ALL RISE 2021 – Our Year in Review

**Kirsten Youens, Janice Tooley and Lihle Mbokazi** – photo by Casey Pratt

2021 has been a challenging year for ALL RISE and our clients as we have continued to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic on top of all the usual challenges faced in the public interest law space.

With our small but dedicated team we are very proud of all we have accomplished this year and take this opportunity to thank all those who support us and our clients in working towards environmental and climate justice.

Reflecting on 2021, we would like to share our highlights, struggles and direction for next year.

Strategic litigation on behalf of mining-affected communities

Our main focus has again been strategic litigation against Tendele Coal Mining (Pty) Ltd which we initiated on behalf of MCEJO and GET, firstly in 2017, in an application for an interim interdict, and secondly, in 2018, in a review application of the mine’s 2016 mining right to significantly expand its current open cast coal operations.

In respect of the first case, the interim interdict, we filed an application on 8 April for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court (“Constitutional Court Appeal”) againstthe majority judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeal requiring the Constitutional Court to provide finality on whether environmental authorisation is required for mining activities applied for and authorised under the MPRDA before December 2014. We also seek the Constitutional Court’s correction of the High Court’s costs order and the chilling effect it will likely have on public interest litigation. We hope to be allocated a court date in the second quarter of 2022. We would like to extend our gratitude to Advocates Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC and Mawande Mazibuko for all their hard work on this case.

The second case, the application to review and set aside Tendele’s 2016 Mining Right based on its wholly inadequate EIA and consultation process was at last heard on 10 to 12 November, after no less than 5 postponements.

In one of its many attempts to halt the court case, Tendele filed a second Rule 7 application in December 2020 disputing Youens Attorneys’ mandate, which it withdrew only after a challenge was brought by a group of six suspended MCEJO members in early February of this year asking the Court to declare Youens’ mandate terminated and to have the review application withdrawn.

Notably, the hearing of the main application in March was scuppered to make way for this spurious challenge by the MCEJO splinter group which was rightfully dismissed. At the same time, ALL RISE successfully applied to the court to grant four new applicants permission to intervene and join the proceedings, and in doing so, gained four new clients -the Global Environmental Trust (GET), Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA), the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (SAHRDN) and ActionAid South Africa, all of which have a long association with the members of MCEJO in the Somkhele community supporting them in their fight against the environmental and social injustices.

The matter was complicated further when Tendele supplemented its papers in March essentially conceding that the mining right was invalidly granted and undertaking to abandon all but 17.66 km²of the original 212km². Nonetheless it sought to retain the three mining areas of Ophondweni, Emalahleni and Mahujini which it said are necessary to save the mine from closure. Tendele also wanted the court to order that these three areas go back to the Minister to reconsider the original administrative appeal, this time with the numerous additional studies Tendele completed in late 2019 and early 2020 and any comments that interested and affected parties may submit.

However, the Applicants argued that in addition to the flaws associated with the original EIA studies and public participation process, the size of the retained three mining areas of Ophondweni, Emalahleni and Mahujini are 45% larger than initially assessed. This is particularly so for Mahujini which is now five times its original size. The approximately 27 new studies conducted in 2019 and 2020 are also flawed for varying reasons and the overwhelming majority having been undertaken without any public participation. Thus, any consultation as part of a second round of the appeal would be insufficient. The more appropriate remedy is for the mining right be set aside and the process to begin afresh to identify and address the impacts and community concerns properly. The other issue in dispute is the lack of free, prior and informed consent in terms of the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act, 1996 (IPILRA), and its effect on the original granting of the Mining Right.

Judgment was reserved after the application was heard in November and we anxiously await the outcome. We are extremely grateful to our Advocates Anna-Marie de Vos SC and Louise Ferreira for the long hours they put in settling the papers and arguing on behalf of the Applicants.

We also joined as co-applicants in a second urgent application for an interdict against SHELL and IMPACT AFRICA joining Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC), together with the Dwesa-Cwebe Communal Property Association, fishermen – Ntsindiso Nongcavu (Port St Johns), Sazise Maxwell Pekayo and Cameron Thorpe (Kei Mouth) – Amadiba traditional leader and healer Mashona Wetu Dlamini in applying for an urgent interdict against Shell’s seismic survey off the Wild Coast. The matter was heard on 17 December and judgment has been reserved. In this matter, we are represented by another strong legal team consisting of the Legal Resource Centre, Richard Spoor Inc. Attorneys as well as Advocates Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC and Emma Webber.

