__NOTOC__ The

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

traces its history from the beginnings of conservation and preservation groups in the late 19th century, to the rise of radicalism amongst local ecologists and activists. The early environmental movement in South Africa was primarily made up of conservation groups whose membership was dominated by affluent whites. Many of these groups advocated for forms of

fortress conservation Fortress conservation is a conservation model based on the belief that biodiversity protection is best achieved by creating protected areas where ecosystems can function in isolation from human disturbance. Economic aspects Poaching is a billi ...

that were used to justify forcibly removing Black South Africans from their land. Throughout the mid to late 20th century, justice-centered environmental groups sprung up in connection with anti-apartheid movements advocating for change on issues that affected the environment as well as the rights of workers and rural peoples, showing how environmental issues in the country were "inextricably linked to issues of race and politics."Khan, Farieda. 2014: 'Race, Politics, and the Environment in South Africa- Trends in the History of Environmental Civil Society Organisations'. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Farieda-Khan/publication/316240934_Race_Politics_and_the_Environment_in_South_Africa_-_Trends_in_the_History_of_Environmental_Civil_Society_Organisations/links/58f73a17a6fdcc187f3bd741/Race-Politics-and-the-Environment-in-South-Africa-Trends-in-the-History-of-Environmental-Civil-Society-Organisations

Issues

Since the early days of the environmental movement, protection of wildlife and natural landscapes has been a major area of focus, however as the environmental movement has become more justice-focused, it has shifted from advocating for fortress conversation policies to endorsing community-based conservation strategies, which have been implemented in some areas with varying degrees of efficacy. Historically, many key environmental issues in the country were not explicitly framed as environmental issues by social movements, but rather as issues of "service delivery," which encompass the provision of housing, water, sanitation, and electricity services by national and municipal governments. Some environmental groups have addressed the intersections between the environment, urban living conditions, and occupational health and safety. Environmental movements in the country have also increasingly focused on combatting climate climate change and making decarbonization, sustainable development, and climate justice political priorities in the country.

Mining

Mining is one of the major industries in South Africa. The country is the world's largest producer of chrome,

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

vanadium Vanadium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an ...

and

vermiculite Vermiculite is a hydrous phyllosilicate mineral which undergoes significant expansion when heated. Exfoliation occurs when the mineral is heated sufficiently; commercial furnaces can routinely produce this effect. Vermiculite forms by the weathe ...

, and is the second largest producer of

ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printi ...

palladium Palladium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1802 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas (formally 2 Pallas), ...

rutile Rutile is an oxide mineral composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most common natural form of TiO2. Rarer polymorphs of TiO2 are known, including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite. Rutile has one of the highest refractive indices at vis ...

and

zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Zr and atomic number 40. First identified in 1789, isolated in impure form in 1824, and manufactured at scale by 1925, pure zirconium is a lustrous transition metal with a greyis ...

. It is also the world's fifth largest coal exporter. While Native South Africans had been mining gold and other minerals for centuries in the region, industrialized mining began in the late 19th century driven by colonial governments and companies. These new mines employed a primarily Black workforce, shifting the Native population from relying on subsidence agriculture for their livelihoods to becoming dependent on wage labor. Working conditions in mines were dangerous with exposure to environmental hazards such as rock bursts and an extremely and hot poorly ventilated conditions. Tuberculosis was also able to spread easily among mine workers due to the poor ventilation. Asbestos mining caused severe lung damage to miners and surrounding communities. Sulfuric acid from mines also leads to pollution of surrounding groundwater, which for many communities is an important drinking water source.

Energy supply

''See also

South African energy crisis South Africa's energy crisis (or load shedding) is an ongoing period of widespread national power outages beginning at the end of 2007. The South African government-owned national power utility, and primary power generator, Eskom, and variou ...

'' South Africa's energy supply crisis, or load shedding, is an ongoing period of widespread national blackouts of electricity supply. It began in the later months of 2007 towards the end of

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

's second term as president, and continues through the present. The

n government-owned national power utility and primary power generator,

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. Eskom was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) (). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the larg ...

, and various parliamentarians attributed these rolling blackouts to insufficient generation capacity. The blackouts have had a wide range of impact on residents including limiting hospital services, increasing food insecurity and water scarcity, and increasing unemployment rates. The issue is connected to debates surrounding climate change and the country's transition to renewable energy since the majority of the nation's electricity currently comes from coal fire power plants. Bureaucratic delays and corruption have delayed the transition to renewables, worsening the power supply crisis.

