The executive officer designated as such in terms of section 4 of the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act, 1983(Act 43 of 1983) hereby makes known that he intends to request the Minister of Agriculture to make the regulations set out in the Schedule hereto.

The realities of the detrimental influence of undesirable or problem plants on the natural resources of South Africa are well known and are documented in popular, technical and scientific publications. The mandate to combat these plants rests with the Act on the Conservation of Agricultural Resources, 1983 (Act 43 of 1983) where they are defined as weeds and invaders plants. It became increasingly important to revise the regulations governing the combating of these plants because their threat is not diminishing and they are spreading at an alarming rate.

The unfortunate universal situation is that in many countries including South Africa, plants of alien origin tend to spread and invade ecosystems and become problem plants in areas away from their natural habitats.

Potentially harmful alien plants can be categorized into weeds and invader plants.

Weeds are regarded as alien plants with no known useful economic purpose. They are a menace, should be eradicated and trading cannot be allowed.

Invader plants are also of alien origin and, except for their aggressive nature to invade into niches in a wide range of ecosystems, they may serve useful purposes as ornamentals, as sources of timber and may provide many other benefits. They should be managed and be prevented to spread into areas where they usurp water or invade the natural vegetation. Trading could be allowed, but only conditionally.

Biological control of weeds and invader plants will become an increasingly important method of control. This is however a long-term strategy. Conventional methods of control and combating remain important.

The draft regulations presented here are the result of deliberations and consultations with specialists in different disciplines. The public is invited to submit reasons why the draft regulations should not be promulgated; to offer suggestions for improvement; to voice opinions on the control of weeds and invader plants and to suggest changes to the proposed list of declared plants as well as the formulation of the regulations. Note that two alternative proposals are presented for the combating of alien invader plants.

Interested parties are requested to submit comments on the proposed Regulations within sixty (60) days from the date of publication hereof to:

National Department of Agriculture
Directorate: Agricultural Land and Resources Management
Private Bag X 120
Pretoria, 0001

Enquiries: Helette Prinsloo
Tel: (012) 319 7559 / 082 360 8087
Fax: (012) 329 5938
E-mail: HeletteP@nda.agric.za

SCHEDULE

Definitions

1. In this schedule "the regulations" means the regulations published by Government Notice No.
R. 1048 of 25 May 1984, as amended by Government Gazette Notice No. R. 2687 of 6 December 1985.

Substitution of regulations 15 and 16
2. The Regulations are hereby amended by the substitution for regulation 15 and 16 of the following regulations:

Substitution of regulation 15

"Declared weeds and invader plants

15A(1) For the purpose of regulations 15.A, 15.B, 15.C, 15.D, 15.E and 16.A, any word or expression in these regulations to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act shall have that meaning and, unless the context otherwise indicates ?

"control" means the combating of declared invader plants to such an extent that the spread thereof is curtailed and that their numbers are decreased and in the case of declared weeds that combating is aimed at the eradication of such weeds,

"demarcated area" means any area where alien plants are established or are to be established for commercial production, gardening, recreation, beautification and any similar beneficial purpose,

"eradicate " means to treat plants by any suitable method in order to prevent such plants from growing, multiplying and propagating,

"land unit" means one or more units of land that are used separately or jointly to form an entity of land, which may be privately, publicly or communally managed and it includes land under the jurisdiction of any company, organ of state, provincial or local authority,

"propagating material" means any material of a plant that can be used for the propagation of a plant, and

"bush encroachment" means stands of woody plants where individuals are closer to each other than twice the mean crown diameter but not further apart from each other than three times the mean crown diameter of each of the kinds of woody plants.

(2) The plant species listed in column 1 of Table 3 of the Annexure are hereby declared weeds or invader plants throughout the Republic to the extent indicated opposite their names in column 2 of the said Table.

