Locals demand climate justice

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GRAAFF-REINET NEWS & VIDEO - Approximately 400 passionate residents from Graaff-Reinet and surrounds participated in a march for climate justice on Friday 20 September.

The event was organised by local non-profit organisation, Support Centre for Land Change (SCLC), and came just days before the United Nations Climate Summit in New York.

The protest, which started at the Robert Sobukwe Methodist Church in Umasizakhe and moved to the municipal offices in Church square, formed part of a world-wide climate strike.

The strikes were inspired by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist, who started the School Strike for Climate outside Sweden's parliament last year.

The objective of the local strike was to hand over a memorandum calling on the municipality to declare the Dr Beyers Naudé Municipality area a frack-free zone and to prioritise investment in renewable energy.

According to SCLC Programme Manager Chrizanne Jansen van Vuuren, the consequences of fossil fuels on land and food systems are dire, and are hitting the vulnerable the hardest.

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The local climate protest was supported by several local stakeholders.

"The sad reality is that communities in the Karoo are already experiencing the brunt of climate change and a rapidly warming planet," Jansen van Vuuren said. "Most dams have run completely dry, leaving communities dependent on underground water. Borehole levels are dropping at an alarming rate and are completely depleted in some areas," she said.

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Jansen van Vuuren believes that to prohibit further global warming, an end must be put to the exploration, extraction and consumption of fossil fuels. "The need for strong policy and action could not be more urgent."

The local strike was supported by several local stakeholders such as the Methodist, VGK and Anglican churches, the local Muslim community, the local Khoi and Rastafarian communities, local youth organizations – Ilizwi Lenyaniso Lomhlaba and Healing Hands – as well as Spandau, Asherville and Nqweba schools, amongst others.

Chrizanne Jansen van Vuuren, the Graaff-Reinet programme manager of SCLC, giving a taste of things to come.