Environmental Justice Action in Southern Africa

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GROUNDWORK's QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
Volume 3, No 4
DECEMBER 2001

Inside this issue:

from the editor

from the smoke stack

Lead Story -Shell and BP petrol pipeline leak - community members relocated

eNVIRONMENTAL RACISM - WHEN IS IT GOING TO END

Ngwelezana hospital takes positive action

Communities changing history

Cynic’s corner

Focus on… LEILA MOHAMMED

groundWork news

In brief

resources

rio + 10 Sustainable development and poverty

from the editor

Dear friends of groundWork

Many of you will already be aware that Linda Ambler, groundWork’s newsletter editor, is recovering from a motor-vehicle accident. After spending three weeks in hospital and undergoing two spinal operations, Linda (pictured here) is thankfully now walking again. We wish Linda everything of the best for a total recovery from her injuries soon.

Some happier news is that Thuli Makama, director of Yonge Nawe Environmental Action group in Swaziland, has joined the existing five groundWork trustees. We introduce her on page 17.

While assisting with this newsletter, I have once again been amazed to see how much groundWork’s small and dedicated team manages to accomplish. One of the recent highlights is that the Air Quality Project is now official, having been launched in November.  Ardiel Soeker introduces the project on page 11.  Llewellyn Leonard reports   that the skills-share around waste management in South African hospitals is starting to bear fruit (see page 10). In the lead story (page 4-6) you can read Bobby Peek’s  take on the issues of globalisation, corporate advertising, and the outrageous pollution assaults which local communities endure, as Durban swims in leaked fuels.

A new contributor to the newsletter is Greenfly, a pest whose writing may offend sensitive readers. In this satirical piece we get an update on  gossip in the corridors (or should that be sewers?) of our own National Environmental Advisory Forum (NEAF).  You’ll find Greenfly’s mythical parallel universe on page 14.

Regards, Gillian Watkins  

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from the smoke stack
By groundWork Director, Bobby Peek

In November 2001, groundWork launched its Air Quality Project.  A project seeking to ensure that community people, who monitor industrial pollution on a daily basis with their lungs, can now prove to government and industries if the air they breath is unfit for human consumption, by taking their own samples with the bucket brigade air sampling device. 

The bucket brigade was introduced into South Africa by groundWork in 2000, in a partnership with the South African Exchange Programme on Environmental Justice (SAEPEJ) and Communities for a Better Environment (CBE).  This exchange across the continents, has resulted in communities demanding back their clean air. 

The partnership was groundbreaking.  It resulted in industry introducing environmental measures in refineries to reduce benzene exposure and for the first time the South African public had evidence of what they were breathing in as a result of industrial activity. 

What is important in this project, is that as South Africans we start sharing experiences not only with the outside world, but also with our fellow Southern Africans.  To this end, groundWork is excited by the recent visit by community members from Sasol, Secunda, Cape Town, Mozambique and Swaziland to South Durban, as part of the Air Quality Programme.  The shared experience of South Durban will hopefully result in our government not only taking action in South Durban, but also in other polluted areas of South Africa. South Durban is a perfect picture of what can go wrong if we are not vigilant as civil society.

By sharing our experiences, let civil society make Southern Africa the beacon of hope for Africa, and give true meaning to the New African Initiative!

All the best for 2002!  

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Lead Story

Shell and BP petrol pipeline leak - community members relocated
by Bobby Peek

Caption: SAPREF pipelines were also repaired in 1998. These pipelines run on the East side of Tara Road on the fence line of houses. On the other side of the road are Engen pipelines. Pipelines like these carry various substances including petrol, diesel, marine fuel oil, lube oil and LPG gas. Photo: Bobby Peek

Despite government assurances that residents of South Durban would not be relocated as a result of industrial activity; a massive petrol leak from one of Shell and BP’s underground pipelines has recently led to the relocation of some families. It is time for these companies to be called to account, and for government to protect our people, writes Bobby Peek.

When challenged on the issue of globalisation, many governments with strong human rights constitutions, such as South Africa, answer their citizens by stating that they seek the positive outcomes of globalisation to be shared by all.

In South Durban, however, communities are every day experiencing, first-hand, the exact opposite.  Here, people are being forced to share the ills of globalisation through the pollution spewed out daily by Shell and BP, as they do elsewhere in the world.

