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The Waste Picker Revolution in This Issue The Waste Picker Revolution In this issue groundWork is a non-profit environmental justice organization working primarily in 3 From the Smoke Stack South Africa, but increasingly in Southern Africa. groundWork seeks to improve the 5 Health, pollution and the climate crisis quality of life of vulnerable people in Southern Africa through assisting civil society to have a greater impact on 7 Green procurement workshop environmental governanace. groundWork places particular emphasis on assisting vulnerable and previously disadvantaged 9 Brand Audit 2019 people who are most affected by environmental injustices. groundWork’s current campaign areas 10 Bully-boy “SLAPP suits” on the rise are: Climate Justice and Energy, Coal, Waste and Environmental Health. groundWork is constituted as a trust. 11 A decade of successful struggle The Chairperson of the Board of Trustees is Joy Kistnasamy, lecturer in environmental health at the Durban 13 Kigali – clean vision University of Technology. The other trustees are: Farid Esack, Patrick Kulati, Richard Lyster, Sandile Ndawonde and 14 Clean Coal Jon White. 15 Air Quality and Health Literacy groundWork’s STAFF ARE: Director: Bobby Peek Deputy Director: Gill Addison Administrative Assistant: Bathoko Sibisi Waste Campaign Manager: Musa Chamane Coal Campaign Manager: Robby Mokgalaka Environmental Health Campaign Help us spread the word Manager: Rico Euripidou www.twitter.com/ Campaign Research and Technical www.facebook.com/ groundworksa Assistant: Niven Reddy groundWorkSA Global Green and Healthy Hospital (GGHH) Network Campaign Manager: AFFILIATIONS: Luqman Yesufu groundWork is affiliated to the following international Community Activist: Thomas Mnguni organizations: Media, Information and Publications Health Care Without Harm Campaign Manager: Tsepang Molefe International POPs Elimination Network Researcher: David Hallowes Basel Action Network Bookkeeper: Gill Waterworth Oilwatch International HOW TO CONTACT US: Global Anti-Incineration Alliance 6 Raven Street groundWork is the South African member of Friends of the Earth Pietermaritzburg International P O Box 2375, Pietermaritzburg, 3200 Tel: 033-342-5662 Fax: 033-342-5665 CREDITS: e-mail: team@groundWork. org. za Layout by Boutique Books Web: www. groundWork. org. za Printed by Digital Action Cover: Delegates at the SAWPA general meeting. Credit: groundWork - 2 - groundWork - Vol 21 No 3 - September 2019 - From the Smoke Stack Photo by FoE by groundWork Director, Bobby Peek Dear Friends Africa, so that we could burn their imported waste. Thor then went on to solicit and be paid to burn It is amazing how slowly the wheels of justice toxic mercury wastes from the USA and various turn and how heavily it toils uphill. And, even as European countries. Along with the plant came we have forward momentum, we wait for the thousands of tons of spent catalyst contaminated inevitable backward roll. Someone in groundWork with mercury and other toxic organics such as must always be ready with a stone or a brick to arsenic. stop the backward roll. This was how I felt when, in early August, Minister Creecy made the bold At the time of the fire, more than 3 000 tons of decision on the Thor Chemicals debacle and said toxic waste was warehoused at the Cato Ridge the waste would be sent to Europe for treatment. plant. This is a fraction of the original amount of This was after groundWork had been advising such waste – estimated to be around 10 000 tons at a process for close to a decade. the time – that was the subject of a commission of inquiry chaired by Judge Denis Davis. This incident A few weeks later, this forward momentum was sharpened out attention on the Thor Chemicals halted abruptly when, on the 25th of August, a debacle and we have since been talking to fire broke out in one of the warehouses storing community people and ex-workers to understand mercurial toxic waste. I felt a hollowness in my gut their situation. There are many workers who are still when I learnt of the fire. So, it has all gone up in demanding worker justice as they were dismissed smoke and there will be no accountability – nor any or retrenched without any of the long-term medical protection from the fallout in the community and care that is needed in the case of mercury poisoning, along the local stream. I felt a sense of failure. which many have. It is going to be an interesting The Thor Chemical’s saga is part of the brutal few months. How is Minister Barbara Creecy going apartheid environmental racism that defined the to respond? Let’s wait and see. bleak living spaces of the majority of black South I cannot write a Smokestack these days without Africans. Just down the road from the groundWork mentioning the challenges around Eskom and its office, Thor Chemicals, in collusion with the inevitable collapse. It