Establishing the Magaliesberg Biosphere Area

Finland supports the Magaliesberg Biosphere Area which aims at sustainably balanced relationship between people and the environment. The initiative took a step forward in early June when the North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism organised a launching ceremony.

For over a decade Finland has been part of a co-operation scheme between Finnish and South African environmental administrations. The latest, still on-going, mutual effort has been the Support to Magaliesberg Biosphere Initiative. The Initiative has been supported through an Institutional Cooperation Instrument (ICI) project financed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

The cooperation is based on exchange of experiences and knowledge between the experts of the Finnish Environment Institute, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Central Finland and the Gauteng and North West Province administrations in South Africa. The project has aimed at creating a new biosphere reserve in the Magaliesberg mountain area situated in the two provinces. There are already six existing biospheres in South Africa and two in Finland. The establishment process of Lake Päijänne-Vesijärvi biosphere in Finland has also benefited from the ICI-project.

Biosphere reserves are areas internationally recognised within the framework of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme of the UNESCO. It is an innovative and sustainable approach to managing land and water resources across landscapes made up of one or more bioregions. Biospheres aim at improving livelihoods, enhancing social, economic and cultural conditions, and contributing towards environmental sustainability through means of consolidated land-use guidance and environmentally sound demonstration projects.

Varied Land-Use Forms in the Unique Mountain Area

The Magaliesberg mountain area is situated about 100 km to the north-west of the City of Johannesburg. It has a rich history and biodiversity that forms an important part of the natural and cultural heritage of South Africa. The habitat variety supports more than 130 tree species, 90 mammal species, 80 reptile and amphibian species, and over 450 bird species. The Magaliesberg Mountain along with the Cradle of the Humankind, an area where evidence of the beginning of human race has been traced at, will form the protected core area of the Biosphere.

Many human activities are increasing in the region. Increasing pressures from urbanisation, industrialisation, mining and resulting pollution are major threats to the fragile nature of Magaliesberg.

The zoning of the biosphere defines the allowed and prioritised human activities within the biosphere. A buffer zone usually surrounds the protected core area. In the case of Magaliesberg, voluntary conservancies form the buffer where environmental education, recreation and ecotourism are main activities. The transition zones are areas in which human activities may affect the core and buffer zones and are therefore collaboratively and carefully managed by the various stakeholders to ensure development that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.
Constructive Cooperation

The Magaliesberg Biosphere Initiative took a significant step forward in the beginning of June 2012 when the North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism organised a launching ceremony during which the province and affected stakeholders formally endorsed the Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve.

The Premier of the North West Province, Ms. Thandi Modise called on young people to be actively involved in the preservation and conservation of the environment. She urged people to pay attention to the damage being done to the earth and to the impact this would have on future generations.

Premier Modise acknowledged the role of their international funders and partners: "This project could not have been successful without the partnership that we forged with the Finnish Environment Institute and Central Finland Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment", she said.

The Chairman of the Magaliesberg Biosphere Initiative Group, Mr. Vincent Carruthers, also expressed appreciation to the Finnish delegation and the funding which made it possible to complete the research and preparations for the UNESCO biosphere application.

The Magaliesberg Biosphere Initiative has nearly reached its main target. The documents for the UNESCO application are being finalised and will be submitted by the national Department for Environmental Affairs to the UNESCO in September. South Africa is expected to celebrate the registration of the Magaliesberg Biosphere in early 2013.

Source: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Zille seeks legal advice on Hlophe hearing

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) could find itself facing a second challenge to its decision on Judge John Hlophe, this time from Western Cape premier Helen Zille. Zille said on Friday her office was seeking legal advice on whether she had been "unconstitutionally excluded" from the JSC committee that met on the Hlophe issue last week.

The JSC said it would not to proceed with a probe into allegations that Hlophe tried to influence Constitutional Court judges in a matter relating to President Jacob Zuma. Zille's announcement followed a piece published earlier in the day by constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos, on his blog Constitutionally Speaking.

De Vos asked whether Zille should have been part of the committee when it took the decision. "A clever and alert reader of this blog thinks so -- and I agree," he said. "This would mean the JSC was unlawfully constituted when it made its decision and on that ground alone the decision could be set aside by a court," he said. He said section 178(k) of the Constitution laid down that when the JSC considered "matters relating to a specific high court", the premier of that province or her representative had to form part of the body. Premiers already formed part of the JSC when it decided on appointments for the high court in their provinces, so the composition of the high court was deemed to be "a matter relating to a high court". "It seems to me that it follows by necessary implication that if the premier is involved in the appointment of any judge, he or she must also be involved in the possible removal of any judge," De Vos said.

The article by Pierre De Vos can be found here.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs: Buyelwa Sonjica

Minister Buyelwa Sonjica was appointed as Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs on 11 May 2009.

As Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs she has executive authority over the 15 water boards, the Water Research Commission (WRC), the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA), the irrigation boards (IBs), Water User Associations (WUAs) and Catchment Management Agencies (CMAs).

Sonjica, 59, is back in the position she held from 2004 to 2006 - although some thought her tenure there underwhelming. She served as minister for minerals and energy from 2006 till 2009. Reports have joked that she moves from causing global warming to curing it. Given her former position and priorities, Koos Pretorius, of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, is worried that Sonjica may decide in favour of mining over the environment, the Sunday Tribune reported.