Now  this pollution has gone so far as to result in some people being relocated from their homes in South Durban; this despite the earlier assurance by our Minister of Environment, Valli Moosa that residents would not be relocated as a result of industrial activity.

The relocation took place following an underground petrol pipeline failure (detected on 7 July 2001) which  resulted in a leak of 950 000 litres of petrol. This petrol was lost from  one of the many pipelines which run in a residential area. Residents were subjected to elevated levels of benzene, a substance which can cause leukaemia if people are exposed to it over a prolonged period. The Mercury newspaper reported on October 25 that so far five families had been advised “to leave their homes as a health precaution because of peak levels of airborne benzene.”

As I try to make sense of this, and the various fuel pipeline leaks and other accidents in South Durban by Shell and BP (SAPREF), I have sought to understand what these companies are doing internationally.  I see their adverts on television, and I wonder how communities could be having a problem with them, if they claim to be doing so well?  I then read the stories about communities in Nigeria and Louisiana and I am unable to reconcile the harsh realities I see and read of, with the glossy, feel-good corporate images spun by Shell and BP that are served  right in our living rooms on our television screens virtually every night.

Accountability – to whom and from whom?
In Nigeria, for example, Shell has recently slapped two civil suits against the Olomoro and Oleh local communities for about 250 million rand ($25 million U.S.) for damages and about 8 million rand a day for loss of production.  This is allegedly as a result of a plant failure when local youths occupied the Shell flow station, which caused contamination of the environment.

This is an important case, for Shell is using the court system to call on communities to be accountable.  This same principle must then be applied to Shell for its environmental and human rights abuses. Now is the time for communities to call for and demand corporate accountability, using not only the laws of the country, but also local laws of indigenous communities.

It is not only Africa that is suffering, however. Other vulnerable communities, like the people in Louisiana in the USA, share similar circumstances with the people of South Durban. In Louisiana, the people in Norco and New Sarpy who are being polluted by oil companies are asking to be relocated away from these industries that are not cleaning up their act. 

But just as Shell in South Durban had initially only spoken to individuals when relocating people, instead of consulting with the community as a collective, the same modus operandi is evident in Norco - where Shell is accused of seeking to divide the community.  Local organiser Anne Rolfes states: “It is time for industry to come clean on their schemes to expand into our neighbourhoods and then scoop up our land for next to nothing.  These industries turn neighbourhoods into a virtual gas chamber, drive down the prices and then try to buy people off for nothing.” 

This is a frightening echo of what’s happening in South Durban today.

Monitoring with our lungs
With this image of the community being a “virtual gas chamber” still lingering in my mind, it is ironic that Shell and BP in South Durban have called on local people to be their monitors.  “To a large extent we (Shell and BP) have to rely on you, as a resident to inform us when there is a possible SAPREF related problem in the neighbourhood.  You are aware of the normal environment and are able to quickly react when there is a change,” stated Managing Director of Shell and BP, Richard Parks.  But Shell and BP have no air pollution monitors in South Durban and  - with no financial resources to their name -  the only way the local community can monitor levels of pollution is through their lungs.

Government fails to take strong action
Some people are asking, what is government doing to protect it citizens?  I cannot answer this except to refer to government correspondence that does not force Shell and BP into immediate action, but rather allows them to continue operating an oil refinery system that has time and again proven unsafe and hazardous.  Government is unsure of itself and thus “politely” requests Shell and BP to present action plans by the end of the year, rather then taking action now!

Finally, I ask myself when are we going to get accountability from industry in South Africa?

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eNVIRONMENTAL RACISM - WHEN IS IT GOING TO END
by Llewellyn Leonard

The residential area could be mistaken for the plush upmarket neighbourhood of Durban North.  In fact a large number of the residents in the area are from Durban North.  But as you watch the traffic go by you realise that this is not Durban North.  There are taxis with “boom-boom” music driving back and forth, very much part of the new South Africa.  Not far behind these taxis you see a waste truck with a series of four skips all carrying hazardous waste travelling through the community. 

This is not plush Durban North. It is Chatsworth, a black community of Indian origin living south-west of Durban.  These people once lived in Durban North but due to the apartheid laws they were relocated to Chatsworth, and then they had a toxic dump placed adjacent to their community.  This toxic apartheid legacy still exists today, where toxic waste is transported through the residential roads of Chatsworth. 

