SCORES of young people in Durban braved the scorching sun on Friday when they marched from the Marine building to the offices of the Department of Energy. The march formed part of a global #Youth4ClimateAction campaign, also known as Fridays for Future, a movement spearheaded by Greta Thunberg who staged an action outside the Swedish Riksdag (parliament), holding a sign that read ‘Skolstrejk för klimatet’ or ‘School strike for climate’ during August 2018. Marching through the city centre, they had one message for the department: ‘There is no planet B’.
The event commenced at 11am with marchers assembling at the entrance to the Durban Yacht Mole. They then proceeded along Margaret Mncadi Avenue into Anton Lembede Street. After a seated salute to Greta Thunberg outside the City Hall, the next stops were the regional departments of Energy (DoE) and Mineral Resources (DMR) to hand over a memorandum on the roll-out of renewable energy and ending the use of fossil fuels in South Africa. This was followed by a ‘die-in’ outside the DMR before heading back to the Marina via Fenton Lane.
The event was facilitated by several organisations which inlcuded:South African Youth Climate Change Coalition; Oceans Not Oil; Earthlife Africa Durban; and the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance. The action was also supported by: Wildoceanssa; Frack Free SA; Extinction Rebellion South Africa; 350.org Durban; and People’s Climate Durban
A representative from the Department of Energy, Zukiswa Mthimkhulu, signed the memorandum of demands. She promised that she would take it to the right people in the department. During the 2019 Budget Speech, Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni acknowledged the seriousness of climate change. He said that steps were being taken at Eskom to expand renewable energy and promised that a carbon tax would be in effect by 1 June.