Water access

Inequitable water and sanitation access have long been issues in South Africa. Amid droughts exacerbated by climate change, the country currently faces a water crisis. The situation is especially dire for rural populations, 19% of whom lack consistent access to water and 33% of whom lack access to basic sanitation services. Although the right to water is a guaranteed under the law, this often not the case on the ground. In 2000, water distribution was decentralized and is now controlled by municipal governments, which makes it more difficult for those outside larger municipalities to be connected to water infrastructure. This change did lead to a net increase in the number of people with access to water infrastructure, with the number increasing by 20.8 million between 1994 and 2020. However significant problems remain with the water system including broken or failing infrastructure, a lack of upkeep, and corruption in municipal governments. A notable example occurred in Mothutlung, a township in the

North West Province North West ( ; ) is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre and province of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of ...

, in 2013 when water tanks were brought in to deal with disruption of water supplies to households. Residents continually complained to local officials, but no action was taken, before they eventually discovered that municipal officials were deliberately delaying the repairs because they were shareholders in the water tank company being paid by the municipality. Protests ensued, and 4 protesters were killed by police.

Key environmental justice organizations

While the environmental movement in South Africa has long operated in decentralized manner, three environmental justice organizations: groundWork South Africa, Earthlife Africa, and the Coalition for Environmental Justice have served as important hubs for organizers and played a role in shaping the direction of the movement. Many environmental NGOs have had to compete with each other for funding, especially amid a scarcity in international funding, although in recent years there have been efforts among environmental organizations to pool their resources, financial and otherwise. The ideological gap has also begun to close between traditional environmental organizations and environmental justice organizations as a response to critiques that conservationist movements were too elitist and did not address issues of concern to the majority of the population.

Earthlife Africa

Earthlife Africa (ELA) is a South African

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

and

anti-nuclear The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...

organisation founded in August 1988, in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. Drawing inspiration from

Greenpeace International Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and focuses its ...

, they sought to politicize conservation and connect it to other social inequalities. The group addressed environmental issues began by playing a radical, anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, activist role. ELA is arguably now more of a reformist lobby or pressure group. As a key voice in the

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...

movement, Earthlife Africa has been criticized for being too radical, and by others for "working with traditional conservation movements" in furthering the environmental struggle.

Coalition for Environmental Justice (formerly the Environmental Justice Networking Forum)

Born out of an ELA conference in 1992, the Environmental Justice Networking Forum (EJNF) quickly became a prominent force in the environmental justice movement, taking on initiatives such as fighting against hazardous waste facilities in poor communities, While the EJNF had success mobilizing rural populations, especially during the late 1990s and early 2000s, the organization was criticized by some for ignoring the pressing environmental justice issues facing urban communities. In 2006, it reestablished as the Coalition for Environmental Justice.

groundWork South Africa

As South Africa's local affiliate of

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

, groundWork South Africa was established in 1995 by three former EJNF members. Their primary areas of focus are renewable energy and environmental health. They aim to address environmentalism through the lens of social equality and the creation of a more egalitarian society, focusing on addressing the needs of vulnerable populations. They both partner with local community organizations and conduct legislative advocacy.

Environment + Politics

During apartheid, while political parties were banned, environmental groups served as an outlet for activism and political expression. After the end of apartheid, many radical environmentalists were absorbed into the governing

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC), while some chose to continue pursuing activism or advocacy through non-governmental organizations. During

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

's presidency (1994-1999) there were higher levels of cooperation between environmental non-governmental organizations and national government, but during the

presidency (1999-2008) tensions arose between environmental groups and the ANC. Mbeki favored non-governmental organizations that focused on delivering direct aid to struggling populations, whereas environmental movements were focused on pursuing social and political change. Lack of transparency and public participation in government decision making remain a source of conflict between environmental organizations and political officials.

Green parties

Unlike many Global North countries which saw large movements for the establishment of green parties beginning in the 1970s, the movement to establish a green party in South Africa in the late 1980s and early 1990s never reached mainstream success. Several green parties were started in the country during that period, although none became influential in national politics. In 1989, the Ecology Party, the country's first green party was established, but it disbanded shortly thereafter.Kotzé, Hendrik Jakobus; Anneke Greyling (1994). ''Political organizations in South Africa A-Z'' (2 ed.). Tafelberg. . In 1992, activists in Capetown launched the Green Party, but it too disbanded after a disastrous election campaign in 1994. Judy Sole, a nature resort developer, then founded the Government of the People Green Party in 1999. ECOPEACE, a socialist environmentalist party founded in 1995 won a seat on the eThekwini Municipal Council in 2000, and its sister organization, Operation Khanyisa Movement (OKM) won a seat on the Johannesburg City Council in 2006.