Residents opposed to proposed medical waste treatment facility
It is in this neighbourhood that the most recent conflict between black South Africans and our democratic government is taking place because old environmental racist practices still perpetuate themselves in a new South Africa. 

In Chatsworth, Waste Services already operates a toxic landfill site. Now they are proposing to set up a medical waste management facility in the area. This will result in medical waste travelling through the community as well.

I had attended various meetings held on this process, and it became clear that the Chatsworth residents were against the proposal by Waste Services to treat medical waste on the toxic landfill site.  The local civic bodies in the area term this proposal “dangerous” and “racist”.  Residents expressed concern over the transportation of medical waste through Havenside Drive as the safety and health of the community was being put at risk.

Residents have in the past campaigned to have the site removed, and have reiterated that they would do everything possible to immediately close the site and have it rehabilitated. I was told by one of the members of the civics, that Waste Services was granted a permit to operate at the site in 1988, but that no proper consultation with the communities living in the Greater Chatsworth areas and Umlazi was considered.

Problems with the EIA process
Waste Services are in the process of conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed development of setting up a medical waste treatment facility adjacent to Chatsworth.

The scoping report, an initial phase within the EIA to get public input into the proposed development, seemed questionable. The community also emphasised their concern about the way in which the EIA process was being conducted. 

Normally the scoping report is a document that would only record the concerns of any interested and affected parties. In this case, the scoping report received was a blend of both the scoping and environmental assessment phases.  This confusion is something that consultants and industry are actively perpetuating as they push for development.

Developments happen before EIA is completed
At one of the community meetings it was noted by residents that Waste Services had acknowledged that the medical waste treatment unit called Logmed had arrived at the landfill site prior to approval by authorities. According to Habimum Singh, chairman of the civics, the move on the part of Waste Services reflected various levels of inconsistency which are unacceptable to the residents, since the survey of public response was not completed.

groundWork is concerned about the appropriateness of implementing the proposed Logmed technology in a context where segregation of waste is not taking place in our hospitals. Waste generation figures that are available relate only to volumes of infectious waste and not to chemical, radioactive and cytotoxic streams.

According to the manufacturers of the Logmed unit based in Germany, Logmed Vertriebs GmbH; wastes such as chemical, radioactive and cytotoxins are forbidden from entering the unit. It is a fact that segregation of waste is not being conducted in South African hospitals and it is therefore highly likely that such materials would get into the unit.  

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Ngwelezana hospital takes positive action after skills-share visit
by Llewellyn Leonard

I returned to Ngwelezana hospital on October 15.  This was my first visit there since the medical waste skills-share visit in September 2001, with consultants Glenn McRae and Neil Tangri. The skills-share was conducted to help hospitals better manage their waste by reducing the amount of waste generated, thereby saving costs and increasing worker safety.

I was excited at the thought of returning to Ngwelezana hospital as last time we had been received by enthusiastic staff members who were eager to start addressing waste issues.

Upon arrival, the Occupational Health and Safety Matron, Sister Ruth Jele, as well as the Infection Control Nurse, Sister Jabu Nene, received me warmly with a wonderful treat of tea and biscuits for our meeting.

During the meeting, I gave a report back of the skills-share, based on the findings by the consultants as well as recommendations to be undertaken by the hospital. Both matrons listened intently with open eagerness to start putting the recommendations presented into effect as soon as possible.

A number of internal meetings had occurred after the skills-share so that a way forward could be formulated to reduce waste. Already processes of restructuring the waste management policies were put in place. I was glad to see that a proper colour coded bagging system was being implemented.

Posters and signs in both English and Zulu were being formulated. However, since the hospital is under-resourced, they had asked groundWork for assistance with poster making. Since then, I am glad to announce that the Department of Health has given its assistance on the formulation of posters through layout, design and printing. These posters will not only be used at Ngwelezana, but at other hospitals as well.

Since my last visit to Ngwelezana, the hospital had resolved a problem with a dumpsite within its premises. The dumpsite, which had contained ash from an incinerator and medical waste such as needles, syringes and pharmaceutical waste was now no longer in existence. After learning of  the effects of incineration as well as the potential hazards of the ash produced as a result of incineration, the hospital had arranged for the waste to be hauled away by Compass Waste Services.

