08 Feb 2023

Measures are in place to make acquisition of harvesting permits for all veld products easier, Minister of Environment and Tourism, Ms Phildah Kereng has said.

Ms Kereng said this in response to a question in Parliament on Tuesday.

She said some permits would be issued at selected Dikgotla areas where the products were predominately harvested to ensure that cash handling was taken into consideration as well as for safety of revenue collectors.

She added that permits would also be issued at designated harvesting points during harvesting seasons to ease the burden on transport for customers to acquire them.

“Placing issuance of permits adjacent to harvesting places is also done to 1facilitate guiding and monitoring of harvesters on sustainable harvesting methods of veld products,” she added.

Another measure, she said would be pre-alert or communication through different media platforms including social media to ensure that harvesters were aware of places where they can obtain permits nearer to them during harvesting.

“The arrangement to issues permits at the Kgotla and other designated harvesting points is done in consultation with members of the local authority in the area who normally advise on the best places to do such issuance. The local Kgosi and the district leadership in the area are consulted prior to such a decision being taken,” she explained.

Ms Kereng also told Parliament that the ministry had facilitated formation of two Trusts in the Nata/Gweta areas which included Nata Conservations Trust covering villages in Nata, Maposa, Sepako and Manxotai as well as the Gwezotsa Conservation Trust which would cover Gweta, Zoroga and Tsokotshaa villages.

The Trusts, she said, benefitted directly from utilisation of veld products, adding that following their formation, communities could apply for community conservation areas to secure user rights which allowed members to directly benefit and contribute to sustainable utilisation of the resources.

“Notwithstanding all these, regulation on the use of natural resources remain the responsibility of government to promote conservation and protection of veld products to benefit all citizens irrespective of their origin as per the Agricultural Resources Conservation Act. As a result, it may not be prudent to extend collection of fees to Trusts,” she added.

Member of Parliament for Nata/Gweta, Mr Polson Majaga had wanted to know if the ministry would consider making requirements for acquisition of licenses for harvesting Mophane worms, fetching grass and fire wood easier.

Mr Majaga also wanted to know if permits could be acquired from Kgotla and council premises.

He further wanted to know if the ministry would consider facilitating issuance of user rights of harvesting natural resources to existing Trusts in the Nata-Gweta constituency for them to benefit by collecting fees for licenses. ENDS