DFFE, MLRF Q3 and Q4 2024/25 Performance; Engagement with City of Joburg; with Minister and Deputy Minister present

Video The Committee convened to receive briefings from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and the Marine Living Resources Fund (MLRF) on their third and fourth quarter performance for 2024/25. They also went through a set of questions and responses from a  previous  Committee engagement with the City of Johannesburg on waste management. The Department reported steady and credible performance during the reporting period, achieving 91% of their targets and surpassing 17 of them. In the fourth quarter, they had achieved 81%, exceeding 18 targets. This success had resulted in 72 000 work opportunities through the expanded public works programme in areas like water, waste and fire management. In addition, 158 bursaries for environmental studies were awarded, with 54% going to women. Tree-planting initiatives had established 176 659 fruit and indigenous trees across all nine provinces. In the Eastern Cape, eight forestry plantations were transferred to local communities to promote equity and resource management. The MLRF had targeted seven goals, including submitting the Aquaculture Development Bill and conducting 5 500 inspections across fisheries. They had achieved six of the seven targets in both the third and fourth quarters, creating 773 full-time jobs and 1 545 work opportunities in the fishing sector. Members questioned what was being done about addressing the spike in criminality in and around the Table Mountain Park, with more than 70% of the victims being women; why the Department had underspent in some of the programmes; why it was confiscating fishing products (abalone) from small-scale fishermen; the reasons behind the withdrawal of the forestry security tender; the duration of the forestry monitors’ programmes in the absence of a security company; and what had led to the delay in the procurement of trees and the fixing of a definite date for the appointment of workers. Members also questioned the underspending on climate resilient programmes, despite the allocated budget; how the Department planned to prevent further delays in the construction of air quality stations; and how it was addressing the provincial disparities in pollution and waste recycling site development. The Committee considered the response to previous questions that had been submitted to the City of Johannesburg, which were related to waste management. The draft Committee programme for the next quarter was also considered and adopted.