On the 26th March 2017, citizens from the mountainous municipality of Cajamarca, Colombia, voted, with a 98% majority, to ban South African miner AngloGold Ashanti’s vast La Colosa gold mining project, in a ‘popular consultation’ led by grassroots youth activists and small-scale farmers. One year on, and Cajamarca’s victory has helped inspire a much wider movement of … [Read more...]
Xolobeni community fights for a voice in mining decisions
From Monday 23 April until Wednesday 25 April, the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) will be meeting the department of mineral resources (DMR) and Australian mining conglomerate Transworld Energy and Minerals (TEM) in the Pretoria High Court regarding the Xolobeni farming community. The ACC, along with the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), will be arguing that in terms of the existing … [Read more...]
Water expert talks drought lessons at Mensa
In South Africa 98% of all potential raw water sources are already allocated for use. Increasing urbanisation and demand for safe sanitation place heavy demands on our water resources. The Department of Water & Sanitation estimates that R7-billion in potable water is lost annually. That amounts to 36% of the clean drinking water supply! Dr Jo Barnes, epidemiologist and … [Read more...]
The battle to save Groot Marico River
Egbert van Bart sits on a riempie bench on the stoep of the Groot Marico Visitors Information Centre, stroking the long grey beard flowing down his thin neck. Here, on the deserted main street of the “beautifully weird” bushveld dorp, he recites a well-used passage by South African author Herman Charles Bosman, describing the North West town. “There’s no other place I … [Read more...]
Community-run recycling initiative receives much-needed equipment
The Tembisa Self Help Association of the Disabled (T-SHAD) is a community based development programme initiated in 1990. PETCO is supporting the great work undertaken by T-SHAD through the sponsorship of much-needed protective equipment and recycling infrastructure. T-SHAD established a self-help factory with various income generating projects where people with … [Read more...]
Joburg Mayor joins Miss Earth SA for World Environment Day street clean-up
One hundred street and park clean-ups formed part of the World Environment Day celebrations for the Miss Earth South Africa Leadership programme in partnership with the City of Joburg and Pikitup. From the 1st – 5th June, 100 Miss Earth SA regional finalists have been hard at work connecting with their communities across the country. Under the banner of the international … [Read more...]
Coming together for water crisis awareness and solutions
Water is essential to sustaining all forms of life on Earth – a heavenly gift. Yet, driven most critically by climate change, water crises are on the rise and access to safe, clean water for drinking and for purposes of sanitation – as well as, of course, agriculture – is becoming increasingly problematic in many parts of the world, including our own. It is also becoming … [Read more...]
Protecting SA’s most endangered cultural heritage sites
Every time South Africa loses a heritage site, a part of our history and our culture is lost, as well as the possibility of understanding something new about our past. South Africa’s top ten most endangered sites speak of the fragility of our shared national heritage. Whether they are precious archaeological sites, living cultural landscapes, early commercial industrial sites, … [Read more...]
Rwanda, coffee haven emerging from a dark past
The tiny country of Rwanda is beautiful. Trapped between Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda is a country of green hills, mighty volcanos, dense forests, and the vast Lake Kivu. Known as the “land of a thousand hills”, its population of 11.7 million is squeezed into 26,338 km2 of land. Rwanda has experienced its share of trauma and … [Read more...]
Choosing between mining and bloodshed in KwaZulu-Natal
Anti-mining activists in Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal are living in fear of their lives in a scenario that echoes the Xolobeni unease on the Wild Coast. An activist campaigning against Indian mining giant Jindal’s plan to prospect for iron ore in Melmoth in northern KwaZulu-Natal alleges he was told by a local traditional leader to “choose between the mining and bloodshed”. The … [Read more...]
Self sustainable schools a step in the right direction
Education is the cornerstone to success, progress and knowledge. Globally 75 million people between the ages of 18 – 24 are unemployed. But there is hope. In a relatively unknown part of the world, the principles and methods of learning have been redefined. Escuela Agricola San Francisco de Asis, Paraguay. Converted from a monastery into an agricultural college for local … [Read more...]
Clean energy in refugee camps could save millions of dollars
Stretched humanitarian agencies could save millions of dollars – and reduce carbon emissions, deforestation and violence against women and girls – if solar power and other clean energy sources were installed at refugee camps, according to a new analysis released today. In the first report looking into energy use in refugee camps around the world, a consortium of NGOs, think … [Read more...]
South Coast community rises to water crisis challenge
The community of Port Shepstone rallied together last week to prove that charity really does begin at home. Following the water crisis in the Ugu District, where the taps ran salty, the community, along with the local business forum, joined forces to solve the problem last Monday. Some prominent businessmen in the area went as far as to open their private boreholes to the … [Read more...]
