Day: July 18, 2022

The draft Game Meat Strategy for South Africa has been published for public comment by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Barbara Creecy in Government Gazette 47024 (Notice No.2293).

South Africa, renowned internationally for its abundant wildlife provides market opportunities that could derive from the harvesting of game meat and related value-added products.

“The strategy and implementation plan are aimed at creating a formalised, thriving and transformed game meat industry in South Africa that contributes to food security and sustainable socio-economic growth,” said Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy.

The aim is to attract investment in the game meat sector and to open local, regional and international market opportunities. This requires transformation of the industry to ensure future growth in this sector.

The game meat industry, currently mainly a by-product of hunting, is predominately an informal industry that operates in a fragmented manner. The industry is largely untransformed, and there is a very low participation rate of previously disadvantaged individuals. In addition, there are large areas of community-owned land that is suitable for plains game, and which provides opportunity for community-based enterprises to drive rural socio-economic development. There are also high barriers to entry, which would need to be addressed.

The aim of this strategy will thus be to create a formalised game meat industry to achieve the economies of scale necessary for commercial ventures based primarily on game meat production, harvesting, processing, distribution, and marketing. There is a need to ensure that the potential of game meat as a driver of rural socio-economic development founded on biodiversity-based land use, and which is leveraged to create wealth, jobs, and climate friendly and resilient meat-based food security. Game meat enterprises, complimenting other biodiversity economy activities, need to be commercially and socially viable, and ecologically sustainable, and the Strategy sets out to achieve this.

The strategy acknowledges the significant contribution that is being made by current wildlife businesses and the various associations that drive critical elements of the value chain. Key to taking the new Strategy forward will be to harness their experience and expertise. New private sector investments will be needed, and partnerships and collaborations will be essential, meaningful, and with buy-in from all stakeholders. The Department will continue to engage strongly with current and potential industry participants, including through the Wildlife Forum, in order to capitalise on the collective energy that went into developing the draft Game Meat Strategy, and to create the momentum for its successful implementation.

“The need to create new value, open up new opportunities, generate new growth, and deliver new efficiencies are all key to transformation, and will necessitate change along the entire Game Meat value chain,” said Minister Creecy.

Members of the public are invited to submit written comments on the Draft Game Meat Strategy 2022 by within 30 days of publication of the Gazette to the any of the following addresses:

By post to: Director General: Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment

Attention: Mr Khorommbi Matibe

Private Bag X447

Pretoria, 0001

By hand at: Reception, Environment House, 473 Steve Biko Road, Arcadia, Pretoria, 0083

Source: Government of South Africa

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) Minister, Dr Naledi Pandor, has commended the international communities for offering a helping hand on Mandela Day.

Pandor, accompanied by members of the diplomatic corps and DIRCO staff on Monday, marked the annual Nelson Mandela International Day at Leratong Hospice in Atteridgeville by participating in 67 minutes of work for the community.

Various organisations locally and abroad commemorate Nelson Mandela International Day which is also known as Mandela Day, on 18 July, by making a difference in their communities.

“We are so grateful that on this day, on this Nelson Mandela Day, you always join us and we can’t thank you enough for your commitment and kindness to various community organisations in South Africa,” she told the Ambassadors.

Numerous donations including blankets, portable radios, food items, clothes, gas stoves and R500 000 cash from the United Arab Emirates were made to the hospice.

“I wish to thank you for your contribution and support. I am extremely grateful and know that the community is thrilled to see this example of international cooperation and collaboration between South Africa and representation from many countries who work here in our country and hold Nelson Mandela, his work and memory very close to their hearts.”

Leratong Hospice is an in-patient facility offering holistic comprehensive care and support-palliative care to all its patients and offering support to their families. It services Atteridgeville, Saulsville, the surrounding informal settlements, Lotus-Gardens, Pretoria west, Laudium, Brits, Hartbeespoort and neighbouring communities.

Pandor reminded the community that they do not need money to make a difference in other people’s lives.

“Nelson Mandela was speaking to each of us, whether you’re rich or poor. He was saying to us that to help others doesn’t need great wealth. He was teaching us that every one of us can make a difference – a kind work to children or helping an elderly person just for one hour and seven minutes.”

