March 21st is Human Rights Day in South Africa. Our National Constitution, heralded as one of the best in the world, describes a clear and just vision of how our country should be run.
According to the Bill of Rights in our Constitution, all South Africans have rights to equality; human dignity; life; freedom and security of the person; privacy; freedom of religion, belief and opinion; freedom of expression; assembly, demonstration, picketing and petition; freedom of association; and property.
The Bill of Rights also states that everyone has a right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being, and to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation, promote conservation and secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.
As South African citizens, we not only have the right to express our views and to insist that individuals, corporations and the government act in accordance with our constitution – it behoves us to be active citizens and defend our country against exploitative, damaging and polluting activities that threaten our well-being and health or that of future generations.
This is why South Africans from all walks of life have been working together to prevent oil and gas mining along our coastline, as seen in recent country-wide protests against Shell. In truth, the licence granted to Shell was just one of many and approximately 95% of our coastline was promised to foreign oil companies in joint contracts with PASA (Petroleum Agency South Africa) under Operation Phakisa Oceans Economy in 2014.
Offshore mining damages marine life including whales, dolphins and fish, and oil spills around the world have had devastating impacts on subsistence and commercial fishing and agriculture, traditional cultural and religious practices, and tourism. Please support organisations such as Earthlife Africa, Greenpeace Africa, Africa350.org, SANBI, Amadiba Crisis Committee, WESSA, The Centre for Environmental Rights, oceansnotoil.org and The Green Net to prevent offshore mining.
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