(3) The plants referred to in column 1 of Table 3 of the Annexure are divided into three different categories as indicated in column 3 of the said table opposite their names, namely:

(a) Category 1 plants are weeds and serve no useful economic purpose and possess characteristics that are harmful to humans, animals or the environment.

(b) Category 2 plants are plants that are useful for commercial plant production purposes but are proven plant invaders under uncontrolled conditions outside demarcated areas.

(c) Category 3 plants are mainly used for ornamental purposes in demarcated areas but are proven plant invaders under uncontrolled conditions outside demarcated areas.

Combating of category 1 plants

15.B(1)Category 1 plants shall not occur on any land or on any inland water surface.

(2) Such plants shall be eradicated and the control methods stipulated in regulation 15.D shall apply

(3) No person shall ?

(a) sell, or offer, advertise, keep, exhibit, import, export, transmit, send, convey or deliver for sale, or exchange for anything or dispose of to any person in any manner for a consideration, any weed; or

(b) in any other manner whatsoever disperse, cause or permit the dispersal of any weed, seed or other propagating material of weed from any place in the Republic to any other place in the Republic or from any other country to the Republic or from the Republic to any other country.

(4) (a) If any weed, seed of weed or any propagating material of weed adheres to boat after use on a water surface or to an animal which is driven on a public road, conveyed in a vehicle or offered for sale at a livestock auction, he adhering material must be promptly removed from that boat, vehicle or animal.

(b) Such removed material shall be destroyed in a manner that will ensure that it will not be able to reproduce itself.

(c) The executive officer may in addition to subsections (a) and (b) issue specific directives applicable in specific areas to prevent the spreading of weeds by the movement of infested vehicles and livestock.

(5) The provisions of subregulations (3) and (4) shall not apply with regard to plant material destined for a business which is registered in terms of the Plant Improvement Act, 1976 (Act No.53 of 1976) to clean propagating material for sale, provided the words "uncleansed seed" or "onskoongemaakte saad" appear on the containers of such seed or plant material.

Combating of category 2 and category 3 plants

15.C(1) Subject to the provisions of subregulations (3) and (4), category 2 and 3 plants may occur or may be established on any area demarcated for that purpose provided that:

(a) Plantings thereof are confined to such demarcated areas.

(b) Controlled conditions of cultivation and care prevail in the demarcated areas.

(c) Plants or products derived from the plants primarily serve beneficial purposes including uses for own consumption, esthetic value, ornamentation, building material, animal fodder and fuel.

(d) Precautionary measures to reduce the spreading of seed or any other propagating material to land outside the demarcated areas are implemented.

2. If Category 2 and 3 plants occur in any area outside the areas referred to in subregulation (1) such plants shall be dealt with in terms of subregulation 15.B(1).
3. The seed or any other propagating material of category 2 plants may be imported and may be used in trading subject to the provisions of the Plant Improvement Act, 1976 (Act No. 53 of 1976), the Agricultural Pests Act, 1983 (Act No. 36 of 1983) and the regulations in terms of the Environment Conservation Act, 1989 (Act No. 73 of 1989) as published by Government Notice No.R.1182 of 5 September 1997.
4. The seed or any other propagating material of category 3 plants shall not be traded, imported and used to establish new plantings at any place by any person.
5. If plants specified as category 2 and 3 plants occur on any land or water surface outside demarcated areas, the land user shall control those plants in accordance with the control methods as stipulated in regulation 15.D.
6. The executive officer may in consultation with the land user, define and declare specific areas where the control and if necessary the eradication of category 2 and 3 plants within demarcated areas are mandatory to protect surrounding areas against invasion.
7. Subject to the provisions of subregulation (8) no land user shall :

1. Regard an area occurring on a land unit as a demarcated area if it does not conform to the definition of a demarcated area.
2. Cultivate plants specified by "Controlled cultivation" in column 4 of Table 3.
3. Allow plant species specified by "See subreg. 15.C (7)(c)" in column 4 of Table 3 to occur within and closer than 30 meters from the outside boundaries of the flood areas of perennial watercourses and wetlands.