Administrative action

Litigation is lengthy and costly and it is not the panacea to all fights against injustice. As our courts have held, it is a last resort and internal remedies should first be pursued. These include appeals against various licences that have been issued to companies despite extreme adverse impacts, inadequate mitigation and lack of consultation with affected parties.

We have spent a large part of 2021 participating in appeal processes:

ALL RISE is representing MCEJO and GET in appealing Tendele’s water use licence for 142 water uses related to its existing and new mining operations. The appeal was filed on 3 November 2021 and suspends the licence unless the Minister directs otherwise. Among the numerous grounds of appeal, are lack of landowner consent, lack of consultation with the local residents, in particular the rural subsistence farmers in the area who rely on water to sustain their land-based livelihoods and numerous shortcomings in the technical report on which the decision to grant the licence was made.
ALL RISE is also representing MCEJO and GET in an appeal filed on 7 December against the decision granting Tendele a waste management licence for the disposal of slurry and mine discard into the KwaQubuka pit. The grounds for the appeal include incorrect listed activities having been applied for and authorised and an EIA that fell short of the technical, reporting and consultation requirements prescribed by the EIA Regulations, 2014, the National norms and Standards for the Disposal of Waste to Landfill and the Planning and Management of Residue Stockpiles and Residue Deposits, 2015.
ALL RISE also submitted an appeal on behalf of GET, of the environmental authorisation granted to Zululand Anthracite Colliery, also operating in northern KwaZulu-Natal (not far from Tendele’s Somkhele mine) to expand its operations and open a new adit to access additional underground coal resources. The adit is directly adjacent to Masokaneni village and yet the residents have not been adequately consulted. ALL RISE has also assisted community members in submitting their own appeals.

Community Support

Being parties to litigation in a community torn apart by mining is not easy for our clients to say the least. Lihle Mbokazi, ALL RISE’s liaison manager is in constant communication with MCEJO members and assists them in getting legal support from ALL RISE and security support from SAHRDN and Frontline Defenders when necessary.

Trauma counselling is provided to people who have been victimised and intimidated as well as to those who have suffered loss as a result of living in a mining affected community.

We believe in frequent contact with our clients to keep them updated and reassured and in addition to one-one-one contact we were able to hold eleven community meetings with MCEJO during the year.

Defending the defenders

More than a year on, we mourn the death of Mam’FikileNtshangase, one of our incredibly courageous and outspoken members of MCEJO who was brutally murdered for her opposition to the mine, especially as those responsible have not been apprehended. In this regard, we are in regular communication with the police service and continue to explore options with Mary de Haas (violence monitor for KZN) and other public interest groups in the call for justice for Mam’Fikile as well as to prevent further violence against other defenders.

This year, in honour of Mam’Fikile, and on the anniversary of her death, ALL RISE, in collaboration with Global Witness, held an international webinar to raise awareness of the risks of Environmental Defenders faceaptly titled “Defending the Defenders”.

The event was facilitated by Simphiwe Sidu, Regional Legal Advisor of Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network with a formidable line up of speakers:

Kirsten Youens, Chief Executive Director of ALL RISE
Mary Lawlor – United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. Founder of Frontline Defenders
Rowan Williamson – Inspire Dialogue Foundation Trustee, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, and retired master of Magdalene College, Cambridge University
Arnold Tsunga – Chairperson of Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network. Country director for National Democratic Institute in Zimbabwe.
Mary de Haas – Interventionist human rights worker and violence monitor in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Louis Wilson – Senior Communications Advisor, Global Witness

The webinar was attended by 95 people from around the world and the feedback from the participants was very encouraging. We hope to have more of these webinars in 2022.

