Environmental Programmes
The Department of Environmental Affairs runs 14 programmes under the umbrella of the Expanded Public Works Programme
Natural Resource Management Programmes:
Working for Water deals with the control of invasive alien species.
Working on Fire deals with integrated wildfire management.
Working for Wetlands addresses the conservation and restoration of wetlands.
Working for Ecosystems is focusing on the restoration of eroded and degraded catchments and riparian areas.
Working for Forests promotes both healthy indigenous forests as well as the sustainable management and use of noninvasive woodlots.
The Eco-Furniture Programme uses invasive plant biomass to make school desks and other furniture.
The Value-Added Industries Programme uses invasive plant biomass for building materials, structures, bio-char, energy and other needs.
Environmental Protection and Infrastructure Programmes:
Working on Waste is promoting the sustainable management of waste.
Working for the Coast deals with a safe, clean and healthy coastal environment.
Working for Land addresses soil erosion that affects the productive use of land, and ecosystem functioning.
The Youth Environmental Services programme trains previously unemployed youth in environmental skills, and seeks to place them in jobs.
The People and Parks Programme addresses infrastructural needs in our parks, with benefits to surrounding communities.
The Working for Wildlife programme is creating opportunities in the wildlife economy.
The Greening and Open-Space Management programme seeks to improve the environmental quality of urban areas.
There was a very high number of disaster fires fought in the Western Cape during the 2016/17 year.
The negative economic consequences that such disaster fires pose are considerable, and addressing this proactively by developing sufficient capacity and reducing the risk on the wildland urban interface is a key focus area of the Department of Environmental Affairs.
The government’s Working on Fire (WoF) programme, started in September 2003, has over the years played a valuable role in combatting and preventing wildland fires across South Africa, saving lives, property and protecting the environment.
This programme has also contributed to dramatic changes in the lives of its beneficiaries by restoring dignity and providing a valuable stepping stone for our unemployed youth.
The WoF Programme employs and upskills more than 5,000 previously unemployed youth spread among some 200 bases in all provinces in South Africa. WoF also has one of the highest levels of female (31%) participation in its ranks, when compared to any comparable fire fighting force in the world. Many former WoF fire fighters have graduated to jobs in the public and private sector and 197 of the current 375 WoF management personnel have been drawn from the ranks of WoF fire fighters.
The Working on Fire programme is implemented under the environmental and social cluster of Expanded Public Works Programmes (EPWP) of the South African government.
The EPWP seek to provide as many people as possible with the opportunity to participate while not displacing workers from the formal sectors.
During the recent wild veld fires in the Eastern and Southern Cape, in one of the largest local deployment of firefighting services, WoF deployed more than 800 firefighters in Knysna, and Natures Valley.
The South African National Defence Force helicopters supplemented the aviation unit of WoF which was activated with spotter planes, helicopters and water bombers in the region.
Although the WoF Programme is primarily funded by the government’s EPWP, through DEA, the programme has a mandate to generate third party additional revenue, which must be applied to expanding the employment scope of the programme.