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RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #2274/01 2911453
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171453Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6040
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
INFO RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 6135
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 0275
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 8486

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 002274 
 
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, SEPTEMBER 2008 
 
PRETORIA 00002274  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  This is the South African Environment, Science and 
Technology Monthly Briefings Newsletter, September 2008, Volume 3, 
Number 9, prepared by the U.S. Embassy Pretoria, South Africa. 
 
Topics of the newsletter: 
 
-- RHINO POACHING INCREASING IN KRUGER PARK 
 
-- NON-GMO MAIZE SHORTAGES THREATEN SA INDUSTRY 
 
-- WILDFIRES KILL FOURTEEN PEOPLE, INJURE SIXTY 
   AND DESTROY 635 HOUSES 
 
-- SA MOVING TOWARDS KNWOLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY 
 
-- GLOBAL SCIENTISTS ENCOURAGED TO ASSIST SA 
   SCIENTIESTS 
 
-- DOW JONES SUSTAINABILITY INDEX LISTS SASOL 
-- CABINET LEADS THE WAYIN SOUTH AFRICA TREE-PLANTING CAMPAIGN 
-- SOUTH AFRICAN 2008 TREE OF THE YEAR: Harpephyllum Caffrum Bernh 
 
-- MONTHLY FACTOID 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Rhino Poaching Increasing in Kruger Park 
---------------------------------------- 
 
2 (U) World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has reported an increase in the 
number of rhino killed in South Africa by poachers and horn 
smugglers in recent months.  Spokesperson for WWF and Ezemvelo KZN 
Wildlife Jaques Flamand said the Kruger National Park is the worst 
affected.  He also commented that there were only 4,000 black rhinos 
left worldwide, and the number will decrease if the poaching is not 
stopped.  Flamand noted by South African standards the number of 
rhinos poached here is very high, a record nine in 2008.  Twenty 
rhinos were killed in 2008 in Zimbabwe's Lowveld conservancies.  No 
records are available for other areas within Zimbabwe.  Flamand 
attributes increasing rhino poaching to rising demand for rhino horn 
in China and other Asian countries.  Flamand said it was expensive 
to protect rhino effectively against poaching because such 
protection requires many game rangers and weapons. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Non-GMO Maize Shortages Threaten SA Industry 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) The World Food Program (WFP), one of the biggest buyers of 
South Africa's non-GMO maize, has raised concerns about projected 
insufficient supplies of South African organic maize, and is 
considering buying organic maize elsewhere.  WFP spokesman Richard 
Lee said the price for South African maize is good and it can easily 
be transported to final destinations by either land or sea.  Lee 
added that it is possible WFP will stop buying South African maize 
due to inadequate control measures.  Lee noted that many African 
maize-recipient countries do not want GMO maize, and the demand for 
non-GMO maize has escalated.  Farmers complain that it is difficult 
to separate GMO from non-GMO maize because of cross pollination; 
some milling companies argue that grain storage facilities are 
contaminated with GMO maize.  Both factors make it difficult to 
export GMO-free maize.  Lee said WFP bought 400,000 tons of maize 
from South Africa and wants to increase its purchases because of 
crop surpluses and good market prices.  Lee said the demand for 
maize has resulted in record purchases in Malawi, Mozambique and 
Zambia.  Maize exporters want the government to ensure a reliable 
local supply of non-GMO maize for the export market. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Wildfires Kill Fourteen People, Injure 
Sixty and Destroy 635 Houses 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Wildfires roared through vast areas across the Kwa-Zulu Natal 
(KZN) province, killing fourteen people, injuring sixty others, and 
Q(KZN) province, killing fourteen people, injuring sixty others, and 
destroying property and animals.  Provincial Minister of Local 
Government, Housing and Traditional Affairs Michael Mabuyakhulu said 
that casualties included the six-year-old daughter of the ANC 
President Jacob Zuma's nephew who died from injuries caused by a 
piece of corrugated steel sheet that flew off the roof of her family 
homestead.  Mabuyakhulu confirmed that a fire-fighter pilot lost his 
life when his light aircraft was brought down by strong winds.  The 
Minister noted that 635 houses were destroyed.  KZN remains on high 
fire alert.  Mabuyakhulu said he did not believe the fires were 
started naturally, and added that provincial officials were working 
with the police to investigate.  Areas affected included Nkandla, 
Richards Bay and Umlazi in the northern region. 
 
