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RESPONSE TO THE ISSUES RAISED DURING THE PUBLIC HEARINGS ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS AMENDMENT BILL ; XIV WORLD FORESTRY CONGRESS AND KABELO LAND RESTITUTION AND DEVELOPMENT TRUST DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES 28 NOVEMBER 2017. ACRONYMS.
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RESPONSE TO THE ISSUES RAISED DURING THE PUBLIC HEARINGS ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS AMENDMENT BILL ; XIV WORLD FORESTRY CONGRESS AND KABELO LAND RESTITUTION AND DEVELOPMENT TRUST DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES 28 NOVEMBER 2017
ACRONYMS BBBEE Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment DAFF Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries DRDLR Department of Rural Development and Land Reform DPE Department of Public Enterprises DWS Department of Water and Sanitation EC Eastern Cape FP&M Seta Fibre Processing & Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority HA Hectares KZN KwaZulu-Natal NFA National Forests Act NFAC National Forests Advisory Council PCIS Principles, Criteria, Indicators and Standards PFMA Public Finance Management Act PFM Participatory Forest Management PIC Public Investment Corporation SADC Southern African Development Community SDGs Sustainable Development Goals TR Treasury Regulations UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification XIV Fourteen
PRESENTATION OUTLINE Purpose Introduction Summary of issues and responses to issues raised at the Public Hearings Realisation of the 2050 vision for forests and forestry adopted at the XIV World Forestry Congress Kabelo Land Restitution and Development Trust
PURPOSE The purpose of the presentation is to: • Respond to the issues raised by stakeholders during the public hearings for the National Forests Amendment Bill. • Provide a report on the Kabelo Land and Restitution Trust • Provide a progress report on the implementation of the outcomes of the XIV World Forestry Congress held in Durban in September 2015.
INTRODUCTION • During the extended public hearings which were held on the 03rd October to 21st November 2017 at selected Provinces, various organisations and individuals submitted and made presentations on the National Forests Act (NFA) Bill and on other forestry related issues. • The Portfolio Committee further invited communities to raise any other issues outside the Bill and committed to submitting such issues to the relevant Committees in Parliament to give them the necessary attention. The majority of the stakeholders did not refer to the National Forests Amendment Bill, however, they raised various issues outside the Bill although forestry related with some requiring the attention of other government Departments.
REALISATION OF THE 2050 VISION FOR FORESTS AND FORESTRY ADOPTED AT THE XIV WORLD FORESTRY CONGRESS
ACTIVITIES TOWARDS ACHIEVING THE REALIZATION OF THE 2050 VISION FOR FORESTS AND FORESTRY • The Department submitted the Durban Declaration to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to incorporate into the South African position paper to the United Nations General Assembly Summit held in September 2015 as part of the country’s contribution to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. • Through this declaration the country contributed to inculcate the role of forests in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as stated in SDG 15 which clearly state the need to sustainably manage forests. • The Department continuously ensures that all its policies and strategies are in line with the XIV World Forestry Congress resolutions and its international policy negotiations such as the recent UNCCD COP13, United Nations Framework for Climate Change Convention COP23
ACTIVITIES TOWARDS ACHIEVING THE REALIZATION OF THE 2050 VISION FOR FORESTS AND FORESTRY… Encouraging the participation of the youth and women - through participation in the National Forests Advisory Council (NFAC), that advises the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on all forestry related matters, the next term starting in September 2018 to September 2021; The NFAC as part of its work programme is investigating how youth and women can be encouraged to participate in the sector and how they can be best empowered. This is done in collaboration with the Department of Economic Development. The DAFF in collaboration with the sector and the FP&M Seta supported the hosting of a global Forestry Students Symposium in South Africa held in July 2017. The Department continues to support the participation of students in this annual event.