8. The executive officer may grant written approval to the land user to deviate from the provisions of subregulation (7), under such conditions as may be determined by the executive officer.

Control methods

15.D(1) If plants specified in column 1 of Table 3 of the Annexure occur contrary to the provisions of regulation 15.B and 15.C, the land user shall control those plants effectively by means of any of the following control methods:

(a) The plants concerned shall be uprooted, felled or cut off and shall be destroyed completely by burning or any other suitable method.

1. The plants concerned shall be treated with a herbicide that is registered for use in connection therewith in accordance with the directions for the use of such a herbicide.
2. The plants concerned may be combated and the spreading of the plants may be curtailed by biological control methods in addition to other control methods provided:

1. The release of the biological control agents is done in accordance with the stipulations of the Agricultural Pests Act, 1983 (Act No. 36 of 1983), and the Environment Conservation Act, 1989 (Act No. 73 of 1989).
2. Areas and locations where the biological control agents have been established are not disturbed by other control methods to the extent that the agents are destroyed and become ineffective.
3. The land user obtains written consent from the executive officer to reserve specific areas in which the biological control agents can multiply and from where they can disperse into adjoining infestations of weeds or invader plants.
4. The demarcation of such reserves shall be done in consultation with the institution responsible for the release of the biological control agents.

1. Any other recognized method of treatment that has as its object the destruction of the plants concerned may be applied with regard thereto subject to the provisions of subregulation (4).

2. The methods referred to in subregulation (1) shall also be applied with regard to the seed, seedlings and the regrowth of the plants concerned in order to prevent them from forming seed or re-establishing in any way
3. The performance of any acts of control is not in itself proof that the objects of the control methods have been achieved and repetitive follow-up operations are mandatory to achieve an effective level of control in the case of category 2 and category 3 plants; or eradication in the case of category 1 plants.

4. Any action taken to control weeds and invaders shall be executed with caution and in a manner that will limit detrimental impacts on the environment to a minimum; and the provisions of regulations 2 to 14 must be considered and adhered to.

Emergency actions to prevent the spread of undesirable plants

15.E(1)The executive officer may instruct subject to the provisions of subregulations(2) and (3) that a specific plant species that is not listed in Table 3 of the Annexure, be eradicated, or if that is not successful, be effectively controlled in a specified area.

(2) The executive officer only shall ensure that:

1. The evidence is unbiased and sufficient to warrant swift action to prevent the further spread of the plant species that may, if allowed to spread, detrimentally affect the natural resources.
2. The action is cost-effective.
3. The action is properly recorded and made known by way of a
general notice in the Government Gazette to interested and affected parties, including the Minister.

(3) The executive officer may direct a land user to apply such actions."

Substitution of regulation 16

"Declared indicators of bush encroachment

16.A(1)Indigenous plants specified in column 1 of Table 4 of the Annexure are hereby declared indicator plants indicating bush encroachment in the corresponding areas specified in column 2 of the said table .

2. The land user of an area in which natural vegetation occurs and contain communities of the plants referred to in subregulation (1) shall follow practices to prevent the deterioration of natural resources and where bush encroachment occurs, to combat it.
3. The practices contemplated in subregulation (2) shall consist of the following measures as are necessary under the circumstances provided that the application of any measure is designed to remove the cause of the deterioration, and to improve and maintain the production potential of the natural pastoral land:

1. The plants concerned shall be treated with a herbicide that is registered in connection therewith, in accordance with the directions for the use of such a herbicide.
2. The application of control measures regarding the utilization and protection of veld in terms of regulation 9.
3. Livestock reduction or removal of animals in terms of the control measures of regulations 10 and 11.
4. Any research-based method or strategy that may be applicable and is specified by the executive officer by means of a direction"

The following tables are hereby inserted in the Annexure of the Regulations after Table 2:

Table 3

Table 4

ALTERNATIVE FORMULATION OF THE REGULATIONS ON THE COMBATING OF DECLARED INVADER PLANTS

NOTE: The following formulation is suggested as an alternative to deal with the combating of declared invader plants.