National legislation

See

South African Environmental Law South African environmental law describes the legal rules in South Africa relating to the social, economic, philosophical and jurisprudential issues raised by attempts to protect and conserve the environment in South Africa. South African envir ...

South Africa's Constitution, ratified in 1996, enshrines the right to a safe and healthy environment, and the right of future generations to have a protected environment though conservation and the curbing of pollution. It also committed to more equitable distribution of land. Two pieces of landmark environmental legislation, the Environmental Management Act and the National Water Act, both passed in 1998. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), which passed in 1994 promised increased service delivery that would meet the needs of all people. However, in a few short years, the RDP would be replaced with Growth, Employment, and Redistribution (GEAR) which was more focused on economic growth than addressing social issues.

International agreements

In 2002, South Africa hosted the Rio+10

World Summit on Sustainable Development The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, took place in South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss sustainable development organizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was t ...

which was held in Johannesburg, the main outcome of which was the

Johannesburg declaration The Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development
A/CONF.199/20, Chapter 1, Resolution 1, Johannesburg, September 2002 w ...

. In the lead up to the event, there was conflict among environmental organizations about whether hosting the summit was a valuable endeavor or whether it was a distraction from pressing domestic environmental policy concerns.

Timeline

Colonial Era

* 1795:

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

established as a British colony. * 1856: The government of the Cape Colony passed the Forest and Herbage Preservation Act. Knysna forest and Tsitsikama forest were designated as nature preserves. * 1867: Diamonds discovered in the Northern Cape. * 1883: The Natal Game Association, a group focused on the conservation of wildlife was founded. It was the first known non-governmental organization in South Africa that focused on environmental issues. * 1910:

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

established by the joining of three British colonies in South Africa. * 1912:

established to oppose the exclusion of Black South Africans from holding positions of power in the colonial government. *1918:

Native Farmers Association Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nati ...

founded. *1926: Wildlife Society of South Africa founded.

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park () is a national park in South Africa covering an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the country's northeast. It extends from north to south and from east to west. The administrative headquarters are i ...

, the first national park in South Africa, was established.

Apartheid Era

*1948:

Apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

regime implemented by the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

. This included environmental apartheid, the deliberate placement of Black South Africans in rural areas with harsh environmental conditions where it was difficult to access necessities such as food, water, and social services. *1955:

Congress of the People (1955) The Congress of the People was a gathering organised by the National Action Council, a multi-racial organisation which later became known as the Congress Alliance, and held in Kliptown on 26 June 1955 to lay out the vision of the South Afric ...

, a meeting of anti-apartheid activists and organizations, was held at Kliptown. The

Freedom Charter The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...

adopted at the meeting includes article on agrarian & environmental rights, including 'save the soil'. *1973:

Endangered Wildlife Trust The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, n ...

founded *1976

Koeberg Alert The Koeberg Alert alliance is an anti-nuclear activist organisation which emerged from an earlier pressure group in Cape Town called "Stop Koeberg" in 1983. Both were intended to halt construction of the first nuclear power station in South Af ...

founded following the decision to site South Africa's first nuclear power station only 30 kms from Cape Town *1977: The Dolphin Action & Protection Group founded with the motto and policy 'Dolphins Should Be Free'. *1983: Koeberg Alert reconstituted, "broadens the focus of the protest" to place the entire nuclear issue "within its social, political and economic context." *1984: The Naturalist Society, also known as Natsoc founded. *1987:

Cape Town Ecology Group The Cape Town Ecology Group was a South Africa-based radical environmental group, founded in 1987, as a "child of Koeberg Alert", and active until the early 1990s. It espoused a more political-oriented green ideology as opposed to the apartheid ...

founded; with motto: 'Free the Humans' *1988:

Earthlife Africa Earthlife Africa is a South African environmental and anti-nuclear organisation founded in August 1988, in Johannesburg. Initially conceived of as a South African version of Greenpeace, the group began by playing a radical, anti-apartheid, acti ...

formed; Khanyisa, environmental awareness organisation founded in townships of Langa, Nyanga, Guguletu and Khayelitsha *1989:

exposes mercury poisoning of workers at Thor Chemicals;

Kagenna Magazine ''Kagenna'' is an alternative magazine from South Africa. It started life as an underground zine published shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and grew into an irregular, irreverent and entertaining read at the newsstand. Published in Cap ...

is published; Green Action Forum founded by Greg Knill. Establishment of the Ecology Party in Cape Town. *1990: A fishing industry campaign by the

Food and Allied Workers Union Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...

links workers issues to the environment. *1991: First National Conference on Environment and Development; Environmental Monitoring Group releases a document "Towards Sustainable Development in South Africa"; General

Magnus Malan General Magnus André de Merindol Malan (30 January 1930 – 18 July 2011) was a South African military figure and politician during the last years of apartheid in South Africa. He served respectively as Minister of Defence in the cabinet of ...

takes over as new Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry; Bev Geach of the Weekly Mail publishes The Green Pages, a directory of environmental groups *1992: Earthlife Africa pressurizes the government for an inquiry into asbestos related deaths. Environmental Justice Networking Forum (EJNF) formed at an ELA conference. Establishment of the Green Party by activists in Cape Town. *1993: Group for Environmental Monitoring (GEM) founded.

