Day: March 20, 2024

The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, has extended the period for comments on the revised draft National Biodiversity Economy Strategy (NBES).

It was published under Government Notice No. 4492, Government Gazette No. 50279 on 8 March 2024.

Initially, the period for comments on the revised draft strategy was due to expire on Friday, 22 March 2024.

The Minister has extended the period for comments on the revised draft strategy by a further period of 14 days.

‘This extension is in recognition of the fact that some stakeholders are requesting more time to comment, and we welcome this interest. The revised draft National Biodiversity Economy Strategy will be discussed broadly at the upcoming Biodiversity Economy and Investment Indaba,’ the Minister said on Tuesday.

Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa requires that reasonable legislative and other measures be put in place to ensure that the environment is protected for the benefit of present and fut
ure generations, including through promoting conservation and securing ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources.

‘Therefore, the National Biodiversity Economy Strategy is one such measure, to ensure effective conservation and sustainable use of South Africa’s biodiversity, with inclusive and equitable socio-economic development.

‘The Revised draft National Biodiversity Economy Strategy is informed by the White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa’s Biodiversity which was approved by Cabinet on the 29th of March 2023 and published for implementation on 14 June 2023, under Government Notice No. 3537, Government Gazette, No. 48785,’ the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment said.

The gazette notice can be accessed at https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/nemba_draftbiodiversityeconomystrategy_g50279gon4492.pdf.

Members of the public are invited to submit, within the 14 days from 22 March 2024 or the date of publication in the ne
wspapers, whichever is the later date of publication, written comments to any of the following addresses:

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

Attention: Mr Khorommbi Matibe

Private Bag X447

PRETORIA

0001

By hand at: Environment House, 473 Steve Biko Street, Arcadia, Pretoria, 0001

By e-mail to: [email protected]

Any inquiries in connection with the notice or in connection with obtaining a copy of the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment Study (SEIAS) on the Revised NBES, can be directed to Mr Khorommbi Matibe at +27 82 566 4257.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Deputy President Paul Mashatile is expected to deliver a keynote address during the national World TB Day commemorative event in Gauteng at the weekend.

The Deputy President will also launch the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) Situation Room at the same event.

According to the Presidency, the country’s second-in-command will lead the event on Sunday, 24 March 2024, in Evaton, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the SANAC.

World TB Day is commemorated each year on March 24, to build public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease.

This day also highlights the devastating health, social and economic impact of TB.

South Africa is among the countries hardest hit by TB and has remained a leading cause of death in the country, claiming around 56 000 lives a year, 53% of which are people living with HIV.

This year’s official country theme for World TB Day is ‘Yes! You and I Can End TB’.

This, the Presidency said, is a clarion call to encourage
all South Africans to contribute to the national effort against TB.

‘The theme also emphasises the importance of being accountable as an individual and as part of a collective,’ read a Presidency statement.

This year’s commemoration will be marked by the launch of the SANAC Situation Room, a cutting-edge data visualisation and analytics platform that provides up-to-date statistics in an easy-to-use format to support evidence-based decision-making and planning.

‘It does this by bringing together both biomedical and non-biomedical data from a variety of disparate data sources and consolidates it into a single repository from which insights and nuances can be drawn.’

In addition, the World TB Day commemoration will be preceded by ‘policy-in-action’ engagements led by the SANAC Civil Society Forum in collaboration with government, the private sector and development partners on 22 and 23 March in various areas around the Sedibeng District.

The Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla; Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi;
SANAC Civil Society Chairperson Steve Letsike and Chairperson of the SANAC Private Sector Forum Mpumi Zikalala will join Deputy President Mashatile.

Leaders from the United Nations agencies, United States government agencies, research entities, civil society movements and the private sector, will also be represented.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) and the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) have made a difference in the lives of the 1.7 million people reached through the two programmes.

This is according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was addressing the National Assembly during the Questions for Oral Reply session held in the house on Tuesday.

‘Between October 2020 and December 2023, the Presidential Employment Stimulus has created work and livelihood opportunities for over 1.7 million people. Of the participants in the various programmes, 65% are women and 85% are young people.

‘The Presidential Employment Stimulus and the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention have made a real difference in the lives of millions of young people,’ the President said.

President Ramaphosa said although the PES has ‘built an institutional architecture that is able to scale rapidly’, fiscal constraints have slowed its ability to expand although it has been expanded to March next year.

‘The focus in the c
oming year is therefore on taking the quality of outcomes to the next level, focusing on enhancing the work experience for participants as well as on the quality of the social value they create for communities.

‘This includes skills development – both ‘soft’ skills derived from work experience as well as more formal skills development,’ he said.

The PYEI initiative was announced in 2020, and in February 2024, the President held a presidential youth engagement in Cape Town reflecting on the three years since the initiation of the Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) and PYEI.

Honing in further on skills development on Tuesday, President Ramaphosa highlighted that government driven programmes such as the Social Employment Fund and the Basic Education Employment Initiative also serve the same skills development objective in different ways.

‘The Presidential Youth Employment Intervention’s approach to skills development focuses on demand-led skilling, which is about increasing the relevance and delivery of
interventions that address current skills gaps and emerging needs.

‘To take forward this work, the Department of Higher Education and Training, with the support of the Presidency, has established demand-led skilling workstreams in priority growth sectors. This is to ensure that skilling interventions respond to demand and encourage inclusive hiring for young people and marginalised communities.

‘The Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, in partnership with the National Skills Fund, has also launched [the] Jobs Boost, a R300 million outcomes fund that will fund implementing organisations to skill 4 500 marginalised young people and place them in sustainable, quality job[s],’ he said.

President Ramaphosa said the work done through these initiatives has ‘established a firm foundation for these initiatives to make an even greater contribution to addressing poverty, unemployment and inequality in our country’.

Source: South African Government News Agency

President Cyril Ramaphosa says despite several delays, lifestyle audits for the President, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers are now underway.

The President was participating in the Questions for Oral Reply session held in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

‘After several delays, lifestyle audits of Members of the Executive are underway. This process is being led by the Director-General in the Presidency and Secretary of Cabinet. The President, Deputy President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers are currently in the process of submitting additional information required for these audits.

‘As I have indicated before, the aim of a lifestyle audit is to collect as much information as possible on an individual’s lifestyle to be able to identify when an individual’s expenditure exceeds his or her income. In itself, a lifestyle audit is not conclusive, but may indicate that further investigation is required to establish if there is any wrongdoing,’ he said.

President Ramaphosa explained that the funct
ion of carrying out the audits was moved to the office of the Director-General, Phindile Baleni, owing to cost containment.

‘The Office of the Director-General had to source competent and skilled personnel with experience in conducting lifestyle audits. The capacity building exercise took longer than anticipated which impacted negatively on the timelines for the audits.

‘This is the first time that national government is conducting lifestyle audits of Members of the Executive, requiring new systems, processes and methodologies to be developed.’

He said the Director-General will decide on the most appropriate way to communicate the outcomes of the audits once completed.

Source: South African Government News Agency