In this case the reasoning is that it is not feasible to confine category 3 plants to demarcated areas, but that they be eradicated when natural resources are threatened. This means that discretionary judgement must be exercised to decide on the influence of category 3 plants on the environment.

The reasoning with regard to category 2 plants remains unaltered. Effective combating is necessary in both cases.

Combating of category 2 plants

15.X(1) Category 2 plants may occur or may be established on any area demarcated for that purpose provided that:

1. Plantings are confined to such demarcated areas.
2. Controlled conditions of cultivation and care prevail in the demarcated areas.
3. Plants or products derived from the plants primarily serve beneficial purposes including uses for own consumption, building material, animal fodder, windbreaks and fuel.
4. Precautionary measures are implemented to reduce the spreading of seed or any other propagating material to land outside the demarcated areas

2. If category 2 plants occur in any area outside the areas referred to in subregulation (1) such plants shall be dealt with in terms of subregulation 15.B(1).
3. The seed or any other propagating material of category 2 plants may be imported and may be used in trading subject to the provisions of the Plant Improvement Act, 1976, (Act No. 53 of 1976); the Agricultural Pests Act, 1983 (Act No. 36 of 1983) and the regulations in terms of the Environment Conservation Act, 1989 (Act No. 73 of 1989) published by Government Notice No. R.1182 of 5 September 1997.

(4) It is the duty of a land user on whose land unit category 2 plants occur or are to be established to decide where the demarcated areas are situated, and, if there is uncertainty, to obtain advice from the competent authority.

(5) Category 2 plants occurring on any land or water surface outside demarcated areas shall be controlled in accordance with the control methods in regulation 15.D.

6. The executive officer may in consultation with the land user, define and declare specific areas where the control and, if necessary, the eradication of category 2 plants within demarcated areas are mandatory to protect the natural resources in the vicinity against invasion.
7. Subject to the provisions of subregulation (8) no land user shall:

1. Regard an area occurring on a land unit as a demarcated area if it does not conform to the definition of a demarcated area.
2. Cultivate plants specified by "Controlled cultivation" in column 4 of Table 3.
3. Allow plant species specified by "See subreg. 15.C(7)(c)" in column 4 of Table 3 to occur within and closer than 30 meters from the outside boundaries of the flood areas of perennial watercourses and wetlands.

(8) The executive officer may grant written approval to the land user to deviate from the provisions of subregulation (7), under such conditions as may be determined by the executive officer.

Combating of category 3 plants

15.Y(1)Category 3 plants may occur or may be established on any land in the Republic provided:

1. They are eradicated where they are a threat to the natural resources or where they invade the natural vegetation.
2. The seed or any other propagating material of category 3 plants are not imported and used in trading of any kind by any person.

(2) The land user shall eradicate category 3 plants occurring on any land or water surface, when the stipulation in subsection 1(a) so requires, in accordance with the control methods in regulation 15.D.

The executive officer may in consultation with the land user define and declare specific areas where the eradication of category 3 plants are mandatory within the areas demarcated for category 2 plants, to protect the natural resources in the vicinity against invasion.Insertion of Table 3 and 4

The following tables are hereby inserted in the Annexure of the Regulations after Table 2:

Table 3 (Click here)

Table 4 (Click here)

 TABLE 3 VERKLAARDE ONKRUIDE EN INDRINGERPLANTE / DECLARED WEEDS AND INVADER PLANTS [REGULASIE/ REGULATION 15.A, 15.B, 15.C, 15.D & 15.E]

TABLE 4 VERKLAARDE INDIKATORS VAN BOSVERDIGTING/ DECLARED INDICATORS OF BUSH ENCROACHMENT [REGULASIE/REGULATION 16.A]