‘Stop crime.” ‘Convict corrupt politicians”, say the election posters. I have yet to see ‘Down with nukes” or ‘Free factory-farmed animals.” But a visit to the offices or web pages of the main Election 2004 contenders shows that some political parties have fairly decent environmental policies.
There are some surprises. Bantu Holomisa, leader of the United Democratic Movement (UDM), was once a respected African National Congress (ANC) minister of environment, but if the UDM has an environmental policy it’s hidden under a bushel along with all its other policy documents. On the other hand, the Bible has never been considered a ‘green” text, yet the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) has a complex environmental policy that is mostly sound.
Trying to compare the various policies isn’t easy. The Democratic Party lumps all environmental issues into one ‘natural resources” category, while the ACDP splits the topic into ‘agriculture, environment and water”. The biggest challenge is that the ANC has had 10 years to show its mettle, while the other parties have only policies.
A matter of concern is that the deepest green party of all, the Green Party, was not able to raise funds to contest the election. When Earthyear went to print, the party was in the process of appealing the Independent Electoral Commission’s decision to refuse its candidacy.
The following is the low-down on the green profiles provided by the major political parties contesting South Africa’s third democratic general election:
ANC – a good track record
The African National Congress’s environmental record in government over the past 10 years has been heartening in many respects. The party initiated a process of re-writing the Constitution, which now guarantees everyone the right to a healthy environment. The government has passed some of the most progressive new environmental legislation in the world on environmental protection and water usage.
In the past five years, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism took a strong line in banning plastic bags, banning 4x4s from sensitive beaches, introducing environmental courts, clamping down on overfishing, enlarging protected areas and strengthening transfrontier conservation areas.
The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry also has an excellent track record in making sure that water is allocated to environmental ‘services”, that more South Africans gain access to potable water and sanitation, and that water-guzzling alien invasive plants are combated.
The government has fallen short on implementing many of its excellent laws, however, as pollution continues to degrade air, water and land, and the trade in endangered species persists. Environmental impact assessments require more scrutiny. The government’s support of nuclear power and of mining and industrial development in ecologically sensitive areas have come in for severe criticism.
The ANC party manifesto on the environment and sustainable development is based on the following:
Principles of environmental policy:
The ANC subscribes to sustainable development; equitable access to resources; public participation in planning, development and management of resources; and public right of access to information and the courts on issues of environmental concern.
Objectives:
Adequate protection, conservation and restoration of resources, based on Integrated Environmental Management, rehabilitation and maintenance of essential ecological life support systems, conservation of biological diversity, mechanisms to ensure healthy living and working environments, a hierarchical system of waste management, with the emphasis on pollution prevention and the precautionary principle and the development of appropriate environmental awareness programmes for all sectors of our society.
Functional priorities:
Bearing in mind the national development priorities (namely, employment creation, housing, food security, rural and urban development, macro-economic balances, peace and stability), the ANC’s environmental programme will initially focus on: land reform, ensuring equitable redistribution, restoration and rehabilitation; environmental education and awareness programmes; the prohibition of the import or export of nuclear and toxic waste in any form; countering land uses that are a threat to environmental safety; measures and campaigns to curb pollution by agriculture, mining, industry, etc; measures to counter the privatisation or removal of public rights to common natural resources such as forests, the coastline, water, mountains and wildlife resources; an inventory of natural resources; an investigation of the potential of eco-tourism for rural development; building of appropriate, community-based environmental institutions.
NNP – short and sweet
The New National Party has policy statements on topics ranging from abortion on demand to affirmative action and changing street names. When it comes to sustainable development, this is all it has to say:
To the NNP, the aim of sustainable development is to provide for the needs of the current generation in a manner that does not jeopardise the capacity of future generations. Economic activity, incorrectly managed, could be extremely damaging and even destructive. The NNP supports initiatives aimed at committing companies to economic activities that are not harmful to nature and mankind.
Fine sentiments, but the party obviously doesn’t have the environment at the top of its agenda.
PAC – rooted to the land
The Pan Africanist Congress makes some good points on globalisation, which is blamed for increasing poverty as capital flees to countries that provide the best returns on investment at the expense of labour and the environment.
Although no clear policy is articulated on the environment, the PAC’s policies may benefit the environment and people to some extent. This is what it has to say:
Here is a Tree. Rooted deeply in the African soil, nourished with waters from the rivers of Africa. Come all thee Africans, sons and daughters of the soil, young and old and become with us the leaves of the same branch and branches of the same tree.”
Our land accounts for approximately 20% of Africa’s entire annual economic production. It is clear that if our nation’s lands and peoples were fully liberated, the change would benefit all of Africa.
Our land is well endowed with valuable assets such as gold, diamonds, platinum, palladium, chromium, vanadium, manganese, uranium, iron ore, coal. It produces a wide array of vegetables, grapes, sugar, citrus and other fruits; and sustains the domestic wine industry. It is essential to the cattle, dairy, sheep, and goat cultivation industries, among other sectors.
