| ’Go green’ campaign launched - 23/05/2007 |
South Africans may have already waited too long to avoid the devastating effects of climate change. But Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk has unveiled a new butterfly species that he says may well save SA. The Mercury reports that a butterfly draped in the colours of the national flag is the emblem of Indalo Yethu, a new environmental campaign set to encourage individuals and large industry players to ’go green’. The public-private partnership intends to bestow the butterfly on companies that introduce energy-saving technologies - and Van Schalkwyk has threatened to introduce a ’green tax’ for those that do not. J P Louw, a former spokesperson for the department and now the CE of Indalo Yethu, said the campaign’s primary purpose was to arouse ’eco-activism’ and advocate a greening agenda for big projects including the 2010 World Cup and new housing and transport projects.
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Full report in The Mercury
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| Speech by Van Schalkwyk at the Kudu Awards - 22/05/2007 |
Our National Parks lie at the centre of our SA character. They reflect and strengthen our sense of place; they protect and support our unmatched biodiversity; and increasingly they anchor growth, job creation, and hope through tourism for our communities. SA National Parks (SANParks) boasts 22 national parks with a combined terrestrial and aquatic estate of four million hectares. This estate encompasses at least four transfrontier parks, all of which involve international treaties with no less than five neighbouring countries. 2010 SANParks is going to be among major role players in the provision of a total ’African World Cup’ experience to the thousands of visitors expected to attend the 2010 World Cup.
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Full press release
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| 24-hour park project for city - 22/05/2007 |
Johannesburg City Parks is undertaking an ambitious project to build a park in 24-hours. ’In our quest in spearheading added awareness and most importantly in commemorating World Environment Week, City Parks is proud to announce that we will be rolling out the first park to be developed in 24 hours and possibly the first successful global attempt of an initiative of this magnitude,’ said the organisation Tuesday. According to a Bua News report, the park will be built between Thursday, 7 June at 6pm and Friday, 8 June at 6pm. Community members and dignitaries are expected to attend the unveiling of what City Parks describes as a ’fairytale park.’ As part of greening efforts, another ambitious intiative is underway to plant trees in Soweto, the host of 2010 World Cup final match. The authorities are planning to change its landscape by planting thousands of trees in the dusty township.
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Full Bua News report
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| Cable-way for George - 15/05/2007 |
A group of Southern Cape businesswomen is at the helm of a bold project to run a cable-way to the top of Cradock Mountain behind George. Retired tourism entrepreneur and cable-way designer, 83-year-old Claude Pretorius, known for the cable-ways he designed and installed at Pretoria Zoo and Hartebeespoort Dam, revived the idea of a cable-way to the top of Cradock mountain last year, 10 years after the first proposal by the operators of the Table Mountain cable-way. Pretorius decided to invite Southern Cape women entrepreneurs to take over directorship of the Outeniqua Cable-way Company and for it to become an all-woman empowerment project. The 2.6km cable-way will top Table Mountain by 500m and the company anticipates completion by 2010, in time for the World Cup.
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Full report on the Sunday Times site
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| Gauteng addresses massive waste volumes - 24/04/2007 |
The Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environmental Affairs (GDACE) has begun a process towards the development of a general waste-management plan, in an attempt to reduce and better manage growing volumes of waste being generated and disposed of in the province. Engineering News reports that Gauteng is the smallest of SA’s nine provinces, but has a population of about 8m people. The increased waste problem was attributed to population growth, fuelled by the large influx of people into the province. Meanwhile, the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Deat), in collaboration with provincial authorities, is drafting a waste-management strategy to tackle the construction waste generated by preparations for the 2010 World Cup event.
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Full Engineering News report
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| KZN rivers under threat - 21/04/2007 |
River systems in the greater Durban area are under threat and only three out of 61 river sites surveyed by the eThekwini Municipality are still in a natural condition. The Mercury reports that raw sewage, illegal dumping, sand mining and an increase in alien plants are having a devastating and possibly irreversible effect on rivers. The municipality’s Environment Policy Co-ordination and Implementation Co-ordinator Jessica Rich, who responded to questions on the matter, said that both legal and illegal sand mining was a massive problem. Rich said the 2010 World Cup building boom had led to an increased demand for sand to make concrete. She said there were legal sites which were not being monitored and rehabilitated correctly.
