BY TSHOLOFELO DINTWE
MEC for rural, environment and agricultural development department (READ), Manketsi Tlhape has appointed a new board of directors for Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve.
The inauguration ceremony took place on Wednesday. The key stakeholders included landowners, representatives of Gauteng Provincial Government, local municipality representatives and community representatives around the Madibeng.
The committee consists of 9 members and will serve as a management authority. They will also provide strategic and policy direction for the promotion and sustainable development and utilisation of the biosphere reserve.
The Magaliesberg Biosphere’s unique geological landscape, rich biodiversity, human evolution and history is listed as a biosphere with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and recognised, appreciated, protected and enjoyed by resident land owners, South Africans and the international community through appropriate and sustainable development, use, research and education.
Tlhape said that formal endorsement by UNESCO will support the protection of the unique and diverse biodiversity of the area. She further indicated that it was important to note that “recognition of the presence of a biosphere in a particular landscape does not guarantee that a biosphere-inspired and bioregional approach to land and water resource management will be applied at the local level.
“It is important that the biosphere fully understands and utilises the full range of legal interventions that can support its protection. The road ahead is challenging. Today we are here to officially thank those of you who participated in the process by nominating candidates. We also want to thank those who were nominated for the work done during the time they had to mobilize support for them to be voted into office.
“You played a very critical role in that as you were mobilising for support, you actually created awareness about the Biosphere. It is through your work that today more people know about the Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve,” she said.
Tlhape further encouraged the management authority to be selfless in their role.
“The role of the management authority is to represent the many interest groups and to provide strategic and policy direction for the promotion and sustainable development and utilisation of the Magaliesberg Biosphere. Management authority members will represent organisation/s by which they are nominated and will therefore not have a seat in their personal capacity and will not represent their personal interests,” she highlighted.
MEC emphasised that the members will do their work without any compensation and it means their work should be out of passion.
The Chief Director for Environmental services, Mafu Nkosi said the next step was for the members to elect a chairperson. He said that Management plan submitted to UNESCO dictated that the chairperson of the Board will be elected from amongst the management authority members during a formal meeting of the management authority. A meeting to fulfil this has been arranged for later this month.
NB: (Unedited version)
-TDN
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