As I left Ngwelezana, my overall impression about its future as an institution in its efforts to reduce waste and implement an effective waste reduction programme was reassuring. I am certain that this institution will become a model to other hospitals in the future in their efforts to better manage waste and increase the occupational health and safety of both the institution and the communities that they serve.  

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No more the victim – communities changing history
Ardiel Soeker introduces groundWork’s Air Quality Project.

The chemical century has produced many wonders and innovations in the name of progress conveniently called development. However, what it also produced are dangerous and hazardous substances. Poor people bear the brunt of the negative impacts of this progress and benefit the least from its wonders and innovations.

In South Africa, oil, gas and coal refineries constitute some of the biggest industrial polluters.  South Africa as a developing country is often the recipient of outdated machinery and technology.  Foreign-owned companies like BP and Shell can operate refineries in South Africa on poorly maintained machinery and expired technology and reap huge profits. In their countries of origin they would not be allowed to operate whilst emitting the same levels of pollution as they emit in South Africa and Africa.

November heralded the start of  a three year project designed to enable communities to defend themselves in the face of  serious problems of industrial air pollution in South Africa. The project involves collaboration between groundWork and communities living along side polluting industries and refineries. groundWork’s Air Quality Project is borne out of sustained engagement with communities, government and industry around the issues of improving the management and operations of refineries and industry. The objective of the Air Quality Project is to ensure that communities affected by industrial air pollution are better able to defend and promote their environmental interests at local, national and international levels.

The Project has several goals
The project aims to deliver a number of outputs, namely: community air pollution monitoring systems; technical assistance for communities; community links with national and international community organisations; a national report on the status of industrial air pollution; the development and implementation of a national civil society strategy on air quality; and  a media strategy and information service. These outputs are described in more detail below.

Community air pollution monitoring systems to be developed
Community members in several areas affected by severe industrial pollution were introduced to the bucket brigade air quality testing system during the past year. The results of bucket samples taken in South Durban, Sasolburg and Cape Town revealed that the air in refinery towns contains dangerous pollutants. The results of these once off samples verified what communities have been saying to industry and government for a long time. This time, however, industry and government were forced to listen because the evidence was there.

With the air quality project, the formalization of the community monitoring system will include activities such as training individuals to take air samples, and developing “sniffers” in the community who will be observant to the smells of different chemicals and other signs of pollution resulting from inefficient management and operations of the refineries and industries. 

Community leaders will be equipped to interpret the results from air sample analysis and to link them to health and environmental impacts within the community. This will be supplemented by additional forms of monitoring - such as asking teachers to record the health complaints of learners, monitoring clinic records, attaining information from industry and government air monitoring programs, and from refinery and industry emission inventories.

Technical assistance will supplement community monitoring
groundWork will provide technical assistance to supplement community monitoring and will assist in negotiations around refinery and industrial operations and improvements. This will ensure that community demands are based on what is technically viable and realistic. Our research indicates that refinery communities often lack information as to what specific aspects of operations cause elevated pollution and how this can be remedied. Allowing industries’ engineers to find solutions has left communities disillusioned because in the end it boils down to what is best for the company and not what is best for the workers and community.  Alternative technical opinion provides communities with options as to how best to address pollution concerns.

A response strategy to support communities affected by specific incidents at refineries and other industries is also an important element within the Air Quality Project. South African refineries are notorious for the occurrence of serious accidents. In the past year alone every one of the refineries in South Africa experienced a major accident resulting in the loss of workers’ lives or in injury. groundWork seeks to build confidence and knowledge among affected communities through its response strategy.

Linking local communities with national and international community organisations
The project will build community links with national and international community organisations. This will further build confidence and deepen understanding of pollution struggles within South Africa. Learning and sharing experiences towards joint action will be the key objectives of theses interchanges.  Moreover, these exchanges will break the isolation of refinery communities and place their struggles in the context of national and international struggles.

National report on the status of industrial air pollution to be generated annually
A national report on the status of industrial air pollution will be generated annually.

It will be informed by the community monitoring data, community exchanges and other relevant information, in order to provide alternative information to decision makers. The report will be an advocacy tool to be used by communities in negotiations with industry and government.