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Full report in The Mercury
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| CEPA launches another legal bid - 17/04/2007 |
A Cape Town environmental group has launched another legal bid to prevent the demolition of the old Green Point stadium to make way for an arena to host 2010 World Cup matches. The Sowetan reports that the Cape Town Environmental Protection Association launched its interdict yesterday. The matter will be heard in the Cape high court today. The city plans to build a R2.9bn stadium to replace the old one. The group launched a legal bid last week in the Cape High Court, but the matter was not heard because papers were filed late. This latest application is a new one.
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| Ctepa in court to stop construction - 16/04/2007 |
Cape Town is one of the cities that bid to host the 2004 Olympics Games. Nobody, including Green Point residents –- including those with a passion for environmental affairs – complained about anything. In an editorial, The Sowetan says Cape Town still does not have a state of the art soccer stadium to host an event of the Olympics’ magnitude. ’Not so long ago residents near the Newlands Stadium complained about night soccer games, saying supporters were “too noisy”. The majority of Capetonians cannot lose out on the 2010 World Cup, including a semifinal match, because of a handful spoilers. Hope somebody out there can knock some sense into these publicity-stunt seekers-cum-spoilers.’
Full editorial in The Sowetan
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http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=438071
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| CT to select stadium operator by end-May - 16/04/2007 |
A thirty-year appointment with an preferred operator for the new Green Point stadium and adjacent urban park, in Cape Town, will be announced before the end of May, said a City of Cape Town spokesperson. Engineering News reports that the City of Cape Town is developing a world-class mulitpurpose stadium facility and sporting precinct (urban park) to accommodate football, rugby, concerts and events. The Green Point stadium, which is scheduled to host 2010 World Cup matches, including semifinals, has been fraught with controversy, the latest being a high court application by the Cape Environmental Protection Association opposing the demolition of the existing stadium at Green Point to make way for the construction of the new 68 000-seater stadium.
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Full Engineering News report
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| Stadium flattened despite legal drama - 15/04/2007 |
The old Green Point Stadium was a pile of rubble on Saturday, despite the Cape Environment Protection Association’s (Cepa) determination to pursue a halt to the demolition through the courts. The Cape Argus reports that the organisation brought an urgent application in the Cape High Court on Friday to force the council to stop demolition going ahead this weekend, but failed. The association’s legal team plan to obtain an interdict on Monday to stop any further demolition work. The stadium was already about 75% demolished on Friday. The City of Cape Town’s 2010 spokesperson, Pieter Cronje, said: ’The existing structure will be used as a construction yard with offices for sub-contractors and engineers on site. The next step will be to crush the builders’ rubble and remove it. This will be followed by the casting of the new stadium’s foundations.’
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Full Cape Argus report
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| Calls for siting of Green Point to be reviewed - 11/04/2007 |
The siting of Cape Town’s 2010 World Cup stadium must be reconsidered using the proper constitutional, environmental and planning procedures, the Cape Town Environmental Protection Association (Cepa) said. The Cape Times report that Cepa is taking legal action against the city and the provincial authorities for what it claims were flawed procedures that led to the Green Point Common being selected for the stadium, when the existing stadiums at Newlands and Athlone were the original choices. ’We want to make it clear that Cepa welcomes the selection of Cape Town to host the 2010 World Cup. If properly and sensitively planned, the 2010 World Cup can be the key to the social and economic upliftment for parts of our city,’ the statement said.
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Full Cape Times report
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| Botswana looks to benefit from 2010 - 11/04/2007 |
The Botswana government has established a task force to look into the possibilities of benefiting from the 2010 World Cup. This comes hardly a month after parliamentarians in Namibia also announced that a committee should be formed to do a research. The Sowetan reports that the Botswana project is spearheaded by two departments – the ministries of environment, wildlife and tourism as well as sports, youth and culture. The ministry of environment, wildlife and tourism said the 2010 World Cup task force would develop a national strategy on how to attract tourists to Botswana. High on the agenda for the task force is to embark on a global marketing plan to lure potential 2010 World Cup qualifying countries to Botswana. With some of the 2010 World Cup matches scheduled for Rustenburg, Botswana can be used to accommodate some of the countries for training.
