Youth voice discontent over enviro fears
Youngsters take to the steps of city hall to voice their concerns.
KZN teens took to the steps of Durban’s city hall on Wednesday, 10 December to voice their opinions on environmental concerns as part of the youth rally hosted by the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA).
The third day of the four-day rally, which ran from Monday, 8 December to Thursday, 11 December, saw youngsters embark on a guided ‘toxic tour’ of polluting industries within the South Durban Basin (SDB). This was followed by a protest at city hall, where the participants were able to speak about their environmental fears and offer a declaration to the municipality.
The declaration called for an end to the exploitation of communities in the SDB with the increase in noxious industries and destruction of sensitive habitats. “As we stand united and in solidarity with not only Durban residents, but with communities and individuals all over the world, we urge and request our government to consider us and what we want and need for our ordinary lives to improve,” were the words of the declaration.
This rally was held alongside the COP 20 summit in Peru and consisted of presentations on climate change, energy, feed banks food systems, fracking, media, the Right2Know campaign, sovereignty and women and gender in the environment at UKZN. On the final day, a video chat allowed participants to engage with members of the COP 20 summit.
