Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests in the gallery, I greet you all. Let me start by thanking all the speakers who spoke before me for the positive input they made in this debate and the contributions they made to the committee.
I must say that I think the government's law enforcement agencies are ready for the implementation of this law. It is upon the department, the Minister and the law enforcement agencies to enforce the law, because now we have the proper legislation that will assist in that regard. It is true that the challenges are addressed, but what is needed is for stakeholders to work together in order to make sure that this legislation is implemented accordingly.
With regard to the concern about capacity-building that was raised by members from the opposition side, I want to say that it is within the programme of this department and the Minister to make sure that all people who are within the department are properly capacitated to implement this law. The amending Bill brings into being fundamental and necessary changes that we have been working towards over some time. We welcome these amendments as they will bring about the required changes to deal with the challenges we face. At the outset, we welcome the new timeframes for the preparation of environmental implementation and management plans, as this will give the necessary space for quality assurance in the submission of these plans.
The new clause 23(a) of the amending Bill, to which other speakers have alluded, will promote the mainstreaming of integrated environmentally sustainable and sound management considerations when conducting business processes. This means better mainstreaming of integrated environmentally sustainable and sound management considerations in business processes.
Clause 24 of the Bill that they spoke about, which is the core section of the Act, is being amended to cater for effective tracking of the environmental management systems, plans and processes by national and provincial departments. This refers to the use and promotion of the most appropriate environmental instruments and spatial tools in developmental decisions.
With reference to clause 6, the amendment of section 24(c) clarifies the procedure that identifies the Minister as the competent authority to ensure environmental authorisation where there are international implications. Clause 9, dealing with the amendment of section 24(g), addresses the main complaint from the public that applicants continue with unlawful activities on the assumption that their applications will be approved if they continue with such activities.
We are well aware that some companies have budgeted for this on an annual basis, thus manipulating the system. The Bill will address this dishonest practice. The further strength of the amending Bill is that the Minister will be able, for the first time, in terms of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, to exercise his powers on issues of the environment. This takes us forward. Clauses 13 and 14, as has been alluded, clarify the distinction between an incident and on emergency situation, which means that we now have clarity on the two terms.
The strength of clause 25 is that it consolidates the offences, penalties and defences into a single action, as they are currently scattered across the principal Act. We fully support the amendment that proposes that, in instances where the MEC responsible for environmental affairs fails to take a decision within prescribed timeframe, an applicant may request the Minister to take the decision.
We further welcome the enabling clause which empowers the Minister of Environmental Affairs, the Minister of Mineral Resources and the relevant MEC responsible for environmental affairs to issue a directive for a variety of reasons. In this context the administrative fee will play the necessary corrective role as it is being increased from R1 million, which certain companies budgeted for, to a more realistic R5 million penalty.
In conclusion, with these main amendments, we are certain that economic development will be enhanced and boosted as geographic uncertainties will be cleared up. The ANC supports the amending Bill. Thank you very much. [Applause.]