Holding funders accountable

On behalf of its clients, ALL RISE has very recently written to Nedbank asking it to explain why it has funded and continues to fund Petmin’s and Tendele’s Somkhele open cast mine when this project does not comply with Nedbank’s own environmental and social policy or the various international standards to which the bank subscribes. In particular, this is in respect to involuntary resettlement and significant environmental pollution and degradation which severely impacts on local communities and their livelihoods, and erodes their resilience to climate change. We have also asked Nedbank to reassess this project in light of our submissions. We await Nedbank’s response.

Education, Training, and Empowerment

Part of our vision is to share knowledge and make law accessible to people in their mother tongue so that access to justice can be truly realised. To this end we organised two very successful workshops and are in the process of preparing training material that are the beginnings of exciting things to come:

EIA guide in isiZulu and Training Manual for Environmental Assessment Practitioners

A two-day workshop was held with 40 residents from four rural communities, mostly MCEJO members in March 2021 at which participatory training was provided in isiZulu on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The interactions and feedback provided at the workshop are being used to develop a guide to EIA in isiZulu as well as a training programme (methodology and material) on EIA, both of which will be made freely available to environmental consultants, NGOs and communities.

Land rights and mining-related impacts

A two-day workshop in isiZulu was held in August 2021 for 90 MCEJO members to empower people about their land rights, and identify coal-mining related impacts they experience to share with other residents in new areas where coal mining is being proposed. An expert on land rights, Mr Sithembiso Gumbi was invited to speak and answered many questions about rights over land falling under the Ingonyama Trust Board. Role-play and participatory community mapping exercises were also used to encourage maximum participation. We are currently producing an audio-visual clip on land rights in isiZulu so that this knowledge can be freely and widely shared with other MCEJO members and communities.

Lihle Mbokazi, our liaison manager was very fortunate to attend the Centre of Environmental Rights’ annual Environmental Rights and Remedies for Activists training course. Lihle had nothing but praise for the six week course and will be using the knowledge she gained to empower herself and share this knowledge with our clients. With an MCEJO member who also attended, they are together currently working on such a training programme. Once conceptualised, we will be looking for funding to roll it out.

Sharing our experiences

We have deliberately focussed this year on providing a full range of legal services and support to fewer clients rather than spreading ourselves too thin. However, to expand our reach, it is important to share our experiences and knowledge. In addition to the printed and audio-visual material we have already mentioned, we also believe it is important to participate in global, regional and national events both to share what we are doing and to learn from others. Kirsten Youens had the honour of being invited to speak at two important events this year.

The Public Interest Law Gathering on 14 October where the topic was A RIGHTS-BASED GREEN RECOVERY POST COVID-19: Where legal and policy efforts to further Animal Wellbeing, Social Justice and a Healthy Environment meet. Kirsten spoke about the wildlife trade, pandemics and the need to stop unsustainable exploitation of the environment – both for the prevention of future pandemics and the upliftment of the morality of humankind.
The 2021 Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Summit held in Maputo Mozambique on 2nd and 3rd December. Kirsten presented both in a side panel session on environmental defenders and in the plenary session on a panel for woman human rights defenders. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet the inspiring defenders from Southern Africa, to learn from each other and to collaborate to ensure that the incredible work done by individuals and public interest organisations in this field continues.

It is truly a privilege to work with Animal Law Reform and SAHRDN and we look forward to further collaboration in the future.

In closing

We close our offices for the year knowing that we have worked hard to lay a solid foundation for 2022 and beyond, as we continue to grow, learn, share and act …. and make a difference.

May 2022 bring us all a year of victories that address the inequities, give power back to the people and stop the environment from being treated as a mere exploitable commodity.

For now though, we wish you a good long rest and peaceful time with loved ones.

Appreciatively,

Kirsten, Janice and Lihle.

Kirsten Youens speaks at Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Summit in Mozambique

Kirsten Youens, Chief Executive Director of ALL RISE was invited to attend the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Summit in Mozambique last week to share her experience as an environmental defender and as a lawyer defending those who are in need of environmental justice.

