
February 2012.
Comments received through
this process were considered and a comments
and response document was prepared and submitted
together with the plan to the Department
on 10 February 2012. The Minister subsequently
published the revised plan in the government
Gazette No. 35147 of 17 April 2012 to afford
the general public a period of 30 days to
make further inputs on this plan. The comments
received were reviewed and the plan was
revised accordingly, and thus published
for implementation.
The National Environmental
Management: Waste Act 2008 (Act No. 59 of
2008) clearly anticipates the need to address
national issues with holistic national plans
and the REDISA plan was drafted taking cognisance
of this. Over and above the obvious objective
of managing waste tyres in a manner that
minimises their negative impacts on the
environment and human well-being, the REDISA
Plan is centred around; amongst others,
job creation, the need to include and empower
the existing informal sector as well as
sustainability. These are key aspects necessary
to meet the transformative social-economic
objectives of the country.
This plan will be funded
through a per-kilogram levy on tyres manufactured
in or imported into South Africa. The rand
per-kilogram cost is determined on the basis
of all operational and capital costs required
to make the plan work and is currently set
at R2.30/kg.
The benefits of an IIWTMP
include, but are not limited to, ensuring
that the negative environmental impacts
of tyres are minimised as well as ensure
co-ordinated industry action.
The intention is to
ensure that the management of waste tyres
follows the waste hierarchy which advocates
for avoidance of waste, re-use, recycling
and recovery of energy and disposal as the
last option. This will in turn curb the
well known impacts of waste tyre stockpiles
such as human health risks associated with
mosquito and vermin breeding as well as
air pollution impacts from burning of tyres
and fire hazards.
Furthermore, this approach
will extend the life spans of landfill sites,
especially in this age when land contestation
is high and hence land availability for
development of landfill sites is scarce.
The plan aspires to, through its research
and development initiative, establish and
encourage a vibrant recycling sector. Examples
of products that can be derived from recycling
tyres include rubber, oil, bricks and tiles.
To access the gazette notice, click on the
link below:
http://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/gazetted_notices/nemwa_redisa_g35534gon564.pdf
Background information
South Africa produces close to 200 000 tonnes
of waste pneumatic tyres annually of which
only 5% of the waste tyre are presently
utilized for grinding or recycling. Waste
tyres do not compact and are therefore not
welcome in landfill sites, waste tyres are
either burnt for the small amount of metal
that can be retrieved from them or are piling
up in illegal storage sites, which spans
over several very large tracks of land all
over the country. These sites are a fire
hazard and provide a breeding ground for
mosquitoes.
In order to address
this situation, the Department of Environmental
Affairs (DEA) promulgated Waste Tyre Regulations
on 13 February 2009, which came into effect
on 30 June 2009. The regulations give effect
to the principles of Producer Responsibility
whereby producers are provided an opportunity
to determine the manner in which they would
manage and finance the management of tyres
once they become waste. In terms of Regulation
6 of the Waste Tyre Regulations, 2009, tyre
producers are required to register with
the Minister of Environmental Affairs and
thereafter prepare and submit to the Minister
an IIWTMP for approval. In response to this
regulation, an IIWTMP was received from
REDISA.
