3 December 2007
Programme Director: Mr Benny Makgoga
Members of Mayoral Committees and Councillors present
Head of Department: Dr. Steven Cornelius
Chief Executive Officer of the Blue IQ: Dr. Trish Hanekom
Government officials present
Representatives of the private sector
Participants and prize winners
Invited guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is indeed my pleasure to be here with you to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Bontle Ke Botho Clean and Green programme and to partake in its prize giving ceremony in honour our stakeholders in the environmental field.
I wish, from the onset, to thank all of the environmental champions that have contributed to making Bontle Ke Botho one of the largest and most successful environmental campaigns in South Africa. Called upon to account on what has been done to implement resolutions of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which was held in Gauteng during 2002, I am certain that we would be able to proudly say, together, wh have co-ordinated our activities, we have produced results and we are meeting some of our country's imperatives. It is important to note that the greatest success of the campaign has been to move environmental issues from the margin to the center of our people's consciousness.
It is gratifying and uplifting that we are celebrating five years of intensive environmental action that has significantly contributed to poverty alleviation and job creation, thus coupling the need to ensure sustainable environmental development with vital socio-economic interventions. This has been made possible by the broad-based support that the campaign has enjoyed from municipalities, communities, the education sector, the businesses and non-governmental organisations and community based organisations. It is appropriate that I use this opportunity to commend you for your genuine commitment to environmental protection and community upliftment. You all have contributed significantly to the success of the campaign.
BKB's social mobilization orientated approach has enabled the campaign to become one of the premier sustainable environmental campaigns in the Southern African region since the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. I am proud to announce that during this five-year period we have witnessed significant growth of the campaign in terms of support, participation and a number of sustainable action projects of the highest quality.
Apart from the collaborative management of the campaign, the quality of environmental projects undertaken has been enhanced. The projects initiated range from natural resource management to environmentally friendly infrastructure development. Of great importance is the fact that some of these projects have directly created jobs for the marginalised sector of society including woman and the youth across the Gauteng Province. At school level, the projects, whether infrastructural or natural resource management orientated, have enriched the teaching and learning experience. Another noteworthy factor is that the infrastructure development projects in schools, such as the building of classrooms, hace provided shelter and vital facilities to create an environment conducive to leaning.
During this five-year period, a total of R16 million was distributed in prize money. A staggering 222 schools, 315 wards and 8 municipalities have been the beneficiaries of this sum. This money has been ploughed into the initiation of environmental projects helping to ensure sustainability and creating a worthy environmental legacy for BKB. I wish to thank the executive mayors in all municipalities across the Gauteng Province for their continued reaffirmation and commitment to supporting the campaign. This saw the majority of municipalities aligning their environmental management sector plans within their Integrated Development Plans to accommodate the BKB campaign.
It is undeniable that the achievements of BKB during this five-year period have been no less than phenomenal. This poses an even bigger challenge to us and all stakeholders concerned to maintain and continuously improve the good work around the campaign. To achieve this, we will need to continuously investigate and explore various innovative and alternative options aimed at expanding the themes of the campaign.
Thus far, we have strengthened the litter and waste management theme with the launch of the Litter-Free Gauteng Campaign. A further boost to BKB is the waste management youth trolley project, the buyisa eBag, which is in the pipeline. In partnership, through this project my department seeks to deepen the participation of unemployed youth in the recycling industry, therein initiating a sustainable option to waste management and also contributing to the development of the beneficiaries' entrepreneurial skills. This will lead to a cleaner Gauteng Province by the year 2010 and ensure a sustainable environmental legacy for the World Cup and beyond.
Allow me to elaborate on some of BKB's highlights:
The campaign provided momentum for the WSSD and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation to be translated into meaningful action. This is evident in the number of schools that have established and continue to sustain vegetable gardens, in municipalities and wards where open spaces have been transformed into areas of cultural significance, play areas and parks. The project has also helped to emphasise the inter-connectedness of the environmental, economic and social spheres therein contributing to a holistic understanding amongst stakeholders of the environment.
As the Gauteng environmental "brand", the project has meaningfully contributing to sustainable environmental management. Children of all ages are considered central in broadening the environmental, economic and social goals of transformation. BKB therefore targets both primary and secondary schools. The campaign is promoted as a learning activity within the principals of outcomes based education.
Through the programme, schools have instigated environmental action across all the themes, including through retrofitting school light fixtures, replacing non-energy efficient irrigation systems and the harvesting of rain water. The campaign has also facilitated community development and empowerment in schools, wards and municipalities. In the Ekurhuleni Metro, as an example, community members involved in the Garden Services project were given basic training on servicing of lawnmowers. In another instance, members of the Siyathuthuka Project, located in Soweto, received training on paving and started footpaths paving projects.
BKB has focused on achieving increased community participation providing support to municipal wards, schools and community-based organizations. The campaign has achieved synergy through partnerships in all spheres of government. This has extended to various organizations such as Collect-A-Can, Eskom and SANBI. A "BKB family" has developed with regard to the pooling of expertise.
These impacts, although tangible, are dwarfed by what I believe to be the most significant impact of BKB over the past five years; it is the mammoth shift in the intention and behaviour of participants from a competition focus to sincere environmental concern spurring deliberate action aimed at sustaining our environment. It is only through individuals taking collective action that we can achieve sustainable environmental management and development.
In conclusion, I wish to congratulate all the present and past winners of BKB, may you inspire all those not involved in the campaign to heed the call for action, the time for inaction has drawn to a close, for the future of our environment lies squarely in our hands. I thank you for listening to my message. I also wish to thank the organisers of this function for a job well done.