Towards a national civil society strategy on air quality
Another key component of the annual pollution status report is the development of a civil society strategy on air pollution.  This will be undertaken by working with organisations in pollution hotspots and holding annual meetings to devise strategies and actions on dealing with industrial pollution and the failure of government to protect its citizens from this pollution.

Media service to focus on pollution information
In addition to the above, a media and information service will focus on continually exposing dirty industry, and providing the media with credible information on pollution and industry.

History will never be the same!
groundWork’s underlying core to achieving these outcomes is the building of capacity amongst communities that have until just recently always considered themselves powerless in the face of the might of industry. They have relied on information from industry and they have been denied the benefit of alternative, non-profit driven support.  History will never be the same!

Representatives from community based civil society organisations in South Durban, Sasolburg, the Highveld (Secunda and eMbahlenhle), Swaziland and Mozambique gathered in South Durban on 22-24 November 2001, to share their experiences on campaigning against polluting industries that impact on communities.  South Durban was chosen as the first National Exchange visit area, in order that other communities could learn from the campaigning success of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance.  groundWork’s Air Quality Project was also launched during the exchange.
Photo: Bobby Peek.

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Cynic’s corner

Our own NEAF
By  Greenfly

Chapter 2 of South Africa’s National Environmental Management Act, now 3 years old, assures us that the (real) NEAF is already established. However, it is still not functioning.

The stories, characters and incidents portrayed in this column are fictitious. No identification with actual persons is intended or should be inferred (well, almost).

By some mysterious process, the Minister has appointed me to the National Environmental Advisory Forum (NEAF). This is almost certainly an important breakthrough for the environmental justice future of South Africa. I take my responsibility very seriously and promise to try and report back regularly through groundWork. The reports won’t be comprehensive. We’ll leave out the boring bits; give undue emphasis to the interesting bits; and rely heavily on rumour and corridor gossip. Even so, reporting from the NEAF where all the big players should be heard and consulted with promises to be informative.

Easy Management Credits for Absolutely Stuffall (EMCAs)

Of course, DEAT’s[1] commitment to consultation is legendary already. Take EMCAs[2] - a way of making voluntary agreements about environmental things with industries - which were stuck into the National Environmental Management Act at the last minute by the business lobby who had failed in public debates to convince anyone else that self-regulation was a good idea for the environment.

Regular readers will know that groundWork has carefully pointed out a lot of what’s wrong with using EMCAs in South Africa at the moment. Perhaps because of groundWork’s criticisms, DEAT decided to consult with more than business on EMCAs for the first time. They had a workshop to see if there was consensus. Well, the workshop report makes it very clear that there wasn’t – unless one includes the long list of critical questions people had. Although it’s abundantly clear that a lot needs to be done to get the basics of environmental policing in place before ‘voluntary agreements’ or ‘self regulation’ can add anything useful to the mix, DEAT concluded the workshop by explaining how they were going to go forward with EMCAs anyway! 

But then perhaps groundWork have focussed too much on the negative side of EMCAs and not looked at the positive. Luckily, Mr H Potgieter of Plascon Paints has done that for us. Writing for the South African Paint Manufacturers Association[3], Mr Potgieter explains why he thinks EMCAs are much better than ‘command and control’ environmental management:

“One of the characteristics of an EMCA is the fact that agreements are made concerning the environmental policy of government. Legal certainty can also be promoted via the usage of an EMCA that can serve as input into the legislation reform process. In this sense industry can negotiate the development of new legislation to ensure that unrealistic burdens are not placed on it. …Incentives may include tax reductions or subsidies. Receiving incentives could be one of the possible benefits of the conclusion and implementation of an EMCA for industry. …Industries entering into an EMCA can boast an environmental friendly image that will promote competitiveness.”

