Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister, Mr David Maynier, meets staff at Mondi’s KwaMbonambi Nursery
Forestry South Africa (FSA) welcomes constructive engagement with the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, David Maynier, during his two-day visit to KwaZulu-Natal, 23-25 October 2026. By dedicating his weekend to the programme, the Minister created a valuable opportunity to hear directly from the entire forestry value chain, understand its concerns and explore practical steps to unlock the sector’s contribution to investment, transformation and jobs, ultimately improving sector competitiveness.
FSA Executive Director Michael Peter described the engagement as successful and encouraging, welcoming the Minister’s invitation to speak frankly about the challenges facing forestry and his willingness to consider how the relationship between industry and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) could be strengthened. The Ministerial visit, coordinated by Forestry South Africa and hosted by Mondi and NCT, connected discussions about the Forestry Sector Masterplan with the realities of forestry operations and the communities and businesses that depend on them.
The central message was that forestry has demonstrated its commitment to the Masterplan, with FSA presenting the sector’s recorded R38.5 billion in processing investment to the Minister and highlighting that this was 54% above the original Masterplan commitment target of approximately R24.9 billion. As well as conveying the sector achievement of the Masterplan’s Level 2 B-BBEE transformation target. These provide a strong foundation on which government, industry and labour can build to realise the Masterplan’s wider ambitions.
Translating that investment into the anticipated jobs and inclusive growth now requires progress on securing timber fibre supply. The Minister responded positively and constructively to the sector’s concerns about longstanding delays in delivering the DFFE-led commitments on new afforestation, the rehabilitation of Category B and C state plantations through private-sector partnerships, and support for land reform beneficiaries and community forestry; constraints that predate the Minister’s recent appointment. The Minister shared the sector’s view that the employment implications make this work particularly important, with none of the 104 000 new jobs aligned in the Masterplan to new afforestation and state plantation recapitalisation commitments being currently realised. For FSA, overcoming the fibre-supply barriers is therefore about more than sustaining industrial capacity: it is essential to delivering the rural livelihoods, enterprise development and employment opportunities envisaged by the Masterplan, a sentiment the Minister seemed to share.
Minister Mr David Maynier getting involved in watering seedlings at Mondi’s KwaMbonambi Nursery
Minister Mr David Maynier getting involved in watering seedlings at Mondi’s KwaMbonambi Nursery
Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment delegation being toured around Mondi’s Richards Bay Mill
In response, the Minister described the opportunity as a “Coalition for change” and agreed to set a date to resume Masterplan meetings, including the first Executive Oversight Committee meeting, and that this visit would be the first of many engagements with industry. He also agreed to seriously consider the industry’s proposal for direct Ministerial and Director-General leadership of the Forestry Sector Masterplan.
Industry, in turn, will provide a prioritised list of issues that could be resolved over the coming months, ranked by urgency and impact and accompanied, where possible, by offers of practical support. It is very positive that the Minister requested these issues to not be limited to issues captured in the Masterplan, but also issues that currently inhibit the sector. FSA will also submit the agreed industry representation for the Executive Oversight Committee.
FSA thanks Minister Maynier for his time and engagement, and Mondi, NCT and the participating industry representatives for making the visit possible. Building on Michael Peter’s assessment, FSA sees the weekend as an encouraging opportunity to renew cooperation with the DFFE and turn shared commitments into practical delivery. The sector looks forward to working with the Minister and his team to secure a sustainable fibre supply and bring the Masterplan’s investment, transformation and employment ambitions to fruition.
Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister David Maynier on a tour of Mondi’s Richards Bay Mill hosted by Mondi CEO Jason Smith