Those who crossed her path during her previous tenure concede that while it was too short to leave any kind of lasting legacy, she was not remembered as an individual with conservation on her mind.

But industry insiders have lauded Zuma's decision to uncouple environmental affairs from tourism and add it to the water affairs portfolio. DA environment spokesperson Gareth Morgan said Sonjica would have a difficult portfolio to manage and matters requiring her urgent attention included SA's negotiating platform at the upcoming climate negotiations in Copenhagen, which former minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk had excelled in. Wessa (Wildlife and Environment Society of SA) said it was "very pleased" that water had been prioritised.

Sonjica has a long history in the party from her days of student politics in East London, and has steadily risen through the ranks. She is known in Eastern Cape education and political circles, having taught at schools in the province between 1979 and 1994. She obtained a BA degree, majoring in English and Xhosa, from Vista and a further BA (Honours) in Xhosa from Rhodes.

Her contact details are here.

The KZN MEC for Agriculture & Environmental Affairs KZN is Lydia Johnson and her contact details are here and here and here.

Source: News 24.com

What Are The Green Scorpions

The Green Scorpions are a network of environmental enforcement officials drawn from many spheres of government. The name has been coined by the press, but they are the 600 odd Environmental Management Inspectors (EMIs) roaming South Africa.

EMIs don’t only chase down green criminals, they can also issue notices that force offenders to comply with environmental legislation. The Green Scorpions can’t go as far as the courts – they have to hand over their criminals to the national prosecuting authority to do their prosecution for them. The EMIs form a national network of environmental officials who share intelligence, experience, standardised training and procedures in order to enforce South Africa’s new environmental laws.

In the course of their duties, they can enter premises to do routine inspections to check for compliance, they can seize evidence, question witnesses, take samples, establish roadblocks, arrest people and issue compliance notices. Currently, the vast majority of appointed EMIs are employed by Sanparks, with about 600 Sanparks employees from around the country having undergone training and having passed the EMI exam and been issued with EMI identity cards. The Sanparks Green Scorpions are specially designated to enforce the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act of 2004.

Only people who are employed by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Deat), provincial environment departments, municipal government or other quasi-government bodies such as Sanparks, Sanbi or the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park Authority can be designated as EMIs. The main acts that the EMIs are mandated to enforce are the National Environmental Management Act (Nema) and all its promulgated regulations, the Biodiversity Act, the Protected Areas Act and the new Air Quality Act.

The primary areas of enforcement will include biodiversity, protected areas, pollution and waste, coastal and marine and environmental impact assessment. There will be several levels of EMIs each of which has different powers when it comes to investigating and enforcing environmental legislation.

In accordance with Nema, the South African Police Services also has most of the powers of the inspectorate. As the green crime-fighting force is a first for South Africa, the department of environmental affairs is still developing and improving some of their training programmes, but the training is already bringing people from different environmental fields together to learn from each other’s experiences.

Offenders disregard Green Scorpions at their own peril – the act that allows for the creation of the EMIs also makes it a criminal offence to give false information to them or to hinder them in their duties. On the other hand, if a person gives a Green Scorpion evidence that leads to an offender being fined, the whistleblower can be awarded up to a quarter of the value of the fine.

To help ensure that any green criminals that the EMIs bring to book are properly dealt with, the enforcement branch of the department of environmental affairs has collaborated with the justice college to train prosecutors in the ins and outs of the new environmental laws. It is also creating a forum for magistrates to get together to discuss with each other how to deal with environmental legislation and crimes.

The green scorpions contact details are here

Source: Siyabona Africa Travel (Pty) Ltd

150 yellowwood trees poisoned

About 150 yellowwood trees, an endangered species and the national tree of South Africa, were chopped down and poisoned in the Drakensberg because a government environmental group mistook them for black wattle trees, a report said on Tuesday.

The yellowwood trees that were destroyed were between 50 and 100 years old, Beeld newspaper reported.

The Working for Water initiative, administered by the department of water affairs and forestry, was created to fight invasive alien plants.

Source: News 24.com

Plans to mine Wild Coast postponed

Controversial plans to mine titanium at Xolobeni on a pristine stretch of the Wild Coast have been put on hold. The decision came after Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica declared that more consultation with the community is needed.

Source: Mail & Guardian

Count Agusta link probed in Palazzolo hearing

An Italian prosecutor on Monday sought to probe the link between alleged Mafioso Vito Palazzolo and Count Riccardo Agusta, who achieved notoriety in the Roodefontein saga.

The prosecutor, Gaetano Paci, was cross-examining former police officer Gert Nel in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court, which is hearing evidence for Palazzolo's trial in absentia in Italy.

Nel told the court he was one of the police officers who arrested Palazzolo in the Eastern Cape in 1988, which resulted in Palazzolo returning to Switzerland to complete a jail term for playing banker in a massive drug deal.

Last year, a civil engineer told the George Regional Court, hearing corruption charges against former Western Cape politicians Peter Marais and David Malatsi, that Palazzolo played a key role in Agusta's controversial Roodefontein golf-estate development.

The engineer, Ray Durden, testified that Palazzolo asked him to bring together a professional team to drive the project, and gave him instructions on an earlier, abandoned plan for a retirement complex on the farm.

Palazzolo had said he was acting as an adviser for Agusta.

Agusta last year paid a R1-million fine for his part in the Roodefontein corruption saga.