WWF awards work of activist groups
The two Eastern Cape groups bravely amplifed the voices of the Amadiba people who are determined to protect their land from destruction in a highly volatile environment.
Two activist groups who successfully halted seismic testing off the Wild Coast have been awarded for their contribution towards people and the planet.
World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) Living Planet Award is made annually to exceptional South Africans who, through their catalytic contributions, inspire people to live in harmony with nature.
The Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) and Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC), respectively led by Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu, are the 2024 winners announced at WWF South Africa’s AGM in Cape Town recently.
The ACC was formed in 2007 by the residents of Xolobeni, located in the Amadiba region of the Eastern Cape, to fight the threat of proposed titanium mining on the Wild Coast and later the rerouting of the N2 highway along the coast.
Since then, despite facing intense pressure and the assassination of their chairperson, Bazooka Radebe, in 2016, they have fought for their community, indigenous belief systems, ecology, land and sustainability.
SWC is a small non-profit organisation committed to listening to, building relationships with, and bravely amplifying the voices of the Amadiba people, who are determined to protect their land from destruction in a highly volatile environment.
Dr Morné du Plessis, the CEO of WWF, said the foundation recognised both the ACC and SWC for their steadfast approach to furthering the cause of sustainable use and community wellbeing, and in particular for their recent role through court action in the halting of seismic testing for oil and gas (by Shell) off the Wild Coast.
The court found that Shell’s consultations were inadequate and should have included the entire affected coastal communities.
It also ruled that when granting approval to Shell, the government had failed to consider the potential harm to local fishermen’s livelihoods, the impact on Mpondo cultural and spiritual rights, and the contribution of gas and oil exploitation to climate change.
Du Plessis said it was this action that saw the two groups assert the rights of local communities to safeguard the marine resources they depend on along with their cultural heritage and belief system in a particularly biodiverse and beautiful part of the South African coastline.
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