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Full report in The Sowetan
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| Wessa satisfied with Mbombela stadium - 04/04/2007 |
No environmentally irresponsible action is taking place through the building of the Mbombela World Cup Stadium. The Lowvelder Online reports that these were the sentiments expressed by Wildlife and Environment Society of SA (Wessa) representative, Dr Simon Evered. In a letter addressed to the paper, he reacted on the subject of environmental issues arising out of the building of the stadium. ’Wessa has investigated the resiting of two schools made necessary by the project and finds that the statement by Nicole Barlow of the Environment and Conservation Association is largely incorrect and is based on a superficial knowledge of the area.’ Barlow said that ’for us, not only is education more important, but a wetland that would have been there for another 100 years after 2010, is now irreversibly destroyed.’ However, Wessa explained that they were fully involved with the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process.
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Full Lowvelder Online report
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| Public deceived about Green Point’s viability - 04/04/2007 |
The public has been deceived by the city into believing the new 2010 stadium at Green Point would be financially viable after the event, according to the Cape Environment Protection Association (CEPA). The association on Tuesday filed an urgent application in the Cape High Court to stop the building of the stadium. The Cape Argus reports that graphs from a study commissioned by the City of Cape Town misrepresented the financial viability of the stadium, assuming a scenario which the CEPA says was ’not only unlikely but highly improbable, if not impossible’. The study by Grant Thorton sketched three scenarios - low, base and high - and while the low showed virtually no profits, the base and high scenarios showed substantial operating profit. CEPA says the public was not given the opportunity to respond to the report as it was not made publicly available.
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Full Cape Argus report
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| New Table Mountain hiking trail opens - 02/04/2007 |
It was a bittersweet opening for the new tented camp at Silvermine, the second of the overnight camps on the Table Mountain National Park’s popular Hoerikwaggo hiking trail. According to an allAfrica.com report, the environmentally friendly camp, made almost entirely from natural products - many sourced within the park, including alien timber - is another step towards completing the full five-night, six-day hiking trail from Cape Point to Cape Town. Noting that Table Mountain would also be a key destination for many of the visitors coming to SA for the 2010 World Cup, SA National Parks’ executive director of tourism and marketing, Glenn Phillips said a memorandum of understanding had been signed with the football authorities to ensure that conservation would benefit from all the visitors.
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Full allAfrica.com report
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| 2010 Task Force selected - 29/03/2007 |
The Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Culture and the local football fraternity have selected a World Cup 2010 Task Force. A statement from the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism this week said the Task Force is meant to develop a national strategy on how to attract potential World Cup 2010 qualifiers to use Botswana in their pre-tournament training and acclimatisation. Mmegi reports that this is intended to promote Botswana tourism as big teams are normally accompanied by many fans and families. Another spin-off from the successful hosting of the teams is the publicity that the country will receive as such teams are usually accompanied by many journalists from international media.
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Full Mmegi report
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| Scientists address WC concerns - 27/03/2007 |
Environmental issues will have to fight for attention from the 2010 World Cup organisers. During her address at the SciFest in Grahamstown, Finnish scientist Karoliina Luoto warned that whilst looming deadlines for stadium construction may be the highest priority for local organisers, forgetting about the environmental effects of the sporting event could be suicidal. ’Major sporting events always impact on the local environment but the effects can be limited through careful planning, at the same time the events offer opportunities to educate people on sustainable development,’ said Luoto, an environmental co-ordinator from the Finnish Sports Federation. The Daily Dispatch reports that to make the most of the soccer World Cup would require long-term planning. ’There’s no time to waste,’ said Luoto.
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Full Daily Dispatch report
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| CEPA looks to thwart 2010 stadium - 26/03/2007 |
A high-powered legal team for the Cape Town Environmental Protection Association (CEPA) is working around the clock to bring a High Court application to stop the building of the Green Point Stadium. The Cape Argus reports that papers could be served on the City of Cape Town before the end of the week. CEPA chairman and former city councillor Arthur Wienburg said that the intention was to get an interdict against construction even before contractors began their work. But the matter was taking time because it was ’more complex than first thought’. Despite numerous failed attempts by objectors to stop the building of the stadium, Wienburg says the association is not backing down.