is common knowledge that apartheid government, imported thousands of Eskom has failed us. They are the butt of jokes tons of mercurial toxic waste to incinerate in at functions from the townships to suburbia. Cato Ridge, South Africa. This was after Thor Everyone has a laugh about Eskom, but it does hurt Chemicals closed their Margate (UK) plant when deep inside to see how this utility has been crippled the British government threatened legal action by politics and corruption. Those who suffer the because of over-exposure of workers to mercury most are the workers and the community people and noncompliance with British environmental dependent on Eskom. And there are many. Eskom standards. Thor Chemicals then exported their is refusing to acknowledge that their situation is non-compliant Margate incinerator plant to South spiralling out of control. Up to 13 units at various - Vol 21 No 3 - September 2019 - groundWork - 3 - Eskom power stations are not in operation and Another movement that has emerged over the last are unlikely to ever come back on line. The story few years has been the health movement. This from Hendrina is that two units are down and the health movement is made up of chief executive remaining four units are scavenging for spare parts officers, doctors, nurses, engineers, architects, off the boilers that are not operating. Things are environmental health practitioners, support service desperate. An image of a disfigured leper comes to managers, procurement directors and waste mind when one witnesses the rot at Eskom. managers – all working with the aim to reduce the environmental footprint of the health care sector. While, Eskom loses grip on reality, we have We are planning for the first regional health care been pushing for a Just Transition to ensure that sector conference in Africa, to address how, as a the workers and the community are not left movement, they can put pressure on the decision desperate, as happened when the gold boom left makers to make health care institutions and workers town. A transition is happening now as we speak. honour their Hippocratic Oath. I am looking But it is not a just one. Eskom will not start with forward to this, as seeing how people coalesce decommissioning plans that are desperately needed around groundWork is one of the proud moments to ensure that local people transition to a stable life, for groundWorkers. that Eskom power stations do not become toxic waste sites, and that the mines are rehabilitated During September we also had our 20th Strategic – if they ever can be. We’d rather use the phrase Planning meeting and two issues jumped out detoxifying the land. There is not much time left. at me. We are getting big, and we have to work Most of the politicians and Eskom management hard at keeping the groundWork family together, prefer to bury their heads in the sand and hope that especially as we need to grow to meet the demands this all goes away. But like hell it will. It is here to on groundWork. So, strengthening the core stay. Hopefully, as it is our own waste we have to muscles of groundWork is important in this time of deal with, government will deal with it in a more growth. But as always there was fun to be had at committed way – but do not hold your breath. the strategic planning meeting and we took part in Last year in December we addressed a letter to the the international brand audit to identify and shame president to ask him about the plans for Hendrina, companies producing plastic materials that cannot as we’d heard talk of them closing in April. We be recycled. We did this audit as we looked over asked the president for his Just Transition plan. what is probably one of the best beaches in the province of KwaZulu-Natal and maybe even South We received silence in reply. Africa. But in all this negativity we still make positive inroads Finally, we are undertaking evaluation over the next in supporting movement building, in both the period. We look forward to this, and we hope that informal sector as well as in the formal sector. The if we call on you to share your reflections with the South African Waste Pickers Association (SAWPA) team you will be willing to share honest opinions. had their 2019 Biennial General Meeting, where We are happy to hear the good, the bad and the they reflected on the work over the past two years ugly about groundWork, for only then we can make and then democratically elected a new leadership. a better and stronger groundWork to challenge the This is indeed one of the highlights of my work – environmental injustices that still prevail today. assisting with SAPWA elections. They are always hotly contested and people always leave with the Till next time! feeling that they have shared solidarity, have learnt from each other and have given leadership to those who are keen to work as leaders.
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