PRETORIA 00002274  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
----------------------------------------- 
SA Moving Towards Knowledge-Based Economy 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) recently released 
results of a national research and development (R&D) survey 
indicating that South Africa spent R16.5 billion ($2.06 billion) on 
R&D during the 2006/7 fiscal year.  This is an increase from the 
2005/06 R&D expenditure of R14.1 billion ($1.76 billion). 
Department of Science and Technology (DST) Director-General Dr. Phil 
Mjwara noted that South Africa would likely meet its goal of 
spending one percent of GDP on R&D by 2008/09.  Mjwara said the 
increased R&D expenditure showed South Africa's growing 
participation in and progress towards a knowledge-based economy. 
The HSRC survey indicated that most R&D was in the engineering 
sciences research (20.9 percent), natural sciences (20.3 percent), 
higher education (20 percent), and medical and health sciences (15.1 
percent).  Mjwara said the survey revealed that local business was 
the major funder for R&D, financing 51.3 percent of total R&D.  Only 
10.6 percent of South Africa's R&D is financed from abroad.  The 
survey was commissioned by the DST and involved comprehensive 
surveys of business, government (including the nine science 
councils), higher education and non-profit sectors. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Global Scientists Encouraged to Assist South 
African Scientists 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Former South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka 
stated at the September 14, 2008, International Association of 
Science Parks (IASP) conference that, "One of South Africa's biggest 
challenges is human resource development."  Mlambo-Ngcuka urged 
scientists from around the world to assist South Africa in 
increasing the number of skilled scientists through human resource 
development programs.  She noted that science parks provide an 
opportunity to share knowledge and information and thus act to 
accelerate the knowledge economy.  Speaking at the same event, 
Minister of Science and Technology (DST) Mosibudi Mangena said 
science parks fostered entrepreneurship and economic 
competitiveness, thus creating environments that enhance knowledge 
sharing and commercialization of technology. 
 
 
¶7. (U) Minister Mangena also announced that the DST would establish 
a Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) in the near future.  This 
agency would stimulate and intensify technological innovation, 
support local inventions, and create a platform for 
commercialization.  IAST ran concurrently with the International 
Science, Innovation and Technology Exhibition (INSITE) and the 
Bio2Biz 2008 conference at the Sandton Convention Centre.  INSITE 
provides a platform for showcasing international innovative 
solutions to social and economic challenges, while Bio2Biz 2008 
highlights international biotechnology trends and developments. 
This is the first IAST conference held in South Africa; until 
recently the Innovative Hub in Pretoria was Africa's only 
internationally accredited Science Park.  Morocco and Tunisia have 
also established science parks. 
 
 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Dow Jones Sustainability Index Lists Sasol 
------------------------------------------ 
¶8. (U) Sasol Chief Executive Pat Davies announced that the 
petrochemicals company has become the first South African industrial 
Qpetrochemicals company has become the first South African industrial 
company to be listed on the Dow Jones sustainability world index. 
Davies said: "This is a great achievement for Sasol because our 
previous best was to get to the top 15% in the oil and gas sector 
last year."  Sasol, one of South Africa's largest polluters, has an 
abatement project at Sasol Nitro that converts greenhouse gas 
nitrous oxide into nitrogen and oxygen as a clean development 
mechanism (CDM).  Davies said that Sasol, unlike other participants 
in CDM, does not sell its carbon credits.  The Dow Jones 
sustainability world index, established in 1999, consists of the top 
10% of the largest stocks in the Dow Jones global indexes in terms 
of sustainability and environmental practices.  The corporate 
sustainability of the companies is assessed using a weighting system 
that considers various economic, environmental and social metrics. 
Dow Jones indexes editor and Executive Director John Prestbo stated 
that several institutional investors were factoring in 
sustainability "and a growing number of market participants are 
integrating long-term economic, environmental and social factors 
into their analysis". 
------------------------------------- 
 
