DAYS OF PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS NEARING AN END.

The days of regular plastic shopping bags will soon be numbered in terms of a Cabinet decision on Wednesday, government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said in Pretoria. He said Cabinet approved regulations to ban the use of thin plastic bags in order to reduce waste. "This prohibition will be conducted in a slow phase-out manner and will also apply to ordinary plastic bags used to carry groceries," he told reporters after the fortnightly Cabinet meeting. The measures would be phased in terms of the thickness of plastic bags. This process would start once the regulations were promulgated. "We might introduce the limit of 20 and 30 millimetres immediately and then 80 millimetres after about a year," Netshitenzhe said. Another environmental issue discussed at the Cabinet meeting related to the off-road use of vehicles along the coastline. Regulations in this regard were being finalised to be promulgated, Netshitenzhe said. Matters to be considered included the issue of sporting events that entailed off-road driving. Asked whether there was agreement that members of the public would be banned from driving on beaches, Netshitenzhe said: "That is the principle, yes." He said Cabinet also noted the recent spate of sexual offences against women and children, and how this related to what he described as moral decay in society. "Whilst expressing deep emotional dismay at these incidents, Cabinet resolved that it is the responsibility of government ...