A dual protest was made at Alkantstrand on Saturday as an environmental group took to the beach to take their stand.
Members of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) hosted their ‘Military Awareness Campaign’ in objection to the money spent on Armed Forces Day (AFD) celebrations. This cash, they say, could have been used toward accelerating the issue of renewable energy.
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“This was to raise awareness around social, economic and environmental issues that should take priority over the past month’s military spectacles,” said Tanica Naidoo, SDCEA project officer.
“We are at a stage in our country where load-shedding is at the worst it has ever been. A state of disaster means the government can make decisions without any repercussions.
“[Environmental Affairs Minister] Barbara Creecy is being pushed into making a decision on Karpowership and, if granted, will lock the country into this oil and gas project for the next 10-20 years.
“According to experts, this emergency energy will reduce load-shedding by only two stages, not mitigate it completely. We need to invest in sustainable, renewable energy sources like solar and wind, instead of being rushed into decisions around non-renewable energy.
“We do not want to lock South Africa into projects like Karpowership from which it will never recover.
Karpowership is but one of the many oil and gas projects proposed for Richards Bay.”
Referring to the AFD events as ‘war games’, Naidoo said, “Our country is not at war. We do not need to be investing bucketloads of money into the military and showing them off. We need to be investing in the future of our county, its people and the environment. Renewable energy is the means to an end.”
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