She addressed important issues such as government being held accountable for its failure to defend the defenders, and upholding the Constitutional rights of it’s citizens. Kirsten spoke on environmental justice in a side session and woman defenders in the plenary session. Thank you to SAHRDN for the invitation

SUSTAINING THE WILD COAST AND COMMUNITIES SEEK INTERDICT AGAINST SHELL IN SECOND APPLICATION

Sustaining the Wild Coast 2021/12/3

Yesterday (2 December 2021), Sustaining the Wild Coast and several Wild Coast communities filed papers seeking to interdict Shell’s seismic survey on the Wild Coast.

Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC), together with the Dwesa-Cwebe Communal Property Association, fishermen – Ntsindiso Nongcavu (Port St Johns), Sazise Maxwell Pekayo and Cameron Thorpe (Kei Mouth) – Amadiba traditional leader and healer Mashona Wetu Dlamini and All Rise Attorneys for Climate and Environmental Justice have applied for an urgent interdict against Shell’s seismic survey off the Wild Coast. The matter has been set down for hearing on 14 December.

This application is separate from the urgent application that was brought by Cullinan and Associates for the Border Deep Sea Angling Association, Kei Mouth Ski Club, Natural Justice, and Greenpeace that was heard on Wednesday and disappointingly dismissed earlier today.

Sinegugu Zukulu, speaking on behalf of SWC, said:

“Our application for an urgent interdict is based on the simple fact that Shell does not have an environmental authorisation in terms of the National Environmental Management Act for this survey. We know that this survey was approved in 2014 but it is now 2021 and we need to ensure that any illegal offshore exploration is not allowed by our government through negligence or misinterpretation of changes in law since 2014. We are calling for an immediate halt to the survey and that no seismic surveying be allowed without a proper Environmental Authorisation (EA).

An EA will ensure that the views of the people of South Africa, particularly those of rural Eastern Cape Coastal communities, are taken into account in a decision about offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction. These are the people who will be most affected by any negative impacts of exploration and extraction. An EA will also ascertain the wisdom of doing a seismic survey in the unique and famously biodiverse marine ecosystems of the Wild Coast in the light of new research that has been done in the years since 2014. We cannot allow this exploration to be approved and proceed on the basis of outdated and inadequate research. Our descendants will curse us for that stupidity and the desecration of the beautiful Wild Coast which sustains us and attracts and inspires nature lovers from across the globe.

Indigenous people, living on communally owned land occupy 20% of the earth’s land but protect 80% of the earth’s remaining biodiversity. Domestic and international law is increasingly recognising the rights of these indigenous communities but Shell’s process with regards to this survey, enabled by Minister Gwede Mantashe of Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has not recognized these rights. Together, Shell and Mantashe are behaving like the colonial and apartheid powers that came before them by not listening to the indigenous communities of the Wild Coast who have lived in harmony with the ocean for centuries and rely on it for their physical and spiritual well-being.

The impacts of climate change are being felt all across South Africa and the world and the extraction of fossil fuel off our coast will contribute to more catastrophic climate change that will affect the whole human family. As indigenous people we feel the need and the responsibility to protect the ocean for the well-being of all of us. Ulwandle Yimpilo – the Ocean is Life. That is why we are seeking this urgent interdict.”

The applicants are represented by the Legal Resource Centre and Richard Spoor Inc. Attorneys. Their counsel are Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC and Advocate Emma Webber.

Copies of the applicants’ court papers

REVIEW HEARING HEARD 10-12 NOVEMBER IN THE PRETORIA HIGH COURT – SOME FEEDBACK

The court hearing for the review of Tendele’s vast 2016 mining right was from the 10 – 12 November 2021. The hearing of the case went well, with the Applicants’ advocate, the formidable Anna-Marie de Vos presenting a clear and compelling argument. Acting Judge Bam was clearly well prepared and concerned about the impact of mining on the community and the lack of community consultation and consent. Tendele’s advocates conceded that the mining licence was unlawful, but that if Tendele was not able to expand into the area under review, the mine would close and the people would lose their jobs. Although Tendele conceded that its public participation process was flawed and its mining right was granted unlawfully, Tendele stated its intention to mine in three locations, namely Mahujini, Malahleni and Ophondweni.