All of these really exciting environmental benefits (there are none) must be the reason why DEAT advertised for the following post a few weeks after the ‘consultative’ workshop: “Assistant Director - Environmental Management Systems Post:  The successful candidate will be required to assist with the development of self and co-regulatory environmental management tools, including guidelines, sectoral procedures, norms and standards.”[4]

It’s a sewer out there

Great excitement from fellow flies in KwaZulu-Natal, where they are reporting a massive availability of sewage and industrial sludge in Durban, where the Metro Water and Waste division apparently has nowhere near the capacity they need to handle it. Seriously though, while this is good news for flies, humans should probably be a little concerned about rumours of massive stockpiles of excrement and industrial sludge at unlicensed and under-capacity ‘treatment’ plants with the potential to spontaneously combust and/or pollute groundwater – all this without sufficient pollution  monitoring and no management plan in place. Still, we must give credit where it’s due. There’s a process to develop a management plan. The public was told all options would be considered – let’s wait and see whether Durban Metro has the imagination to go beyond old favourites like pumping it out to sea or making it toxic and pumping it into the air through incineration.

Yahoo!

Talking about imaginative responses to pollution problems, we should note the departure of Martin Lloyd from DEAT.  For years now, Lloyd has headed up what passes for South Africa’s air pollution regulatory capacity. He leaves behind a legacy of increasingly dirty air, declining monitoring capacity, and almost non-existent prosecution under an Act which is now more than 30 years old.

The unexplained departure of Lloyd prompts the question that no-one has yet answered for Greenfly: “Does this mean someone in DEAT actually wants more effective policing of air quality?”

PS: there is a strong rumour doing the rounds that the real Minister Moosa might actually be setting up a real NEAF just in time for the WSSD which he hosts next year. We’ll let you know!

(groundWork readers are very welcome to help Greenfly. If you have any comments which are critical of Greenfly’s report, for any reason, perhaps you should let the groundWork editor know (I know I’m not interested). But if you have even more interesting stories and scandalous titbits I should know about, e-mail me at greenfly@groundwork.org.za. I promise to protect my sources, but only my sources - targets are there for the taking! )

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Focus on...

            Leila Mohamed

Leila Mahomed is one of the founding members of the Anti Incineration Movement in the Western Cape

The global anti-incineration movement is growing from month to month.  This is no different in South Africa.  Like many other movements, this movement needs a spark and a fire to ensure that it thrives.  

In the Western Cape, South Africa, this spark and fire is Leila Mahomed.  An “egte regte[5]” activist.  Here Leila, her friends and colleagues, were faced with the proposal by Denel, the South African arms manufacturer, to build a military waste incinerator in the middle of black neighbourhoods in Cape Town.  In responding to this environmental injustice, Leila was one of the founding members of the Anti Incineration Alliance in the Western Cape.  An alliance of community based organisations living in the vicinity of the proposed incinerator and non-governmental organisations challenging incinerator proposals in the Western Cape.

Bringing the knowledge of campaigning on water issues as well as nuclear energy, Leila has managed to work with friends and colleagues to make this alliance one that is recognised world wide as a vital cog in the global anti-incineration movement.

Leila is not scared of a challenge.  She took on her fear of heights by bungi jumping.  It is extremely doubtful whether industry will be able to shake her.

Her personal philosophy in life is one we can all learn from:

* Thought is creation and intention is the way of the universe.
* It’s almost always the attitude rather than the circumstances that one needs to consider when under stress or in a situation. In this way one creates options and doors rather than obstacles and walls.
* Give things you are afraid of a chance.
* Have at least one good thought in the morning. There is always something worth waking up for - perhaps a song that brings back memories, or free-flowing traffic on your way to work, or your contribution to another energy efficient and comfortable home for someone. 

That’s Leila!  

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groundWork news

A memorable season Spring has  been a season of both turbulence and healing in the lives of  some of the  “groundWorkers”. Linda Ambler, a core “groundWorker” was injured in a motor vehicle accident. She spent three weeks in hospital where she had two operations for  fractures in two vertebrae.  On her 21^st day in hospital Linda was back on email thanking the people who had sent messages and visited her. She wrote: “The doctors and casualty staff who have attended to me say that it is a miracle that I am alive let alone walking. But here I am walking, feeling fit as a fiddle and likely to recover 100%. ”  Back home now, Linda is still recovering while wearing a neck brace and  a corset for a few more weeks. Get well soon Linda!

Ardiel Soeker, who runs groundWork’s air quality project, has also been going through a tough time, having lost his father a few weeks ago. All at groundWork send condolences to Ardiel and his family.

As I write this, however, I am able to say on a happier note that congratulations are also in order for Ardiel and his partner, Charlene Houston, who were married last week. 