PRETORIA 00002274  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Cabinet Leads the Way in South Africa 
Tree-Planting Campaign 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) Cabinet Leads the Way in South African Tree Minister of Water 
Affairs and Forestry Lindiwe Hendricks distributed trees to all 
cabinet members during the first week in September to mark the start 
of Arbor Week.  The Cabinet endorsed Hendricks campaign encouraging 
South Africans to plant trees.  Former President Thabo Mbeki and 
Minister Hendricks launched the campaign entitled "Plant a Million 
Trees" in 2007, when the two planted trees in GaRankuwa, Pretoria. 
The various South African provinces have collectively planted 
681,749 trees since the start of the campaign.  Mpumalanga province 
leads all the other provinces, with 129,314 trees planted. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
DME Delays Issuance of Seashore Mining License 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶10. (U) Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) spokesman Bheki 
Khumalo announced that there would a delay in issuing titanium 
mining licenses to Australian Minerals Resources Commodities (MRC) 
and local subsidiary Transworld Energy and Minerals (TEM).  MRC and 
TEM sough to extract titanium from sand dunes located along the 
common border of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces. 
Legal Resources Center (LRC) had appealed the previous granting of 
the license, claiming that the local communities' input and consent 
had not been sought.  The mineral advisory board will now hear 
arguments by the opposing parties.  Local communities oppose the 
titanium mining because they fear losing their access to grazing 
lands and to lands where their ancestors are buried.  LRC attorney 
Sarah Sephton hoped the minister would put a permanent stop to the 
proposed mining project.  DME argues that mining will bring 
infrastructure development and job opportunities for the local 
communities. 
 
------------------------------------ 
South African 2008 Tree of the Year: 
Harpephyllum Caffrum Bernh 
------------------------------------ 
¶11. (U) -- Family: Anacardiaceae (mango family) 
-- Common names: wild plum (English); wildepruim (Afrikaans); 
umGwenya (Zulu, Xhosa); Mothekele (Northern Sotho) 
-- Description: The South African wild plum is a large, evergreen 
tree that grows up to fifty feet, and is usually found in riverine 
forests.  The bark is smooth when young, becoming rough, and dark 
grey-brown.  Branches are curved upwards, with leaves crowded 
towards the ends, forming a thick crown at the top of the tree. 
Shiny dark-green, glossy leaves are interspersed with the red 
leaves.  The tree produces whitish green flowers throughout summer 
(November to February).  Green plum-like fruits turn red when they 
ripen in autumn.  They contain a single seed. 
-- Distribution:  The Harpephyllum caffrum grows from the Eastern 
Cape northwards through KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, southern 
Mozambique, Limpopo and into Zimbabwe. 
-- Derivation of name:  The generic name Harpephyllum comes from the 
Greek, meaning sickle-like leaves.  The specific name caffrum is 
derived from its place of origin, Kaffraria, now part of Eastern 
Cape.  H. caffrum belongs to the Anacardiaceae (mango family), which 
is the fourth largest tree family in southern Africa, with 
approximately 80 tree species. 
-- Uses and cultural aspects:  H. caffrum fruit is widely utilized 
by birds, animals, insects and humans.  The fruits are used in jams, 
Qby birds, animals, insects and humans.  The fruits are used in jams, 
jellies and ros wine.  The bark is a popular traditional medicine 
used to treat acne and eczema.  Powdered burnt bark is used to treat 
sprains and bone fractures.  The bark is also used for dyeing, 
producing a mauve color. In some parts of Eastern Cape, the root is 
used in traditional medicine for paralysis thought to have been 
contracted from walking over an area that has been poisoned.  Larvae 
of the common hair tail butterfly (Anthene definite) and the Eggar 
moth (Lasiocampa kollikerii) feed on the leaves; bush babies, 
monkeys, baboons and bushbuck love the ripe plums.  Birds including 
the Cape parrot, mousebird, barbet, bulbul, and African green pigeon 
feed on the fruit. 
 
--------------- 
Monthly Factoid 
--------------- 
 
¶12. (U) There are 18,000 indigenous vascular plant species in South 
Africa, 80% of which are uniquely South African. 
 
BALL