Keynote Address by Ms Sue van der Merwe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the Occasion of the Workshop on the Development in South Africa’s Arid Areas, 13 September 2007, Sutherland

Chairperson
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to be here today to address this symposium. This workshop promises to be a platform for a rich exchange of ideas. I think the location for the workshop in Sutherland is also very appropriate as it is the heart of a great desert but also at the heart of a great technological achievement in the SALT telescope, representing the diversity of our country and her people.

I was born and brought up in Port Elizabeth, and attached to the school that I attended was a boarding school. Most of the girls at the boarding school were children of farming families from the Karoo. I therefore regularly came to the Karoo to spend holidays with my friends.

Later in my life I read the book by Eve Palmer called the “Plains of Camdeboo” which evoked in me nostalgia for the school girl days on the farms, but which also enriched my understanding of the wealth of life and beauty that this part of the world has to offer.

The book is s story of a farm in the Eastern Karoo and life of a family on that farm.

Her opening paragraph explains the love that a Karoo born family has for this place in most evocative terms:

“Few people have the good fortune to be born in the desert. I was.

All my life I have been conscious of my luck. Not, indeed, that we of the Karoo often think of our land as desert. It is the travellers who have crossed our plateau for two hundred years, and our visitors of today, who have called it this – and still do.

They are right – or almost so! And like other deserts and semi-deserts of the world, ours is a country of life. We have only to walk or ride into the veld to know this and be caught up in its pattern: the squat, fat, angled plants; the hunting spiders that flicker between them; the ground squirrels upright beside their burrows; the vultures; the pale wild gladioli; the cobras; the scorpions; the mantis coloured like a flower; the black beetles rolling balls of dung; the koringkrieks lurching on immense and crooked legs. Here moves a steenbok, a duiker, a springbuck, a lark clapping its wings above us; here are the tracks of an ant-bear in the soil; red dust and a mottled egg upon it; arrowheads; the smell of rain, karoo bush, wild asparagus; mountains and hills floating in a mirage of water; a white hot sky; the sound of cicadas and wings and wind.”

It is this richness of the natural world, combined with the people who live and work on this land that we are here to discuss, to explore ways to grow what we have in abundance here and make this world a better one for all who live here.

My title is Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, which seems pretty far removed from the Karoo. The reason that I am here is because of the end initiative by government to deploy national ministers and deputy ministers to various municipal district facing service delivery challenges with a view to assisting them overcome these. I am deployed therefore, as the Nodal Political Champion for the Central Karoo District. I am particularly proud to be associated with the Karoo and trust that forums such as these provide a further opportunity through which we can collectively contribute towards the betterment of the lives of our people.

I would like to reflect on the relationship between the environment and development and the impact that arid areas have on the lives of people that live in the Greater Karoo. This is particularly important if we depart from the view that to improve the lives of people, sustained levels of economic growth are essential. We need to ask the question, what are these key features of the Greater Karoo economy that would need to be developed to attain this desired growth?

According to a concept document kindly forwarded to me by Professor Atkinson,

[T] he economy [of the Greater Karoo] been largely based on extensive sheep and goat farming. Irrigation agriculture is concentrated along the rivers, mainly the Orange River, the Fish River, the Sundays River and the Riet River. During the last fifty years, extensive stock farms have grown even larger, and shed a great deal of labour. Many of these unemployed farm workers have drifted to the towns, to join the ranks of the urban unemployed. The recent advent of game farming has contributed to this trend, although opportunities in agri-tourism and eco-tourism have created scope for new and more sophisticated types of employment.

But the urban economy of the arid areas is very fragile. Typically, the business sector is small, and there is virtually no industrial base. There is an incipient informal sector in most towns, often linked to pension pay-out days. Consequently, many of the educated and talented young people leave for the cities.

The sheer aridity of the area fundamentally shapes the area, in numerous ways: The spatial design of towns (usually about 60-100 km apart); the low rainfall which results in a focus on small livestock farming (sheep and goats); the dependence on underground water resources; the lack of industrial development, and the consequent out-migration of people in search of work; the huge potential for desert tourism; the logistical challenges of road and telecommunications networks; and the in-migration of city dwellers who value the remoteness and tranquillity of small towns. In addition, there is a growing appreciation of the fragility of the Greater Karoo ecosystems, which require careful environmental management.

This characterisation of the economy of the Karoo illustrates the point I made earlier about the connection between the environment and development. (In the context of the Greater Karoo) The picture could seem quite gloomy and uncertain for the future development of its people. Government fully appreciates the fragility of the Greater Karoo ecosystems and the developmental challenges facing its peoples. Towards this end it has taken a number of deliberate policy initiatives to mitigate the effects of human activity on the environment, whilst at the same time increasing opportunities for sustainable development.