Other  positive news is that groundWork has a new trustee, Thuli Makama.

Thuli Makama, director of Yonge Nawe Environmental Action group in Swaziland, has joined groundWork’s existing five trustees.  As a mother, and an advocate-turned-environmentalist,  she has this message to share: “Let’s all join hands to conserve our environment. We must all do this to enable a better quality of life for current and future generations so that they never run out of natural resources.”

Since joining  Yonge Nawe four years ago, Thuli has been living out this message, dedicating her skills and energy towards the conservation of the fast degrading environment for both present and future generations. Her organisation has been involved extensively in raising environmental awareness, and their environmental awareness campaigns have stimulated government environmental activities in Swaziland.

In addition to her BA Law and LLB degrees from the University of Swaziland, Thuli Makama holds an M. Sc. In Environmental Assessment and Evaluation from the London School of Economics, University of London.   

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In brief

17^th anniversary of Bhopal disaster

Seventeen years ago on the night of  2 December 1984, poisonous gases escaped from the Union Carbide Corporation pesticide factory into the city of Bhopal, India, killing more than 3000 people and wounding more than 500 000 others overnight.

groundWork extends its solidarity to the survivors of the Bhopal disaster who continue to fight for justice and reparations from Dow Chemicals, the new owner of Union Carbide.
groundWork reiterates the demand for statutory mechanisms to prevent such an occurrence in other parts of the world, including South Africa.

Oil refinery planned for Malawi

The Mozambican and Malawian governments are negotiating plans to construct an oil pipeline from the Mozambique Indian Ocean port of Nacala to Malawi.  This is part of a programme that will tie up with plans to build an oil refinery in the Liwonde Township in Southern Malawi.  The Malawian government is in negotiations with the government of Iran as one of the possible funders for this development. 

Fossil fuel exploration, exploitation and refining has a long history of human rights abuse in Africa.  Will multinational corporations and foreign governments getting involved in this project continue this unfortunate practice in Malawi?

Medical waste and incineration meetings to happen in March

The last year has been an exciting year for groundWork’s medical waste and incineration campaign.  We have pressurised industry to move towards cleaner technology and government to improve policies.

Together with Health Care Without Harm, groundWork has also assisted hospitals with health care waste management. We will continue this pressure in 2002. 

groundWork will be hosting a regional meeting of the Global Anti Incineration Alliance (GAIA) on 1-2 March. On 3-4 March groundWork  will host a South African medical waste and incinerator meeting, where politicians and government officials will be invited to hear the viewpoints of civil society on incineration and medical waste management.  For more information contact Llewellyn Leonard at the groundWork office in Pietermaritzburg (Email: llewellyn@groundwork.org.za , or phone +27 (0) 33 342 5662.

Mozal – a project gone wrong?

Expectations were that the new Mozal aluminium smelter development in Mozambique would bring about a new era of investment and environmental developmental security in a rapidly growing Mozambique.  “This development was welcomed by all, for many people saw a new ethos of job creation and environmental protection as the fundamental principles of this venture,” says Anabela Lemos of Livaningo. However, not a year after the opening of the plant, on the outskirts of Maputo, the fume treatment has suffered a breakdown.  The cooling tower in the treatment plant  (that is an anti-pollution scrubbing device) became corroded and “gave way”, stated Peter Wilshaw, general manager of Mozal.  He claimed that the black smoke emitted from the treatment plant is not dangerous to human health for it only contained fluoride and carbon soot. 

Livaningo, the local environment and human rights organisation in Maputo had difficulty in getting to meet with the management of Mozal. After repeated attempts, when the two parties eventually did meet, Mozal could not answer the concerns raised by Livaningo appropriately.  Would this be allowed to occur in Australia or Europe?  I think not!  

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Resources

In the pipeline

groundWork will be hosting a regional meeting of the Global Anti Incineration Alliance (GAIA) on
1-2 March. On 3-4 March groundWork  will host a South African medical waste and incinerator meeting, where politicians and government officials will be invited to hear the viewpoints of civil society on incineration and medical waste management.  For more information contact Llewellyn Leonard at the groundWork office in Pietermaritzburg (Email: llewellyn@groundwork.org.za , or phone +27 (0) 33 342 5662.

