LESS editor Svenja Meyerricks spoke to environmental justice activist and community organiser Nomalizo Xhoma in Johannesburg, South Africa, about her work and advocacy for solutions that centre the needs of vulnerable communities where the impact of climate change is acutely felt.
When I first met Nomalizo in a German ecovillage we both were visiting, she taught a group of permaculture students to sing ‘Shosholoza’, a South African mining song that had become a protest anthem of black communities in the anti-apartheid struggle. Nomalizo’s transmission of the song was an electrifying experience for everyone present – the ongoing community struggle behind it was palpable. Ever since, I have been following Nomalizo’s campaigning work in Johannesburg from a distance. I reconnected with her on a video call to talk about the COP and her climate justice activism.
Nomalizo works for Earthlife Africa (earthlife.org.za), a South African environmental justice organisation that initially played a radical activist role as part of the anti-nuclear movement. Nowadays, Earthlife Africa’s work is focused on energy and climate change.
Nomalizo Xhoma (NX): “About 90% of our energy is being produced from coal, which contributes most to greenhouse gases, and 5% from nuclear energy. We advocate for renewable energy and a Just Transition through our labour movement. We really want to push businesses that are focused on profit-making, but we also need our government to have the political will to also push for change through a Just Transition to a low-carbon economy.”
As renewable technology is not yet widely available, it is more difficult for South Africa to move away from extractivist energy industries. Communities living near new mining developments are not sufficiently informed about their risks and health hazards, and displaced from their land and ways of life.
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