But with all the wealth of the land, people remain abysmally poor. These abominable conditions exist because of the very same elements that controlled the land during the former apartheid state era.
We Azanians only need to reclaim and utilise our land in the interest of Azania. Restitution of the land ensures the material basis for real democracy. Land restitution would radically raise the living standards of the majority of our citizens. It would improve people’s health, boost social services and expand education options.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is to a large extent serving the interests of the United States and Europe at the expense of the Third World. World Bank structural adjustment programmes have proved disastrous. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank demand currency devaluation, domestic demand management, freeing of prices, high interest rates and credit squeeze, import liberalisation, privatisation and removal of subsidies to education, health and other social services.
These keep Africa in debt. The PAC continues its call for the cancellation of apartheid debt, and debt in Africa as a whole. More money flows out of Africa into richer Europe, North America and Japan via interest repayments, repatriated profits from multinational foreign corporations, capital flight, royalties, and fees for patents.
This makes it difficult for Africa to get on its feet. It is clear that there is a concerted strategy by the West to institutionalise poverty in Africa through globalisation.
The entire economic fabric rests on the indispensable pillars of cheap African labour. This must be radically changed to equitably serve all the citizens.
ID – excellent grasp of key issues
‘Patricia de Lille is one of that rare breed of politician of whom it can be said that no matter what political party she would belong to, one cannot help admiring her.” — Nelson Mandela, quoted on the ID website
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille probably developed her environmental savvy as a laboratory technician in the paint industry in Cape Town and through her involvement in the South African Chemical Workers Union, to which she was elected national executive member in 1983.
The ID has a lengthy, good environmental manifesto, underpinned by a belief that environment is an integral part of life:
South Africa is the third most biodiverse country in the world and the only nation with an entire plant kingdom within its borders. Our seas cover five major marine biogeographical regions.
Equitable access to clean water, land that is able to support agriculture; and air that is free of pollutants that are detrimental to our health are essential to sustain our growing population. By giving priority to environmental issues, the ID exercises equity and justice. It is the poor who have been denied access to natural resources or who live next to waste dumps.
It is also in the environmental realm that we have seen some of the worst cases of government corruption as environmental standards have been conveniently ignored in order to fast-track industrial and elite developments. We need back-to-basics government accountability, transparency, effectiveness in implementation and true public participation.
A key focus area is air pollution: South Africa is currently the 14th biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases (GHG) in the world that are responsible for global climate change. Climate change could destroy half of our rich biodiversity, increase water scarcity and threaten low-lying areas such as the Cape Flats with flooding. We must curb GHG emissions that are predominantly caused by the burning of coal for electricity generation. We must increase energy efficiency and support the growth of renewable energy technologies.
The ID rejects the planned expansion of nuclear energy through the pebble-bed modular reactor programme. We believe that it is wrong for South Africa to be investing R10-billion in a technology that is unsafe and has serious questions surrounding it regarding its economic viability.
Abridged list of strategic interventions:
The ID welcomes the new Air Quality Management Bill, to penalise polluters appropriately and provide compensation to communities affected by it. We will make sure the bill is implemented effectively.
The ID believes in setting mandatory standards for energy-efficient buildings in government, commercial and residential sectors. Investigate, invest in and subsidise renewable energy such as wind, solar thermal, PV cells and wave energy. We propose a renewable energy target of 15 % of total electricity consumption by 2020. South Africa should be using its scientific expertise to become producers and exporters of renewable energy technology.
The ID will lobby for a study on radiation levels of the surrounding areas of Koeberg nuclear power station and the nuclear waste disposal site in the Northern Cape (recent studies in the US show a 32,5% increase in cancer rates of children living near nuclear facilities).
A central component of increasing household food security and building self-reliant communities is through the propagation of food gardens. We want to establish a large-scale permaculture centre of excellence that could train agricultural extension workers to empower rural households. Declining soil quality has a huge impact on nutritional levels in food, making the case for organic farming even stronger. South Africa could export organic produce to Europe.
The ID questions genetically modified organisms (GMOs). These crops do not increase production and hold unique dangers to health and biodiversity that have not been properly investigated. We believe in transparent GMO tests and labelling of food products.
South Africa is water scarce. Greater demand-side management measures need to be instituted, such as raising the tariffs for high-volume users. The guidelines set by the World Commission on Dams need to be adhered to when deciding on the building of any new dams. We further reject plans for the fluoridation of water, which sets a precedent for mass medication without informed consent. The side-effects of fluoridation have proved worst for malnourished people.
We should increase the land set aside for conservation. Surrounding communities should be more involved in decision-making and sharing of the benefits from national parks.
The large waste stream in South Africa needs urgent attention as cities are running out of landfill space. Recycling must be encouraged by instituting user-pays principles for all waste generation, from household to industrial scale.
Much recycling activities are carried out by homeless people to earn money. We will recognise this environmental service, legitimise these activities and pay people a better price directly correlated to the amount of money saved by local authorities on dumping.
We are dedicated to the elimination of corruption through an anti-corruption unit that will take action as necessary.