She also shut down the notion that generosity and kindness were difficult and urged citizens to help each other for the betterment of their community.

“Mandela believed that every one of us can give. Therefore, whoever you are, he did not say on this day, Members of Parliament should do something,” she stressed.

“Today, we are all equals. I’m going to be peeling potatoes; others will give children books and while some will make sure the windows are clean.”

She also encouraged the hospice workers to continue the challenging work and called on the citizens to assist and protect the workers.

“Mandela believed that if you do that every July 18, eventually you’ll do it every day.”

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) welcomes the arrest of former municipal manager of Moretele Municipality in the North West province for allegedly contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act and the irregular awarding of a multimillion-rand IT tender.

Theletsi Roger Nkhumise was arrested on Friday and immediately appeared at the Moretele Regional Court. Nkhumise is accused of unlawfully appointing Flame IT Strategy to render ICT services to the Moretele Municipality, which is largely rural, to the tune of approximately R215 million. The municipality inherited the contract for ICT services from Madibeng Local Municipality.

The arrest of Nkhumise follows an investigation conducted by the SIU, which revealed that the municipality increased the scope of work with two addendums to the original contract without following processes governing municipal procurement of goods and services.

Furthermore, the SIU investigation revealed that the price from that of the original contract between Madibeng Municipality and Flame IT are definitely not in sync with the pricing between Moretele Municipality and Flame IT. Madibeng paid Flame IT approximately R64 million for a similar service.

The SIU probe revealed that Moretele is paying way more than what Madibeng Municipality paid Flame IT for a similar service.

The SIU was authorised to investigate the tender following the signing of Proclamation of R. 7 of 2019 by President Cyril Ramaphosa. In line with the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act 74 of 1996, the SIU referred evidence pointing to a criminal action to the National Prosecuting Authority for further action.

The SIU has instituted a civil action in the Special Tribunal to review and set aside the contract. This will pave way for the State’s only anti-corruption, forensic investigation and civil litigation agency to recover financial losses suffered by the municipality due to negligence and corruption.

Fraud and corruption allegations may be reported via the following platforms: siu@hotline.co.za(link sends e-mail) / Hotline: 0800 037 774.

Source: Government of South Africa

Despite all the odds, the Marikana Schools situated in Marikana in the North West province, continue to produce good results.

The learners who are mostly from the informal settlements are committed to their studies.

The Marikana High School takes pride in its academic, socio-economic and cultural diversity.

The school ensures that all the learners are congratulated for their efforts and dedication to achieving personal success.

The Marikana High School enjoys multiple accolades, parents reviews and exceptional ratings from all corners of the community, and all that is made possible by a dedicated Principal Me Moeng and 23 dedicated teachers.

During a recent visit at the school, School Deputy Principal Vuyani Sihele, told SAnews that the school has a total of 250 learners.

He explained that the school initially used to produce 100 percent pass rate but as time goes by, the results started declining and now stand at 84 percent.

“After the Marikana incident, the results started declining but the teachers are doing their best to maintain the high pass rate,” he said.

He urged parents to be fully involved in their children’s education as he believes that this would improve the results to be much better.

Sihele urged parents to always encourage their children to do their school work and study.

“We as teachers working together with the parents, can produce far much better results,” he said.

Sihele said some of the learners are from child-headed families and despite that are doing well in their studies.

At nearby Marikana 2 Primary School, School Principal Andrew Phuza, told SAnews that the school has a total of 1039 learners and 27 educators.

The school was built by Lonmin mining company in 2018. This was to relieve pressure from the Marikana High School as the learners were accommodated at the school.

The learners’ performance is good and the teachers are doing their best to assist the learners,” Phuza said.

Since the school opened the doors, it has been a place where learners in the North West and beyond, ethnic and cultural diversity.

According to Phuza, crime in the area does not deter learners and teachers from focusing on education.

“We appeal to members of the community to assist by identifying those that are involved in criminal acts, vandalizing and stealing from the school,” he said.

Phuza said although they have about 200 undocumented learners, their performance is good.

Evelyn Seloale Botsheleng told SAnews that the learners at the school are performing very well.

