Invite to South Africa’s
first award for corporate bad practice and abuse
The Corpse Awards!
groundWork [1] and the Centre for Civil Society [2] at the
University of Kwa Zulu-Natal have joined forces to deliver
South Africa’s first Corpse Awards.
A selection of South Africa’s premier corporations
are lined up for the Corpse Awards. The Corpse Awards recognise
worst corporate practice in producing environmental injustice.
The nominations for the awards are made by the people living
next door to the corporate plants and by civil society organisations
concerned at the trashing of people and environments.
The leading contenders for the awards are oil giants Sasol,
Sapref and Engen, steel giant Ispat Iscor, pulp and paper
giants Sappi and Mondi and South Africa’s power utility,
Eskom and one of the leading proponents of genetically modified
technology, Monsanto. All boast their commitment to Corporate
Social Responsibility and the environment. Their advertisements
and publications claim best practice and continuous improvement,
their commitment to health and safety and to corporate social
responsibility. Some have even won awards for environmental
and social reporting.
None of them have convinced their neighbours who live with
the burden of ill-health – cancers, asthma and other
breathing difficulties, eczemas and allergies, and a variety
of conditions affecting the blood, nerve and immune systems.
You are hereby invited to join community people and civil
society organisations who are campaigning against corporate
abuse at the first ever Corpse Awards for companies operating
in South Africa.
Please join us.
Day: Friday
Date: 10 June 2005
Time: 17:30 hrs for 18:00 hrs
Venue: Howard College Theatre, University of Kwa Zulu-Natal.
Cocktails at 17:30 hrs and Supper at 19:30 hrs.
Preparatory Workshop
Please note that in preparation for the Awards – groundWork
will be hosting a gathering from 11:00 to 15:00 hrs before
the awards. This session is to review the nominations received
and to understand the common theme of corporate bad practice
and to set in place a set of recommendations that could be
used for joint campaigning and mobilisation to dismantle the
power of corporations.
Please inform us if you will attend both events or just the
awards. Please confirm your attendance by filling in attached
registration form and faxing it to Bathoko Sibisi @ 033 342
5665 or e-mail bathoko@groundwork.org.za by Friday, June 3.
We look forward to you joining us for the events of the day.
For further information on the Corpse Awards please contact
Bobby Peek @ groundWork – 033 342 5662/082 464 1383.
[1] groundWork is an environmental justice organisation working
with community people from around South and Southern Africa
on environmental justice and human rights issues focusing
on Air Pollution, Waste and Corporate Abuse. groundWork is
the South African chapter of Friends of the Earth International
(FoEI), the world environmental justice federation campaigning
to protect the environment and to create sustainable societies
and is a member of OilwatchAfrica. www.groundwork.org.za
[2] The Centre for Civil Society was established in the Faculty
of Community and Development Disciplines in July 2001. It
began with a staff of one but has rapidly expanded and now
has a staff of 19. The Centre has a wide range of thriving
local, national and international linkages with key organisations
and individuals in and concerned with civil society. www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs
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