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Full Cape Argus report
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| Conservationists threaten legal action - 12/03/2007 |
The 2010 World Cup stadium saga continued this week when conservationists threatened to take legal action if environmental laws were broken in the building of stadiums. ’We find it deplorable that the project and the team are being misrepresented as being associated with projects, persons, companies and establishments that do not display the due regard for our environment and the applicable legislative processes put in place to ensure its preservation,’ Neil Fourie, project manager for Mbombela World Cup Stadium, said. The Lowvelder reports that various wetlands have reportedly been damaged to make way for some stadiums. It was concluded that the construction of stadiums could face even further delays, should the groups proceed with their legal action.
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Full report in The Lowvelder
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| EIA delays stadium construction - 08/03/2007 |
The construction of the proposed Francistown integrated sports facility may be delayed again due to the newly introduced Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. During a poorly attended EIA consultative meeting, a socio-economic planner from EHES said they are still at an early stage of the assessment. According to a Mmegi report, stakeholders in the proposed 27 000-seater facility and local councillors attended the meeting meant to solicit ideas and concerns about the project.
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Full Mmgei report
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| Matopo National Park refurbishment on track - 26/02/2007 |
The parks and Wildlife management Authority has secured investors for the refurbishment of infrastructure in the Matopo National Park as well as the construction of hotel ahead of the 2010 World Cup to be hosted by SA. According to a News Net report, as part of efforts to spruce up the image of the country’s tourist resorts ahead of the 2010 World Cup, the parks and wildlife management authority has entered into a strategic partnership with an independent investor which will see the construction of a hotel and refurbishment of other sites in Matopo National Park.
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Full News Net report
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| Parks upgraded for 2010 - 22/02/2007 |
The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management is refurbishing seven lodges in the Zambezi National Park ahead of the 2010 World Cup. The Financial Gazette reports that retired Major John Mbewe, the department’s public relations manager, said the exercise is meant to spruce up the appeal of the lodges ahead of the biggest-ever sporting event to be hosted in Africa. Expectations are that a significant number of tourists, soccer fans, teams and football officials might seek accommodation in neighboring countries and hence the provision of quality accommodation would be a major selling point for Zimbabwe. ’As we are preparing for the 2010 World Cup to be hosted by SA, we want to make sure that by 2008, all our lodges would be of up-market,’ he said.
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Full Financial Gazette report
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| Mbombela Stadium gets go-ahead - 06/02/2007 |
Environmental officials have given the Mbombela municipality the green light to proceed with its planned R920m World Cup stadium project outside Nelspruit. According to a report on the News24 site, the decision comes barely a month after inspectors fined the municipality R37 000 for flouting environmental laws after contractors bulldozed a wetland near the stadium site. Construction of the Mbombela Stadium has been delayed by budgetary logjams as well as other sticking points, including environmental concerns. The site of the planned 43 500-seater stadium and its surrounding precinct falls on land formerly owned by a community trust and includes an extensive wetland.
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Full report on the New24 site
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| SANParks awards multimillion-rand contract - 06/02/2007 |
The SA National Park (SANParks) awarded a multimillion-rand contract for the provision of restaurant services at the Kruger National Park (KNP), to the Compass Group. The Lowvelder reports that the announcement was made at the organisation’s headquarters in Pretoria, following weeks of adjudication which began with a tender process in April last year. Dr David Mabunda, CE of SANParks, said that this appoinment would also streamline SANParks’ broader preparation plans for the country’s 2010 hosting of the World Cup.
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Full Lowvelder report
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| Zim national park on track for 2010 - 20/01/2007 |
The minister of environment and tourism Francis Nhema says government has started upgrading facilities at Gonarezhou National Park ahead of the 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa. Preparations to host the 2010 World Cup are gathering momentum in South Africa and Zimbabwe has not been left behind as the country has already put plans to upgrade its infrastructure ahead of 2010. In an interview with ZBC news in Harare, Nhema says the upgrading of the Transfrontier Park which began last year with funds from the government is progressing well and will see the upgrading of the Buffalo Range airport.
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Full Newsnet report
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