The Portfolio committee on Forestry, Fisheries and Environment received mixed inputs on the Climate Change Bill from community members and organized formations in KwaDukuza yesterday. The committee is currently in KwaZulu-Natal as part of its countrywide public hearings on the Climate change Bill.
Community members raised concerns about mining, especially in the Richards Bay area where they said there was a lot of illegal dumping by mining companies into the rivers which end up polluting the water. They said the illegal dumping was affecting their crops as the soil was eroded. They also said mining companies come into their areas with the promise of jobs but the risks they pose in the long term were overlooked.
Community members also complained about the coal trucks that plague the roads of Empangeni, Richards Bay and the N2. Community members believed that these trucks were causing serious damage to roads.
Community members made inputs that the Bill did not recognize forest protection and restoration as a nature-based solution to climate change. They said forests play a huge part in reducing carbon emissions and called for the amendment of the Bill to include nature-based solutions to climate change.
Participants from organised formations said the Bill was weak in training and funding local, provincial, and national government bodies to implement effective climate response measures. Community members argued that the bill was not explicit on the role of the local municipality in the climate change process.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Fisheries, Forestry and Environment, Mr Pogiso Modise said the people of KZN know the effects of climate change very well due to the recent floods in the Province. “Droughts, rising sea levels and rising heatwaves are some of the things that people need to be aware of and what causes them”, said Mr Modise.