{"id":11463,"date":"2020-06-25t20:02:11","date_gmt":"2020-06-25t20:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/south-african-environmental-justice-activists-push-toward-change-one-victory-at-a-time\/"},"modified":"2023-02-28t18:37:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28t18:37:31","slug":"environmental-justice-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/environmental-justice-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"south african environmental justice activists push toward change, one victory at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"
the streets of soweto township, on the outskirts of johannesburg, have always been a breeding ground for south african activists.<\/p>\n
it was there that nobel laureates nelson mandela and archbishop desmond tutu began their illustrious careers. it was there that children brought the cruelties of apartheid into sharp focus in the 1976 soweto uprising. and it was there that present-day environmental justice activist makoma lekalakala realized the world was an unfair place, and that she could help make it right.<\/p>\n
there was a lot that felt inherently unjust to lekalakala. and despite south africa now being 25 years into democracy, there is a lot that still feels skewed, she says, a lot that still needs to be fought for.<\/p>\n
\u201cthere’s a multiplicity of issues that really, as a social justice activist, you look at and say, ‘what can be done? what can we do? what do policies or what does legislation say in the country?’\u201d she said. \u201cbecause some of what people were experiencing (then) and are still experiencing now is actually in direct contravention of what our beautiful constitution says.\u201d<\/p>\n
today, lekalakala is the director of earthlife africa johannesburg, where she leads grassroots efforts to urge the government to limit carbon emissions and transition to green energy for the sake of poor and unrepresented communities. in 2018 she and liz mcdaid of the southern african faith communities\u2019 environment institute were awarded the prestigious global goldman environmental prize for their persistence in preventing the south african government from entering into a massive nuclear deal with russia.<\/p>\n
the work of activists like her represents a new effort to elevate environmental justice in south africa, where the legacy of apartheid still weighs heavily on underprivileged and poorer communities.<\/p>\n
in communities like the township where lekalakala grew up, the government-mandated racial divide of apartheid is gone, but many communities \u2013 predominantly black \u2013 still live in crippling poverty. it is a country with the world\u2019s highest wealth disparity<\/a>, and the poor do not have the resources to take on the industrial elite when industrial smokestacks emanate harmful chemicals, nuclear reactors dispose of toxic waste, and mine runoff pollutes water supplies. in this respect, nothing has changed since the apartheid era.<\/p>\n