Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 51122 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 07PRETORIA2352, SOUTH AFRICAN ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY MONTHLY

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #07PRETORIA2352.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07PRETORIA2352 2007-07-03 04:11 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Pretoria
VZCZCXRO1724
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #2352/01 1840411
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030411Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0606
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
INFO RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 4568
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 8975
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 7030
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 002352 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR OES/PCI, OES/ENV, AND AF/S 
DEPT PASS EPA/OIA, 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SENV SOCI ETRD SF
SUBJECT:  SOUTH AFRICAN ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY MONTHLY 
BRIEFINGS, JUNE 2007 
 
PRETORIA 00002352  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
1.  (U) Summary:  This is the South African Environment, Science and 
Technology Monthly Briefings newsletter, June 2007, Volume 2, Number 
3, prepared by the U.S. Embassy Pretoria, South Africa. 
 
Topics of the newsletter: 
-- USTDA AND RAND WATER SYSTEMS FORM CAPACITY-BUILIDING PARTNERSHIP 
-- GREEN SCORPIONS CLOSE DOWN MEDICAL WASTE PLANT 
-- PLANS TO PHASE OUT INCADESCENT BULBS UNDERWAY IN SA 
 
-- GOVERNMENT DELAYS ISSUING A BIO-FUELS POLICY 
 
-- DME Proposes Green Tax on Heavy Polluting Sports Vehicles 
 
-- FOREIGN VISITORS MAY HAVE TO REGISTER TO "ROAM" ON MOBILE 
PHONE 
 
-- SADC COUNTRIES GRANTED PERMISSION TO SELL OFF IVORY STOCKPILES 
-- TUTU SAYS HUMAN-INDUCED CLIMATE CHANGE IS A SIN 
End Summary. 
 
USTDA AND RAND WATER SYSTEMS FORM CAPACITY-BUILIDING PARTNERSHIP 
 
2.  (U) The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) 
established a partnership with the Rand Water Systems (RWS) to help 
South Africa meet infrastructural and basic water services needs. 
USTDA will assist RWS in identifying relevant technologies and will 
sponsor RWS trips to the US linking RWS with US-based technology 
providers to bring this state-of-the art technology to the South 
African water market.  RWS Director Makie Mandela noted that as a 
water-stressed country, South Africa cannot provide the 
constitutionally-required 1,700 cubic meters of water per person per 
year.  She hoped that this partnership would provide the critical 
technical assistance that South Africa needs to develop an efficient 
water services infrastructure.  Ambassador to South Africa Eric Bost 
said that "USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance funds to 
support investment policy and decision-making in host countries 
creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and 
sustainable economic development, with emphasis on sectors which may 
benefit from exports of goods and services."  RWS is a subsidiary of 
the Rand Water Board, established to provide business and technical 
support, advisory and capacity building services for water-related 
infrastructure projects in South Africa and Africa. 
 
GREEN SCORPIONS CLOSE DOWN MEDICAL WASTE PLANT 
 
3.  (U) The Environmental Management Inspectors (EMI) Unit of the 
Department of Environmental and Tourism Affairs (better known as the 
"Green Scorpions") shut down a medical waste plant after months of 
negotiations with the owner proved fruitless.  The site was littered 
with expired medicine, needles, blood, amputated limbs, bandages, 
human remains and other medical equipment.  The facility incinerates 
medical waste from Gauteng, Limpopo, the Free State and 
KwaZulu-Natal.  Green Scorpions Director for Compliance Livhuwani 
Siphuma said the inspection revealed an "unacceptable disregard for 
the facility's permit conditions."  He noted that poor storage and 
improper storm-water management resulted in blood-contaminated water 
leaking into the soil and possibly contaminating the groundwater. 
The incinerator, which was operated 24 hours a day, was overloaded, 
resulting in emissions of thick black smoke.  Children from nearby 
townships had played on the dump and women passed it regularly on 
their way to collect water.  After conducting the onsite compliance 
inspection, the Green Scorpions issued an official notice to close 
the facility.  Siphuma advised that the facility would remain closed 
until all health requirements were complied with.  Last month the 
facility was shut down, but allowed to open again when it challenged 
the suspension. 
 
PLANS TO PHASE OUT INCADESCENT BULBS UNDERWAY IN SA 
 
4.  (U) National Energy Efficiency Agency (NEEA) Operations Manager 
Barry Bredenkamp said that the South African government will phase 
out incandescent bulbs and replace them with the energy-saving 
compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) or "long-life" bulbs over the next 
three years.  Central Energy Fund (CEF) and the UK-based Phillips 
Corporation are discussing developing a facility to manufacture CFL 
bulbs in Southern Africa (possibly Lesotho) later this year.  CFL 
bulbs consume only 20 percent of the electricity that conventional 
bulbs consume.  South Africa currently imports CFL bulbs from China 
and Indonesia.  ESKOM General Manager of Investment Strategy Andrew 
Etzinger commented that if every South Africa household used CFL 
bulbs, the electricity demand could be reduced by up to 1,000 
megawatts (MW).  ESKOM distributed over 8 million CFL bulbs in 2005 
and 2006.  Five million bulbs were distributed in the Western Cape 
province, and over three million bulbs more are to be distributed in 
the Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal provinces.  In 2006, ESKOM conducted 
a door-to-door energy efficiency awareness campaign which it claims 
 
PRETORIA 00002352  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
yielded a 229 MW electricity savings.  Etzinger commented that 
before imposing a total ban on the incandescent bulb, the government 
and ESKOM must lower the price of CFL bulbs.  The current cost is 
too prohibitive for low-income households.  CFL bulbs retail for 
approximately $3 while the conventional bulbs cost only $0.57. 
Etzinger stated that ESKOM is aware that CFL bulbs have high mercury 
content, and that it would establish disposal sites so that the 
bulbs would not be dumped in landfills. 
 