Suggested Resources

The World Rainforest Movement has recently produced two valuable resources – a book on oil palm plantations, and a video on the social and environmental impacts of large scale tree monocultures.

Southern NGOs can ask for a free copy of the book, and the video by contacting the WRM International Secretariat at wrm@wrm.org.uy

For other organizations or institutions the cost of  is US$ 20 each for the book and the video including shipment). (Contact groundWork to get further information on the payment details). For the video, you will need to indicate whether the VHS should be a PAL-N or NTSC version.

 “The bitter fruit of oil palm: dispossession and deforestation” - Book,  published by World Rainforest Movement

The first aim of this book is to highlight the impacts associated with large-scale oil palm plantations by providing a general overview of the problem and a broad range of country-level situations, ranging from articles to detailed case studies in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

However, the book's main objective is to generate broader support to local people struggling to protect their forests and lands against the spread of this new invasion. In most tropical countries oil palm  plantations are only in their initial stage and it is therefore still possible to prevent their implementation; in other countries it is necessary to halt their further spread. Much more research, information-sharing, campaigning and networking is needed to achieve those objectives and we sincerely hope that this book will serve as a useful tool for that purpose.

 "The Green Invasion" - Video, produced by the World Rainforest Movement

This 35 minute video is produced within the framework of  the WRM’s plantations campaign.

The video reflects local peoples' concerns about large scale tree monocultures and the social and environmental impacts they entail throughout the south. The aim of this video is to serve as a major tool for raising awareness about the serious threat posed by these plantations to forests and forest peoples and to support the worldwide struggle against them.

The Health, Safety and Environment Library, On CD-ROM and the Internet, Butterworths

This electronic publication provides instant access to all legislation and information relating to health, safety and environment in South Africa. The subject areas and legislation contained in the library have been selected and sourced by leading specialists in the fields of health, safety and the environment. Pity about the cost, which will probably put it out of the reach of most NGOs.

CD-ROM format available at R3530.00 standalone, thereafter R1880.00 subscription charge.

Internet format available at R1880.00 a year per single user; intranet format available at R3200.00 a year per single user. (Contact groundWork to get details of who to speak to in your area for further information).  

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RIO + 10
Grappling with the problem of  “sustainable development” and poverty

South Africa is to host the World Summit, the 10 year review of the Earth Summit, in Gauteng from September 2 to 11, 2002.  Victor Munnik raises some critical questions about the meaning of “sustainable development”, a term which entered the mainstream at the 1992 summit, as it relates to the issue of poverty.

 “Sustainable development” was  defined in 1987 as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”.

In 1992, at the Earth Summit,  this idea was elaborated into Agenda 21 (a blue-print for action) with its 40 chapters, a number of conventions on specific issues and subsequent summits.

The definition poses an immediate problem – namely that the needs of the present are not being met. This is called poverty.

Although it is true that environmental concerns have not been solved over the past 10 years as expected, some progress has been made on the green agenda.

However, over the past 10 years poverty has become worse. In fact, the mechanisms that create poverty have been entrenched more deeply than before – in international governance through the World Trade Organisation and in the economies of countries in the South through structural adjustment.

The neo-liberal agenda has achieved near hegemony since even liberation  movements and officially socialist governments implement it. The neoliberal agenda opens public spaces and activities and turns them into profit-making activities. This makes it more difficult for those without money – the poor – to survive.

And how will the needs of future generations be met if we add destroyed ecosystems to growing poverty?

The World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 faces an interesting situation. Instructions from the United Nations are to undertake a review of the 10 years that have passed since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, focusing on the identification of accomplishments and areas where further efforts are needed to implement Agenda 21 and other outcomes of the Rio summit.

There is wide consensus that the primary focus of the 2002 summit should be on poverty, development and the environment. The summit should reinvigorate the process of implementing Agenda 21 – because words have been many but actions few.

These days, the texts of sustainable development deal with both green and brown issues. Where they are stuck is on the question of poverty, as if they find themselves in a traffic jam of words.

Why? Because poverty cannot be eradicated without fundamentally transforming the power structure that controls the world economy.

This is a very short extract from  an article that first appeared in Land& Rural Digest, and subsequently in the Mail & Guardian World Summit 2002 Supplement of October 12, 2001. If you would like to read the full article, contact groundWork.

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