“Although some of them do not understand Setswana, they are doing very well. We appeal to parents to teach the learners setswana,” Botsheleng said.

Member of the School Governing Body, Victor Molele, told SAnews that he is happy with the school.

“The school recently obtained a clean audit. I am happy that we are using the school monies in a good way. That shows staff dedication in their work,” Molele said.

The nationalities in Marikana includes Lesotho nationals, Mozambique and Xhosa speaking people. The majority of them are employed at the nearby Sibanye mine.

Most of the learner’s parents are working at the nearby Lonmin mine. Most learners lost their parents (fathers) in 2012 during a stand off with the police. More than 30 people were shot and killed by the police.

The Marikana massacre resulted in thirty-four miners losing their lives on 16 August 2012.

At the time of the incident, the miners were heading back to the koppie where they had been gathering daily to protest for a salary increase to R12 500 a month during the wildcat strike.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Students and teachers pulled out all the stops during the holidays to prepare for the matric exams

Over 26 000 students gave up their holidays to participate in winter school programmes arranged by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) and schools across the province. In addition, over 185 000 unique users accessed our ePortal site resources for all grades, and 524 staff members received training through the Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute (CTLI) while schools were closed.

Our districts have been hard at work to ensure that our matric students are ready for the upcoming trial and NSC exams, using different models for supporting students. While Metro North Education District held a virtual programme that streamed lessons to 10 062 students at their schools, Cape Winelands Education District held five residential camps for 445 students.

The Overberg Education District’s Specialised Learner and Educator Support Services (SLES) team also held a weekend life and study skills camp for at-risk students, while Eden and Central Karoo Education District undertook a circuit-based support programme for progressed students with 204 students over two days. The West Coast Education district held revision camps at 3 schools with 322 students in attendance – a 99% attendance rate!

Traditional winter school programmes reached over 5 800 students in Metro East Education District, 1 463 in Metro South Education District, and 4 366 students in Metro Central Education District.

We thank every one of the teachers and officials who gave of their time over the holidays – their dedication and expertise will stand the Class of 2022 in good stead to pass their exams. And we commend the students who chose to invest in their own futures by attending these revision classes.

Students have been putting in the hours from home, too, by using the WCED’s ePortal to access learning resources across all grades. Usage of the ePortal increased by 101% compared to last year’s June/July holidays, with over 185 000 unique users accessing the site – including those from other provinces. The site includes 8 988 free Grade 12 resources to support our matrics, including revision guides, past papers and marking guidelines, and Telematics lessons.

547 staff members used some of their holiday to improve their skills at the CTLI. The courses were offered on a wide variety of topics, including Women In and Into Leadership and Management Positions, Recruitment and Selection Training, ICT integration, and contact sessions for both the Advanced Certificate in Teaching (ACT) and the Advanced Diploma in Education: School Leadership and Management (ADE).

This is exactly the kind of extra effort that we will need to overcome the learning losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in the Foundation Phase. We are looking forward to the new term and the interventions that our teachers will be undertaking to ensure that we get back on track as soon as possible in the Western Cape.

Source: Government of South Africa

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the spirit of Nelson Mandela Day is a timely reminder that although South Africa faces difficult challenges, these are not insurmountable.

The President was addressing the nation through his weekly newsletter.

President Ramaphosa said that the commemoration of former President Mandela’s birthday - which takes the form of dedicating at least 67 minutes in service of the less fortunate - is a reminder that like the former statesman, South Africa and its people are resilient.

“We are in the midst of an energy crisis that is causing great hardship. A spate of violent crimes is heightening fear and insecurity in communities. Even as our economy is recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty and unemployment is taking a heavy toll on millions who are struggling to make ends meet. Corruption has eaten away at our nation’s soul and has severely eroded the social compact between the state and citizens.

“Nelson Mandela Day is an opportunity to remember that these problems, like so many we have faced before, are not insurmountable. They can be overcome. Time and again, we have been pulled back from the brink by the activism and resilience of our people. Community, faith-based and grassroots organisations have acted in defence of human rights, our Constitution and the interests of our citizens,” he said on Monday.

Every year on 18 July, South Africans and the global community honour South Africa’s late former President and international icon, Nelson Mandela.

