__NOTOC__ The

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

traces its history from the early beginnings of conservation, to the rise of radicalism and activism amongst local ecologists. Before the Chernobyl disaster and the fall of the Berlin Wall, there were very few green activist groups in the country.

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 Afri ...

and the

Dolphin Action and Protection Group Dolphin Action and Protection Group is a non-governmental organization in South Africa which campaigns for the protection and conservation of dolphins and whales (cetaceans). The group was founded in 1977 by Nan Rice. DAPG has since then broadened ...

are probably two of the oldest post-conservation groups. While most early conservationists, with few exceptions, implicated themselves in the

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

system, groups such as Earthlife Africa were consciously aware of their role as nurturers of freedom and human rights as well as the rights of the earth and animal kingdom. The

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- ...

for example, openly campaigned for political freedoms with a platform that "ecologised politics and politicised ecology". During apartheid while political parties were banned, environmental groups served as an outlet for activism and political expression. In

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, the Environmental Justice Network, sprung up alongside ant-apartheid issues that affected the environment as well as the rights of workers. While many radical environmentalists were later absorbed into the governing

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

, some toyed with the formation of a political party that would represent green interests.

Timeline

Colonial Era

*1918:

Native Farmers Association Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

founded; *1926: Wildlife Society of South Africa founded

Apartheid Era

*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 Africa ...

held at Kliptown. Freedom Charter includes article on agrarian & environmental rights, in particular '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 southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that s ...

founded *1976

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: Natsoc, a nature society founded *1986:

Chernobyl Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...

disaster *1987:

founded; with motto: 'Free the Humans' *1988: Earthlife Africa formed; Khanyisa, environmental awareness organisation founded in townships of Langa, Nyanga, Guguletu and Khayelitsha *1989: Earthlife Africa 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 *1990: A fishing industry campaign by the

Food and Allied Workers Union The Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) is a trade union representing workers in the food processing industry in South Africa. The union was formed in 1986, through the amalgamation of the Food and Canning Workers' Union, the Sweet, Food and ...

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 P ...

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. *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 ...

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 by 3 ex-EJNF activists *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

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 ustainable developmentorganizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was the ...

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 appointed as

Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism was a department of the government of South Africa from 1994 to 2009. Past Cabinet Ministers of Environmental Affairs and Tourism After the election of President Jacob Zuma in May 2009 the de ...

*2006:

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...

, South Africa's national energy utility issues energy-saving lightbulbs to consumers as part of a "demand-side" energy-reduction campaign. **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 The 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP17) was held in Durban, South Africa, from 28 November to 11 December 2011 to establish a new treaty to limit carbon emissions. A treaty was not established, but the conference agreed to est ...

in Durban, a new framework emerges. Allied

Climate & Health Conference Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorological ...

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 east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. *2016:

Vukani Environmental Justice Movement The ''Vukani'' is a local weekly newspaper distributed to the township areas of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. It is written in Xhosa and English. ''Vukani'' means "Wake up" in both the isiZulu and isiXhosa languages. The newspaper co ...

formed in Mpumalanga Province. *2019: Barbara Creecy sworn in as new Minister of Environment under Ramaphosa. *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

Timeline

Colonial Era

Apartheid Era

Post-Apartheid Era

See also

References