Words by Allison Davis, Director of Regional Programs at Global Greengrants Fund, and Alison Wright, Director of the Environmental Defenders Collaborative.
The Environmental Defenders Collaborative and Global Greengrants Fund condemn the killing of Fikile Ntshangase. A steadfast leader of community opposition to the expansion of an open pit coal mine operated by Tendele Coal, Ntshangase had recently said to her attorney “I cannot sell out my people and if need be I will die for my people.”
Greegrants Director of Regional Programs Allison Davis had the opportunity to spend time in person with Fikile, and shares this remembrance:
“One of the most memorable moments in my time with Global Greengrants was meeting with the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO) in northern KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa in 2018. We met them in a small donated one room house, surrounded by a tall fence that was erected because of an arson attempt the year before. The Tendele Coal company, owner of the Somkhele mine across the valley, was planning to expand into their community of Mfolozi, and MCEJO was challenging the environmental and social impact assessment procedures in court. We came to listen to them, for we knew this was incredibly brave.
They had seen what happened to their neighbors: 225 relocated families, a devastated landscape in a valley where 158,000 people live, coal dust on every surface within a few miles of the mine, a wall of tailings that the company will not clean up before being allowed to expand, a river reduced to a trickle on the other side of a processing plant, cracks in buildings, health issues across the community, a children’s nursery next door to incessant noise, and a relocated cemetery with jumbled graves. Perhaps worst of all, was that the community had turned on each other, split into camps depending on how they felt about the mine. Now, with coal seams dying out after 12 years and all this conflict in its wake, the company’s expansion into the new area was becoming a matter of urgency, and urgency was breeding even more conflict.
I remember thinking, what is this business model that does not calculate the costs of doing things well in advance, repairing along the way, but instead could only avoid bankruptcy by being allowed to destroy more? It made sense the Mfolozi community would want better guarantees this time around. But some communities took the devil’s bargain, they were ready to leave. Some were allegedly bribed. Others, faced with grinding poverty, decided the promise of temporary jobs was worth the destruction if they stayed. Divisions grew. The company fanned the flames, blaming this small community organization in the neighboring valley for destroying their bottom line and threatening the jobs of the current workers. (But whose business model is at fault?)
On Thursday, October 22nd, a group of men entered Fikile Ntshangase’s home at 6:30pm and took her life, a brave grandmother, someone who would not sign on the dotted line to end the court case, a fair judicial procedure in a democracy. I am feeling heartbroken. I met her and she was inspiring.”
The loss of Fikile Ntshangase must be a call to action for all of us. Around the world, communities on the frontlines of conflicts over fossil fuel industry operations face rising levels of threat to their lives and their communities. As documented by international organizations, 2019 saw a 30% increase in the killings of environmental activists; at least 212 courageous individuals standing up for the environment and human rights lost their lives. We know that in reality, the number of killings is likely at least twice that – and accompanied by worsening levels of criminalization and repression against individuals like Fikile, who bravely speak out. South Africa, a country in which impunity for attacks against environmental leaders remains a troubling pattern, is no stranger to these trends.
We call on the South African authorities to fully investigate Fikile’s murder and to prosecute those responsible, and for international solidarity with fossil fuel activists around the world. Frontline communities contending with the impacts of mines, plants, and pipelines are forced to sacrifice their health, safety, and rights for the demands of an unsustainable global economy. Let Fikile’s cause be all of ours: a just and sustainable future for our communities and the planet.
Photo credit: GroundWork South Africa