The President highlighted the important role that civil society has to play in taking South Africa forward and its role in reminding government “of our obligation to advance the ideals for which Madiba and generations of freedom fighters made such sacrifices”.

He hailed a civil society driven programme for democratic renewal, which calls for communities to take back their power.

“It is a call for communities to organise and mobilise around economic inclusion, social and climate justice and ethical behaviour.

“Many civil society organisations are rooted in our communities and have the keenest appreciation of the struggles of our people. Engaging and working with government to overcome the challenges in our society is what participatory democracy is all about,” he said.

The President added that overcoming the country’s challenges will require that government, communities and civil society pull in the same direction.

“Building a better South Africa requires each and every one of us to make a contribution in whatever way we can. Defending our democracy begins with individual acts, like joining a community policing forum, volunteering at a charity or a shelter, reporting crime or refusing to pay a bribe.

“Let us evoke Madiba’s ‘new patriotism’, where South Africans are determined to work together and make our country a winning nation. We cannot leave it to others to realise the South Africa of our dreams. The future of our country is indeed in our hands,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Remarks by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment her Excellency Barbara Creecy during the opening of the 13th Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, Germany

Excellencies,

A special word of thanks to thank Chancellor Scholz and the government of Germany for organizing this important.

Congratulations to the Arab Republic of Egypt as the incoming Presidency of COP27. We look forward to the African COP.

Excellencies,

South Africa is further accelerating its climate actions, in the context of just transitions and sustainable development. Since COP 26, we have finalised our Just Transitions Framework, which will form the basis for our long-term climate action.

To this end, we have set up a Task Team to develop an investment plan for the Just Energy Transition Partnership or “JETP” announced in Glasgow, with our Partner countries – Germany, France, the UK, the US and the EU.

The Climate Bill which is currently before Parliament, lays the regulatory framework for the whole of government, business, organised labour and civil society to implement our country’s climate commitments.

However, we are very concerned at the lack of progress in the multilateral negotiations under the UNFCCC on key areas since COP 26. The discussions on loss and damage, finance, adaptation, and the just transition remain trapped in process-related discussions.

Last year in Glasgow some developing countries were vilified for stressing their national circumstances in relation to some of the desired outcomes in the Glasgow Climate Pact.

Yet just over six months after Glasgow we’re witnessing many developed countries reverting back to coal in response to their negative national circumstances.

We cannot have backtracking by developed country Parties. Developed countries must continue taking the lead with ambitious action. The ultimate measure of climate leadership is not what countries do in times of comfort and convenience, but what they do in times of challenge and controversy.

Climate change is currently costing African countries between three and five percent of their GDPs. Regionally, Africa is experiencing extreme climate impacts which the Continent had very little role in causing.

The Sixth IPCCC report confirms that despite having seventeen percent of the world’s population, Africa is only responsible for three percent of emissions.

The African continent supports ambitious realism which recognises our special circumstances and our need to negotiate pathways that meet both the developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations

The adaptation agenda truly needs a “Boost” at COP27. A "Boost" that will promote its global visibility, balance and scale-up. For Africa, the Global Goal on Adaptation must increase the resilience of our population to the adverse impacts of climate change by at least 50% by 2030 and by at least 90% by 2050.

Focus must be placed on the most vulnerable people and communities; To support health and well-being; food and water security; infrastructure and the built environment; as well as ecosystems and ecosystem services.

It is time that we deal with climate finance with the sense of urgency and scale it deserves.

The reality is we have failed in promoting adequate ambition on finance.

To put things in perspective: according to the UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance, developing countries need between 5 to 11 trillion US dollars, to meet their climate objectives.

And yet according to the OECD only around US$ 80 billion was mobilised. This represents less than 2% of developing country needs.

The only way we can re-establish credibility in financial provision is to set a realistic goal for developed countries to mobilise at least one trillion US dollars per annum to assist developing countries meet their climate change objectives.

COP 27 needs to focus on supporting a people -centered just equitable transition in the developing world. The urgent need is to adapt now, while we build resilience for the future. We can only avoid loss and minimize damage with the appropriate scale of public finance that does not exacerbate the indebtedness of Africa.

I thank you.

Source: Government of South Africa