Firstly there is the inclusion of the right to environmentally sustainable development in the Constitution. This has emphasised the importance of the sustainable use of natural resources. The country’s natural resources are the nation’s natural capital and play a significant role in overall sustainable development and poverty eradication.

As you are aware, arid and semi-arid lands comprise around 50 percent of the world’s total surface area. Many of these are threatened by desertification and degradation from human activities.

South African contains almost 10 percent of the world’s known bird, fish and plant species and over 6 percent of the world mammal and reptile species. This rich diversity of flora and fauna is shared in large measure by the Greater Karoo, but unfortunately this natural wealth is under extreme pressure form human activity and from climate change.

In southern Africa, the arid and semi-arid regions are characterised by extremely high levels of plant diversity. These areas support a large number of commercial and communal stock farmers utilising the ground cover as feed for cattle, sheep and ostriches. The Northern and Western Cape Provinces are home to some of the largest arid rangelands in southern Africa, but overgrazing on communal and commercial rangelands have been a major threat to nearly two-thirds of the Succulent Karoo.

However, this must not be read to suggest that the resolution of the development challenges facing the Greater Karoo lie only at the hands of its people. The challenges are much more complex than that, encompassing amongst others, three broad areas for consideration:

• The recognition of the importance of linking ecological research with issues of a more social and economic nature;
• the question of adapting and planning socio-economic development to fit the constraints of the ecological biome which straddles provincial and national boundaries; and
• the consequences of human activity that goes beyond the provincial and regional boundaries, but owe their origin to global processes of development contributing to climate change.

Firstly – in order to preserve our magnificent heritage and environmental capital and ensure that that are passed to future generations intact, we need to accelerate the implementation of programmes in support of ecological and socio-economic planning.

In the document entitled “Towards a Ten Year Review” on the implement of government programmes, we recognised the fact that the natural resource base provides the basis for substantial economic gains. Millions of rural South Africans depend upon biological resources for their day-to-day survival. However, while access to this “natural capital” provides a crucial contribution to livelihoods, an important buffer against poverty and an opportunity for self-employment, such access needs to be balanced against the conservation of these resources for future generations. I believe that the scientific community also recognizes the importance of linking ecological research with issues of a more social and economic nature, reflected here today in the subject of this workshop.

Secondly – the inter-provincial and cross-border nature of the challenge is also a major part of government’s development priorities. One of the major challenges facing government in its quest to provide basic services to all its people, progressively improve the quality of life and life chances of all South Africans and eradicate the dualistic nature of the South African economy, the so-called first and second economy, has been the effective integration, coordination and alignment of the actions of the three spheres of government.

The specific focus of this workshop on the development of arid areas presents yet another coordination challenge, this time from an inter-provincial perspective. You may be aware that government is currently engaged with the development of a “Policy process on the system of Provincial and Local Government” and some of the issues that this process seek to address include the purpose, structure and functions, number as well as sources of funding for provinces. Hopefully this is the beginning of a process that will result in better coordination amongst provinces, particularly those designated as arid areas.

As an attempt to resolve this challenge, Cabinet, at its January 2003 Lekgotla, approved the National Spatial Development Perspective as an indicative tool for the purposes of national development planning and requested The Presidency to initiate further consultations with other spheres to realise this objective. President Mbeki in turn called for the harmonisation of the National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP), the Provincial Growth and Development Strategies (PGDS) and the municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs).

The NSDP describes the national space economy in terms of key demographic, human settlement, economic and environmental trends. It also identifies areas of national strategic economic importance and extreme need. Two broad elements are used in this regard, namely economic potential and need.

Concerns have been raised that our approach in seeking to harmonise the National, Provincial and local development plans with the view to providing infrastructure primarily to areas with “economic potential” could be to the detriment of the Greater Karoo. This is not the intention. While it is government’s intention to give focus and impetus to areas with high growth potential it is also committed to improve social and economic conditions of all South Africans, wherever they are.

Our rights as citizens of the country are entrenched in our constitution in the Bill of Rights. And these rights are sacrosant. But as Martin Luther King Jnr. observed, this is not just a matter of rights or choice alone – but that “All of life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

Therefore, based on what we know now about the Greater Karoo, we can all agree that it fits both elements, namely, economic potential and need. Beyond their rich biodiversity and scenic beauty, the arid areas that constitute the Greater Karoo are endowed with abundant alterative energy sources, including the potential of renewable energy in a wealth of biomass, solar and wind resources.

In addition, today’s workshop is located near the site for our bid for one of the world’s most prestigious scientific projects, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Although the centre for the location of the SKA is Sutherland, stations of the SKA telescope will be spread over a vast area covering several other African countries, including Namibia, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar and Mauritius.

Coming back to Sutherland and its surrounds, the project promises a lot of positive development based on current budget projections. The SKA’s current budget is approximately R14 billion and it is estimated that the running costs per year will amount to about R150 million. It is expected that a significant part of both the capital and operating costs will be spent in southern Africa and South Africa but particularly in the Northern Cape.

