Felix Dlangamandla
JUST TRANSITION
Find the TIPS webinar on page 12 in Green Economy Journal 48.
Two workers inside the Komati Power Station.
Wandile Dlamini, a contract worker at Duvha Power Station, was shocked that South Africa is planning to accelerate its transition away from coal.
Bongikosi Gina, an employee at Masekane Liquor Store, a few kilometres away from Eskom’s Duvha Power Station.
To foster the creation of a social compact and to reduce the communication gulf between those affected by the transition and those charged with charting its course, Valli Moosa, the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) deputy chairperson at the 26th annual National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) summit announced plans for wider consultations with the people most affected by South Africa’s transition. “The PCC plans to meet directly with those affected like coal miners who have already lost jobs, workers in coal-fired power stations who plan to lose jobs through decommissioning as well as those who live in the surrounding communities and are dependent on that mining activity to support their livelihoods,” said Moosa. Michael Nkosi, from the Local Economic Development Department at the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality, in the TIPS
webinar, expressed reservations as to whether the structures and platforms in place involve the most affected people. Nkosi questioned how these platforms are used and for what purpose. Offering a critique of how government and business use these structures as a mere mechanism to “tick the boxes”, he explained that while “we might have the right platforms and legislation for participation purposes”, it is questionable whether these structures are used correctly and for the right purposes. “We are using them for compliance purposes,” but “are we using the structures to draw inputs from the communities that will influence how we structure the end products, I have my doubts,” he said. Nkosi concluded, noting that “we have some way to go” in terms of how effectively we are using the mechanisms in place to engage; how to address the fragmentation of information and
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