22 March 2007, Emperor's Palace in Ekurhuleni
Programme Director: Ms. Pam Yako: Director-General of the DEAT
Executive Mayor of the host Metropolitan Council: Councillor Duma Nkosi
Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism: Mme Joyce Mabudafhasi
Deputy Minister of Provincial and Local Government: Ms. Nomatyala Hangana
Members of Executive Councils (MECs) from other Provinces
Mayors, Members of Mayoral Committees and Councillors present
Heads of Government Departments and Directors General and Depty Directors General present
Guests from beyond the borders of South Africa
Government officials present
Representatives of the business community, Non-Governmental Organisations and Community Based Organisation
Invited Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a pleasure and an honour to have been given this opportunity to chair this first session of this auspicious conference and to make a few remarks.
The theme for today's conference is: "Waste management for a cleaner South Africa - A Local Government Perspective".
Conventional wisdom correctly informs us that population growth rates, socio-economic development, the Gross Domestic Product specifically, increasing production and utilization both hazardous and non-hazardous elements are amongst key drivers of waste. South Africa is a developmental state that has its fair share of these waste drivers, including an economy that continues to notch higher growth levels. This being the case, I do believe that the country as a whole will also enormously benefit from this meeting, especially as it should help enrich and consolidate the country's waste Bill.
I do believe that the presence and active participation of Local Municipalities, in this meeting, shall also further enhance the quality of our deliberations and, possibly, the rate at which we should be able to deal with the issue of effective waste management. A pilot project, initiated by the United Nations, on Waste Management in Africa, has shown that municipalities are critical for effective waste management strategies. The pilot project, covering municipalities in Ndola, Zambia, Malindi in Kenya and Accra in Nigeria showed that municipalities are indeed indispensable in the quest for effective waste management. This derives from the reality that waste is generated in industries and homes located within municipalities. The project also dialectically linked effective waste management with projects that meet other pressing social needs, including fighting poverty and job creation through, amongst others, waste recycling projects.
Municipalities participating in this project focused on, amongst others, rehabilitations of existing dump sites, provision of waste management equipment and vehicles, review of regulatory frameworks and capacity building amongst communities and local authorities. Pilot projects to show-case environmentally sound waste management practices were also set-up in the participating municipalities.
The project not only showed dramatic improvement in the quality of intra-governance between municipalities and communities, it also increased community awareness and participation. The youth of these municipalities also benefited from waste collection service that were initiated.
I do hope that the presence of this third tier of Government will indeed benefit us all in our collective quest to restore the ecological integrity of the cities, protect biodiversity and work with communities to keep these areas clean so that they can become places of leisure, improving the quality of life for all our people.
With these few words, allow me Programme Director, to invite the metaphorical thousands of flowers to bloom and the figurative thousand schools of thoughts to contend.
During this session we will be welcomed by Mr Duma Nkosi, the Executive Mayor of the host city, and listen to the Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, who will do the opening address, as well as to the Deputy minister of Provincial and Local Government, Ms Nomatyala Hangana who will address us on Accelerated Service delivery at Local Government.
I thank you.