Thirdly - The cross-border character of the arid areas project also presents opportunities and challenges. On the opportunities side, it gives further credence to the notion that the SADC remains the primary vehicle for South African policy and action to achieve regional integration and development within all priority development sectors.

Regarding the challenges, the sheer vastness of the Arid Areas Karoo, which straddles a number of countries, Namibia and Botswana within the southern African region, would require a synchronisation of our policies and programmes. This could be a lengthy and complex process and time is not on our side. However, we can take courage from the fact that there are already collaborative environmental projects that we have successfully undertaken with a regional perspective. Mention can be made here of the highly regarded Transfrontier Conservation Areas, which accord with the vision of NEPAD, of economic, social and political integration within the continent.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Perhaps we could also reflect a bit on the broader global challenges within which this arid areas challenge of development is located. This is particularly important because the consequences of developmental activities elsewhere have a bearing on our environment and it is therefore important to also reflect on these challenges and how we deal with them.

Speaking at the opening of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which South Africa had the honour to host in 2002, President Mbeki summarised this complexity as follows:

Understanding the umbilical cord that ties us to the planet earth, we are determined to do everything possible to save the earth from ourselves, to ensure that as it took millions of years for humanity to evolve and emerge, so must humanity survive and develop for millions more years on the basis of a healthy partnership between people and the planet, on the basis of a sustainable relationship between a prosperous world and a healthy environment.

It is expected that globally, due to the effects of human interference and climate change, by the middle of this century, 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal species are likely to be at risk of extinction as a result of climate change. Closer to home, in sub-Saharan Africa, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has indicated in their latest report published in June of this year that between 25 and 40 percent of animal species in national parks will be confronted by further threats to their status.

In South African, the fynbos and Succulent Karoo ecosystems seem particularly vulnerable and should there be a global temperature increase of two to three degrees Celsius during this century, we stand to lose between 50 and 65 percent of our unique fynbos. The negative impacts and pressure on the biodiversity of our region are ever-increasing and are likely to be exacerbated by the potential impact of global climate change within the next decade. Given the task of addressing these challenges at the scale of the Biome, there is a dramatic need for the development of new strategies and the training of conservation professionals, particularly professionals who understand the links between biodiversity and socio-economic development.

The projected climate change impact in South Africa could potentially see the disappearance of thousands of indigenous plant species, especially in the Succulent Karoo, north of the Richtersveld, as only the hardiest of plants of that biome will be able to survive. The Great Karoo will become drier and more desert-like, particularly in the west. Grasslands could be transformed into savannah as the climate changes and woody plants could invade grasslands. The northern arm of the world renowned fynbos biome may disappear altogether resulting in many endemic species becoming extinct. Fire may become more frequent and extensive in the fynbos and could disrupt many of the close and essential relationships between indigenous plants and animals.

It was therefore with good reason that the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) chose the themes for the 16 th session of the CSD in 2008 “Drought, Desertification, Land, Agriculture, Rural Development and Africa”. The continued deterioration of our biodiversity linked to desertification and climate change are the world‘s most alarming causes of environmental degradation. Desertification and climate change are interlinked in multiple ways. They represent two faces of the global environmental challenge of the 21 st century. Ever since the UN Conference on Environment and Development, in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, sustainable development has remained a major challenge for African countries, we included. Platforms such as these that provide an opportunity for a cross-pollination of ideas amongst multidisciplinary stakeholders should therefore be encouraged.

I have sketched for you a scenario based upon the evidence that is before us in the international community. The South African government is at the forefront of the global negotiations to mitigate the effects of global warming on climate change, biodiversity loss and the threat to livelihoods. South Africa has initiated a strong negotiating position for Africa and developing countries within the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol on measures and technology transfer to adapt to climate change.

Our policies and programme also recognise that the conservation of biodiversity goes hand-in-hand with meeting social and economic obligations as contained in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, NEPAD and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. One of our most recent achievements in addressing South Africa’s biodiversity concerns was the publication in 2005 of the National Spatial Biodiversity Assessment. It revealed that many of South Africa’s terrestrial ecosystems; main rivers and estuarine biodiversity are critically endangered.

In conclusion let me once again quote from the introduction to the “Plains of Camdeboo”

“Let us remember, that the Karoo is one of the world’s oldest deserts. To the casual traveller it is an arid desolation, without life and without charm. To those who know is, it is land of secret beauty and infinite variety, sometimes fierce, sometimes hostile, but exercising a fascination that makes the rest of the world seem tame.”

Let us not forget this and work together to make sure that the rest of the world gets to know this too.

I wish you well in your deliberations at this workshop and look forward to receiving a report on the outcomes and your recommendations.