Post-Apartheid Era

*1994: After South Africa's first democratic election, environmental rights submitted for debate to the Constitutional Assembly. *1995:

eThekwini ECOPEACE The ECOPEACE Party is a national environmentalist political party in South Africa founded in 1995. The party was formerly known as eThekwini ECOPEACE and eThekwini Ecoparty—eThekwini is the Zulu name for Durban, where the party is based. Th ...

, an environmentalist political party now known as ECOPEACE founded. *1996: South Africa's Bill of Rights proclaims: "Everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being." *1997: The ANC government moves to provide lead-free petrol as one of its first pro-environment policies *1998: The Truth Commission hears about asbestos-related deaths from mining *1999: groundWork (GW), a non-profit, environmental justice service and development organization founded. Founding of the Government by the People Green Party by Judy Sole. *2000: South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) formed;

wins one seat in the eThekwini Municipal Council, the first time a Green Party of any sort in South Africa has won at the polls *2002: Rio+10

held in Johannesburg; Earthlife launches the People's Environmental Centre, the Greenhouse. *2003: Asbestos Relief Trust (ART) set up, and the Kgalagadi Relief Trust (KRT), both of which evaluate claims and provide compensation for qualified claimants. A media statement, indicates that the ban on the use of asbestos and asbestos-related materials was "well overdue." National Energy Caucus founded. *2004:

Marthinus van Schalkwyk Marthinus Christoffel Johannes van Schalkwyk (born 10 November 1959) is a South African politician, academic, and lawyer, who serves as High Commissioner to Australia. He previously served as MP and Minister of Tourism in the Cabinet of South Af ...

appointed as

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment is the environment minister in the Cabinet of South Africa. The minister has political responsibility for the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). The office was es ...

*2006:

, South Africa's national energy utility issues energy-saving lightbulbs to consumers as part of a "demand-side" energy-reduction campaign. EJNF reconstitutes as the Coalition for Environmental Justice. **Dept of Environmental Affairs and Tourism holds hearings on nuclear power. First evidence of contamination and worker-related deaths caused b exposure to radiation. *2009: South Africa participates in the Copenhagen Climate Change round. *2010: SA Government announces mothballing of

PBMR The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) is a particular design of pebble bed reactor developed by South African company PBMR (Pty) Ltd from 1994 until 2009. PBMR facilities include gas turbine and heat transfer labs at the Potchefstroom Campus of ...

. Edna Molewa appointed Minister of Environment under Jacob Zuma. *2011: South Africa hosts COP17 in Durban, a new framework emerges. Allied Climate & Health Conference releases "Durban Declaration" declaring a health emergency, signed by 250 medical professionals and public health organisations. *2015: South Africa hosts

South African International Renewable Energy Conference South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. *2016: Vukani Environmental Justice Movement formed in Mpumalanga Province. Establishment of The Greens in Cape Town. *2019: Barbara Creecy sworn in as new Minister of Environment under President Ramaphosa. The Government by the People Green Party participated in the 2019 National and Provincial Elections and obtained 0,13% of the vote in the Western Cape Province, but no parliamentar
seat
. *2021: The Greens contested the Local Government Elections in the Cape Town metropole but did not secure a seat in th
council
. *2022: March, "Deadly Air" case heard in South Africa. Court confirms the constitutional right of the country's citizens to an environment that isn't harmful to their health. This includes the right to clean air, as exposure to air pollution affects human health. *September, Shell 'Wild Coast' Ocean Exploration Case heard. High Court in Makhanda ruled that Shell's exploration right to conduct seismic surveys on the Wild Coast of South Africa was granted unlawfully and therefore set it aside.Vlavianos, Chris, Communities celebrate as Court sets aside Shell's exploration right off the Wild Coast of South Africahttps://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/press/52171/press-release-communities-celebrate-as-court-sets-aside-shells-exploration-right-off-the-wild-coast-of-south-africa/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Movement in South Africa Political movements in South Africa Environment of South Africa