ACTIVITIES TOWARDS ACHIEVING THE REALIZATION OF THE 2050 VISION FOR FORESTS AND FORESTRY… In terms of food security and livelihoods, DAFF has recently approved the Agroforestry Strategy, pilots are being conducted in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Roll out to follow in Eastern Cape (EC) and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) DAFF in partnership with Municipalities is implementing the National Greening Strategy where communities are provided with fruit trees which is also in line with one of the Congress legacy projects i.e. One Tree One Child that was started in the OR Tambo District Municipality (EC). Furthermore, Rural Municipalities who are active in greening their areas of jurisdiction are recognized in the Arbor City Awards as part of their contribution to role of trees in mitigating Climate Change impacts. DAFF through the LandCare Programme is contributing to improving practices to ensure integrated land use and minimise conflicts over land use. This is also enhanced by the Agroforestry projects that are also linked to the LandCare projects. .
ACTIVITIES TOWARDS ACHIEVING THE REALIZATION OF THE 2050 VISION FOR FORESTS AND FORESTRY… • In improving sustainable management of forests through the revised Principles, Criteria, Indicators and Standards (PCIS). These were revised in partnership with all stakeholders in the sector and recommended by the National Forests Advisory Council
PURPOSE OF THE TRUST The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries established the Kabelo Land Restitution and Development Trust in terms of the National Forest Amendment Act of 1998 (Act No. 85 of 2005) to: • Receive rental payments from the companies who are leasing State Forestry land affected by land reform. • Invest such money on behalf of land claimant beneficiaries as part of the Trust Property. • Pay rentals collected and with interest earned to the beneficiaries approved by Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. • Pay the balance of all rentals received together with interest earned to the State or the Ingonyama Trust where applicable, when it is clear that there is no land claim approved for the particular State forest or part of it. • Pay rental money or part of that money periodically to successful claimants.
GOVERNANCE ISSUES The Trust has 7 Trustees (DAFF, DRDLR, DPE and Forestry South Africa). To effect the objectives of the trust, the Kabelo Trustees need to develop well documented policies, system procedures, laws and regulations that will govern the administration of the Trust; The Trustees are also expected to ensure compliance with all statutory provisions and requirements that are relevant to the Trust, and these include: Public Finance Management Act (PFMA)-section 76(1) (C); Treasury Regulations (TR) - all relevant chapters; Trust Property Control Act, No. 57 of 1988; and National Forests Act, 1998. Finances (B)Disbursement of lease rentals to land reform beneficiaries
GOVERNANCE ISSUES… Status of the Trust account: • InJanuary of every year, the forestry companies pay lease rental into the DAFF bank account. The lease rental money is then transferred and invested with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) in an interest bearing account which is administered by DAFF. • The balance in the Trust account is R 656,681,122.95 (31 October 2017). • The first disbursement was done by the President in 2011. Following this disbursement, communities had numerous challenges of managing the funds which led to some of them taking each other to court. • The Trust, after consultation with the communities, approved a disbursement model which considered two scenarios: • Option 1: If a community is receiving lease rental money for the first time, the funds would be for personal use. • Option 2: Funds will be used for community development projects. Finances (B)Disbursement of lease rentals to land reform beneficiaries
PAYMENT OF RENTALS TO BENEFICIARIES As at 31 October 2017, a total amount of R 105 773 131.19 has been disbursed to 9 communities. Out of the 9, 4 have not submitted any requests for community projects. Two of these (PhalaneTrust and Western Shores Trust in KZN) have court cases pending and two (Qelane and Gqogqorha) are in a process of finalising their proposals. • Phalane (Mkhwanazi Community): another community group (Intuze community) accused the Phalane Community Trust of corruption and a case was opened against Phalane Trust. No payment has been made since the dispute. The DRDLR was tasked to resolve the matter. • WesternshoresTrust: After the rentals were distributed, there were accusation that the Trustees have misappropriated the funds. A case was opened with the Master of High Court and all payments were seized pending the finalisation of the matter.