Tendele proposed that it does a public participation process in terms of the EIA regulations (to include all the 27 new specialist studies concluded last year) while the matter goes back one step to the administrative appeal stage. In other words, it will be referred back to Gwede Mantashe, the Minister of Mineral Resources, to decide on the appeal again. (Please bear in mind that it was Gwede Mantashe who refused the Applicants’ appeal in 2018 which resulted in the court application being launched in the first place). Even more astoundingly, Tendele intends to mine Malahleni and Ophondweni in the meantime.

The Applicants’ strongly opposed this approach and argued that Tendele’s invalid mining licence must be set aside, a new mining right applied for to the regional Department of Mineral Resources and the public participation and EIA process must begin. She said “you can’t just leapfrog over the law because you want to start mining in 2022.” It was made clear that if Tendele are allowed to mine in the meantime, there would be no point in doing the public participation, and the entire review application would be a waste of time. Advocate de Vos referred Acting Judge Bam to a Google Earth image of one of the three locations [image below] where the mining pit is depicted in red. She stated: “look at the homesteads around the mining area. There are thousands of people living close to the proposed mine who will be affected. None of these people have been consulted.” This goes for all of the proposed areas and when it comes to the area depicted on the map below, NO-ONE, whether inside or outside the mine area, has been consulted.

Advocate de Vos also told the judge that the manner in which Tendele had conducted themselves during the legal process was despicable and referred to the Rule 7 application papers (available here).

What was not mentioned in Court was the fact that the CEO of Tendele mine had written directly to Gwede Mantashe on 4 October begging him to intervene in the matter “to safeguard the future of the mine”. It’s no wonder that Tendele wants the matter to go back to this same Minister to decide whether the mining right should be allowed to stand or not.

MCEJO – “a big thank you to our lawyers for walking with us on this journey. It was a long one but it resulted in our voices being heard and ultimate victory will be ours.”

Judgement was reserved.

Appeal of Water Use Licence – Tendele Coal Mine

Tendele Mine on the banks of the Mfolozi River – photo by Rob Symons

Last week brought another challenge to Tendele Mining (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of Petmin, with an appeal being lodged against its water use licence issued by the Acting Director-General of the Department of Water and Sanitation.

The appeal was lodged by ALL RISE Attorneys for Climate and Environmental Justice on behalf of the Mfolozi Environmental Community Justice Organisation, MCEJO and the Global Environmental Trust.

Both these organisations are applicants with MACUA, SAHRDN and ActionAid SA in a court application challenging the validity of Tendele’s mining right granted in 2016 which allows the mine to significantly expand its operations into new areas. The matter is being heard virtually this week on the 10^th to 12^th of November by the Pretoria High Court.

Asked why the water use licence is being challenged, Janice Tooley, attorney and director at ALL RISE said that it was for multiple reasons which are set out in detail in the appeal. One of the main reasons is that Tendele and its consultants GCS had failed to consult with the very people who will adversely be affected from mining operations and the associated 142 water uses that have been approved, including the permanent destruction of streams and wetlands and possible pollution of surface and groundwater.

Many of the local residents in these rural communities are subsistence farmers, and without an adequate supply of clean water, they are unable to grow food and water their livestock. For years, many of their streams and boreholes have run dry and the rainwater they collect from the roofs of their houses has been contaminated by coal dust making it unfit for drinking, forcing people to have to buy water at great expense.

She said that it was wrong for the Department to have accepted Tendele’s water use licence application to start with because Tendele does not have the necessary landowner consent from the community, which is a legal requirement.

All Rise also obtained expert advice from an independent water expert, who reviewed the technical reports and found them to contain significant gaps, incorrect assumptions and insufficient mitigation measures to protect the water resources and downstream users.

Our government acting through the Minister of Water and Sanitation is the public trustee of our nation’s water resources and is responsible for ensuring that water is protected and used in an equitable and sustainable manner for the benefit of all persons. By issuing the water use licence to Tendele without proper procedure having been followed, and in the absence of comprehensive technical information, government has not upheld its constitutional mandate. Simply put, the water use licence should not have been issued.

Appeals against water use licences are currently heard by the Water Tribunal, an independent body specifically established to hear appeals against directives and decisions made by water authorities in terms of the National Water Act. This is not a quick process and in terms of the Act, Tendele’s water use licence is automatically suspended until the appeal has been decided, unless directed otherwise by the Minister.