GOVERNMENT DELAYS ISSUING A BIO-FUELS POLICY 
 
5.  (U) South Africa's delay in promulgating bio-fuel marketing and 
production regulations has caused investors to withhold financing 
for Ethanol Africa, a maize-to-ethanol plant to be located in 
Bothaville, in the Free State province.  Ethanol Africa CEO Johan 
Hoffman said that potential investors were already directing their 
funds to other countries because the government could not make a 
decision on the legislation.  He commented that South Africa could 
be losing a place in the bio-fuel industry if the delay continues. 
Earlier this year, the press reported that construction had stopped 
at the Bothaville plant due to lack of financing.  At that time, the 
company denied problems and said the halt was due to construction 
issues.  Ethanol Africa, established in 2005, planned to build eight 
bio-fuel plants in South Africa's maize belt region. 
 
6.  (U) Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) Chief Director for 
Clean Energy Sandile Tyatya said that a bio-fuel policy could not be 
released due to a delay in briefing an inter-departmental committee 
on the outcome of consultations on the draft strategy.  He also said 
that there were challenges which still needed to be addressed, 
including incentives for the industry and concerns about who would 
carry the price tag for the mandatory blending of the bio-ethanol 
into petrol.  Tyatya said that the document would be presented to 
the cabinet sometime in June.  According to the DME, it would then 
start reviewing the licensing of bio-fuel producers by September and 
hoped to finalize the policy by the end of the year.  Tyatya 
emphasized that the government remains committed to bio-fuels as a 
priority sector aligned to the Accelerated and Shared Growth 
Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA) because of its potential to 
create jobs in the agricultural sector.  Industrial Development 
Corporation (IDC) official Rian Coetzee said they were supportive of 
the DME's cautious approach to the policy.  IDC conducts feasibility 
studies into South Africa bio-fuel projects.  Coetzee said DME's 
cautious approach would avoid hasty decisions and problems that 
should have been foreseen.  The South African Petroleum Industry 
Association (SAPIA) remains concerned that the seven major fuel 
producers would suffer an "economic penalty" resulting from 
substituting portions of petrol and diesel with bio-fuels.  SAPIA 
notes that it will cost "billions of rand" to adjust the refinery 
process for blending. 
 
FOREIGN VISITORS MAY HAVE TO REGISTER TO "ROAM" ON MOBILE PHONES 
 
7.  (U) The South African parliamentary justice committee is 
discussing a bill which will make it mandatory for foreign visitors 
to register with a local service provider before they have 
international roaming on their telephones.  If successful, the 
clause would become a part of the Regulation of the Interception of 
Communication Amendment Bill, whose purpose is fight organized crime 
conducted using mobile phones.  The amended regulation will require 
visitors to provide details such as names, addresses, and passport 
numbers to service providers before acquiring access to roam on 
their phones.  Cell phone companies have expressed concern about 
this proposal, arguing that visitors and tourists may be subjected 
to long registration lines at airports, which could pose serious 
logistical problems, especially during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. 
Department of Minerals and Energy 
 
SADC COUNTRIES GRANTED PERMISSION TO SELL OFF IVORY STOCKPILES 
 
8.  (U) Countries attending the meeting of the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild and Fauna and 
Flora (CITE) at the Hague in mid-June partially lifted the ban on 
the export of elephant ivory from Botswana (20 tons), Namibia (10 
tons) and South Africa (30 tons).  South African National Parks 
(SANP) CEO David Mabunda said South Africa would sell over 30 tons 
of the ivory currently stockpiled at the Kruger National Park to 
Japan.  Mabunda said the sale would be a once-off and controlled 
sale, which means that CITES officials would regulate the sale 
process from the source to the market, to ensure that no illegal 
ivory enters the transaction.  The SANP official said the proceeds 
from the ivory sale could reach between $4.2 and $5.7 million, most 
of which would be directed to conservation and management of the 
national parks.  Animal rights activists have expressed anger over 
the CITES partial lift of the ban, arguing that the decision is 
"swayed by commercial interests that gave no consideration to the 
 
PRETORIA 00002352  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
rights and welfare of the elephants."  Animal Rights Africa 
Spokesman Steve Smit claimed that even though South Africa has 
previously been given CITES permission to sell ivory on condition 
that proceeds are channeled to conservation, those proceeds have not 
been disbursed as promised. 
 
TUTU SAYS HUMAN-INDUCED CLIMATE CHANGE IS A SIN 
 
9.  (U) South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu told 
congregants at the Arctic Cathedral in Norway that world leaders who 
continue to ignore the reality of human-induced climate change are 
committing a sin against the children of world.  The archbishop made 
the statement while delivering a special sermon on the eve of world 
environmental day.  Tutu said that the poor and other vulnerable 
people would be most severely affected by droughts, flooding, and 
severe weather caused by climate change.  He added that governments 
must set firm dates and targets for reducing their carbon emissions, 
according to the Kyoto treaty terms. 
 
BOST