DA – a mixed bag
The Democratic Alliance’s approach to resource management is infused by a vision of a prosperous, law-abiding society with a sensibly regulated market economy, an educated and healthy population, and an adequate safety net for the poor.
We want to: combine agriculture, land affairs, water affairs, forestry, environmental affairs and tourism into a single ministry of national resources; establish provincial resource tribunals in each province to act as ‘courts of record” in cases of conflict over decisions on resource use; and create a protector of national heritage to act as an advocate for the protection of cherished places, artefacts, and landscapes.
Protected areas:
- Establish partnerships with private enterprise to realise the potential of nature reserves.
- Encourage places of cultural value to become financially self-sustaining.
- Prohibit mining within national parks and provincial nature reserves.
- Use our natural and cultural treasures to grow the tourism industry.
Fishing and agriculture
- Remove fishing quotas from those who breach regulations.
- Investigate ways to meet the need for more small harbours.
- Shield farmers from non-competitive international trade practices.
- Respond rapidly to severe droughts, floods and runaway fires.
- Fund agricultural research.
- Ensure that land reform does not dump beneficiaries on land they are unable to develop.
- Research of chemical residues in food and make labelling of foodstuffs mandatory.
- Monitor the impact of GMOs on the ecology, consumers and farmers and prevent the misuse of GMO technology.
Energy
- Set targets for solar panel installation.
- Adopt a climate change levy to create a more holistic energy pricing structure.
IFP – controls and safeguards
The Inkatha Freedom Party believes that appropriate and stringent legislative and regulatory environmental controls and safeguards must be instituted by Parliament, provincial and local governments to ensure progressive standards compliance and resource protection in the following critical, but not exclusive, areas: land, marine resources, water, the coastal zone, air, urban and rural development, energy, mining, waste management, commerce, agriculture, wildlife conservation and preservation of biodiversity.
The IFP endorses international conventions, treaties and guidelines which support sustainable development.
Immediate action would be taken by an IFP government to shift South Africa’s reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy such as solar, wind, biomass and small-scale hydroelectric plants and improve public transport.
A national environmental protection strategy would preserve biodiversity. Emphasis should be placed on land-use planning, environmental impact assessments on all new developments, energy and water conservation, waste management and the protection of endangered land, wildlife and coastal and marine ecosystems.
A key component of integrated national environmental management is the establishment of adequately resourced and competent provincial environmental affairs departments.
It is the responsibility of government at all levels to actively promote environmental education programmes throughout society.
The responsibility for safeguarding the environment must be shared among all of South Africa’s citizens.
ACDP – dominion of the Earth
The African Christian Democratic Party acknowledges God as the Sovereign Creator of the universe, who has entrusted to humanity the right and responsibility to rule over the affairs of the world. The party stands for Christian principles, freedom of religion, a free market economy, family values, community empowerment and human rights in a federal system.
We recognise that successful land reform must address the needs of the landless and landowners. Existing standards of utilisation must be retained and improved, promoting food security.
The ACDP recognises a grave responsibility for stewardship of water, which is scarce and vital. Both the conservation and accessibility of water to all are priorities.
Our ecosystems are in decline. This is not the scenario that God had in mind when He gave us dominion over the Earth (Genesis). ACDP will:
- Encourage balanced increases in the budget for environmental matters.
- Embark on a national strategic programme to combat pollution.
- Focus on the effects of mining and industry on our environment and the general health and well-being of neighbouring communities.
- Give attention to the Eastern Cape, where mining operations might jeopardise tourist revenue.
- Create strategies in all regions to protect our environment against exploitative entrepreneurs.
- Promote environmental education to change behaviour by individuals, households, and private and public institutions.
The Green Party of SA – marginal but essential
Also known as The Government by the People Green Party and Ecopeace, this tiny party has one councillor in eThekwini Municipality, a branch in Cape Town, Dundee and possibly Gauteng.
It calls for elimination of corruption and replacement of representative government by ongoing public participation in decision-making. It also calls for:
Stopping environmentally-destructive processes.
- Changing the emphasis from creating jobs, no matter how they damage the environment, to assisting people to have food, homes and a good life without employment.
- Ensuring that food, water and air are safe.
- Stopping deaths from Aids and cancer by promoting organic food containing nutrients and free of the toxins which destroy our immune systems.
- Restoration of damaged ecosystems.
- Giving all animals rights.
From consumer to conserver society – some radical ideas:
- Abandoning our World Bank debts in exchange for becoming self-reliant will stimulate local, environmentally-sound industry.
- Environmental impact tax can replace income tax.
- Ending battery farming will end animal suffering, human starvation (more than half of all our arable land now grows feed for caged animals) and prevent antibiotics from losing effectiveness since these are fed to the animals to prevent illness in overcrowded conditions.
- Creative self-employment — unemployed people will have food and shelter that they create for themselves. In any community some will grow food, some will build.
- The government will provide tools, materials and training. Informal and shared work will be encouraged in music, sport, and restoration of the environment (paid for by environmental impact tax). People will have time for fun and each other. They may even have time to vote.