Download links below:

NOTICE OF APPEAL IN TERMS OF SECTION 148(1) OF THE NATIONAL WATER ACT, 1998 (ACT NO.36 OF 1998)

ALL APPEAL DOCUMENTS

Dates confirmed for Review Application

Good news: Deputy Judge President Ledwaba has confirmed that our Review application will be heard on 10, 11 and 12 NOVEMBER 2021. Parties are working hard at trying to limit the issues in dispute (which will also limit the reading of the 8000 page record) and have been instructed to file a revised Joint Practice Note by 5 November.

Nearly three years after the application was first instituted in the Pretoria High Court to review and set aside Tendele’s Mining Right, and several postponements later, the court hearing set down for 6 and 7 October had again been postponed.

The court application was brought by the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO) and four co-applicants, GET, MACUA, SAHRDN and ActionAid SA against the decision made in 2016 granting Tendele Coal Mining (Pty) Ltd a new mining right in Somkhele, an area falling between Mtubatuba and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal. This mining right allows Tendele to significantly extend its mining operations into three new areas displacing thousands more people in addition to those already affected by its existing mining operations that commenced in 2007.

Please read:

Somkhele project fact sheet

Previous post “ANOTHER DELAY TO MCEJO’S COURT CHALLENGE OF TENDELE’S SOMKHELE MINING RIGHT”

Daily Maverick article by Tony Carnie (7 October 2021)

South African government urged to take bold steps to empower our Constitutional Rights to a healthy environment

JOINT PRESS RELEASE: 25 October 2021
On Friday, 22 October, in remembrance and support of environmental activist and campaigner, Fikile Ntshangase, a group consisting of environmental justice activists, NGOs and community members, from the area surrounding a controversial coal mine, marched on the anniversary of her murder. The march was in support of the #DefendTheDefenders and #JusticeForFikile movement.

On that day one year ago, Fikile Ntshangase, was assassinated in her home in Northern KwaZulu-Natal by three unknown people. No arrests have been made to date. Fikile was a prominent member of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organization (MCEJO), who are currently opposing the extension of Tendele Coal mine in KwaZulu-Natal.

“We won’t solve the climate crisis without protecting the defenders – and we can’t protect the defenders if murders go unpunished. Accountability for those who ordered this killing won’t bring justice for Fikile or her family, but it would go some way to preventing further violence against protectors of the earth, and therefore to preventing climate breakdown.” Kirsten Youens, Attorney and Executive Director at ALL RISE, attorneys for climate and environmental justice.

This day saw the call by climate change NGO’s who are urging the South African Government to commit to protecting those who are exercising their constitutional right to a healthy environment.
This would include:

Providing adequate policing and security for those at risk.
Respecting and prioritising the principle of free, prior and informed consent in all community land rights issues.
Ending South Africa’s economic reliance on coal mining.
Ensuring that those responsible for the murder of Fikile Ntshangase are brought to justice and held accountable.
Taking bold actions to give prompt and real effect to our constitutional right to a healthy environment.

While this talks to South Africa, the problem is a global one. Last year, Fikile was one of 227 people around the world who lost their lives in 2020 defending their homes, their land and livelihoods, and the ecosystems we all depend on.

“The structure of the economic model inherited from the colonial system of extractivism especially in mining is increasingly bringing to the fore the role of business in human rights violations and the increasing threats to Human Rights Defenders working on land, environment and indigenous communities. The heavy reliance on fossil fuels brings the dilemma posed by the mining/energy matrix that translates into tremendous pressure on our environment and our climate as well as on land, environmental and indigenous defenders. We predict escalation in Southern Africa.” Arnold Tsunga – Chairperson for Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network.

In a live webinar discussion on Friday, hosted in support of #DefendtheDefenders, one of the panelists, Dr Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury commented, “The climate crisis is not just one problem. We are dealing with a host of moral crises. If we cannot learn to treat our environment ethically, we cannot treat one another ethically.”

Please join the movement in celebrating the lives of defenders like Fikile and demanding justice on the hashtag: #DefendtheDefenders & #JusticeforFikile.

ENDS

Joint Press release by:

All Rise – Attorneys for Climate and Environmental Justice
Global Witness
MCEJO – (Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation)
Global Environmental Trust
Environmental Defender Law Center
groundWork
Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network

Defending the Defenders Webinar – 22 October 2021

Friday, the 22nd October 2021, is one year after environmental defender, Fikile Ntshangase was murdered in her home. Watch this webinar with Kirsten Youens, Arnold Tsunga, Mary de Haas, Louis Wilson, Mary Lawlor and Rowan Williams as they discuss local and global issues and how to defend the defenders. Facilitated by Simphiwe Sidu.

This Webinar was hosted by All Rise and Global Witness.

Press Release: 18 October 2021

Call for justice for environmental defender – Fikile Ntshangase – a year after her murder in South Africa.

On October 22^nd last year, Fikile Ntshangase was at home with her grandson Buyile in Ophondweni, Kwazulu-Natal province, South Africa. Three unknown men arrived and shot her dead in her living room.

Fikile was a mother and grandmother, a campaigner, and a leader, who had been opposing the extension of Tendele Coal mine in Northern KZN. Friday the 22nd will mark one year since her brazen and brutal assassination. No arrests have been made.

“We will always remember Fikile courageously standing up against Tendele coal mine’s expansion and voicing the truth. She is gone but her legacy and fight continue.” Kirsten Youens, Attorney, Executive Director, ALL RISE.

We are in the midst of a climate crisis. The South African government has a duty to protect environmental defenders and the crucial work they do in protecting the natural world. Disturbingly, they’ve been silent on Fikile Ntshangase’s murder and the daily dangers faced by other defenders.

The problem extends far beyond South Africa. Last year, Fikile was one of 227 people around the world who lost their lives in 2020 defending their homes, their land and livelihoods, and the ecosystems we all depend on. Environmental defenders have the right to be protected, the right to protest and the right to justice and accountability. Yet we see time and time again that their rights are ignored in favour of corporate interests and industry.

On Friday October 22^nd, and Saturday October 23rd, colleagues and members of the public will join Fikile’s family and the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (the community organization that Fikile was part of), in a day of action and a day of remembrance.

“This week takes me back to a time that I would give anything to forget. I miss my mom, my hero and my rock. I pray for justice and peace. I pray for her legacy to live on and that her spirit awakes in us all!” Malungelo Xhakaza, daughter of Fikile Ntshangase.

All Rise and their partners urge South Africa’s parliament and government take active steps to investigate the unsolved murders of Fikile and others who lost their lives – and that other governments across the globe follow suit.

Please join the movement and the march this week in celebrating the lives of defenders like Fikile and demanding justice on the hashtag: #DefendtheDefenders & #JusticeforFikile.

To join the march, visit this link for more information: https://allrise.org.za/we-demand-justice/

Please find photography, graphics and information on Fikile at the links below:

Audiograms
Graphics
Photographs
Join our webinar on the 22nd October 2pm (GMT +2) with Kirsten Youens, Arnold Tsunga, Mary de Haas, Louis Wilson, Mary Lawlor and Rowan Williams as we discuss local and global issues and how we defend the defenders. Facilitate by Simphiwe Sidu. Register for the webinar here.

ENDS:

More information:

ALL RISE is a non-profit company, public benefit organisation and registered law clinic with an all women board of directors (executive and non-executive). We are the only pro bono attorneys in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, working exclusively in the environmental field and one of a few in the country. We assist communities and organisations to assert their Constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being. https://allrise.org.za/

Global Witness works to hold companies and governments to account for their destruction of the environment, their disregard for the planet and their failure to protect human rights. https://www.globalwitness.org/en/

Defending the Defenders

This Friday, the 22nd October 2021, is one year after environmental defender, Fikile Ntshangase was murdered in her home.

Join the webinar on the 22nd October 2pm (GMT +2) with Kirsten Youens, Arnold Tsunga, Mary de Haas, Louis Wilson, Mary Lawlor and Rowan Williams as they discuss local and global issues and how to defend the defenders. Facilitated by Simphiwe Sidu.
Register for the webinar here. https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pgVx5SuzQFmxso6vcuYe-A