South Durban Community Environmental Alliance

 

 

SDCEA Successes

  • 1998 – Through the writing of a position paper, The Future of the Past, SDCEA was able to stop mass relocations in the area. This was a response to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) which called for all residential areas in South Durban to be industrialized.
  • International links have been built up since the inception of SDCEA in 1996 to challenge Environmental Racism, Environmental Justice and Environmental Health.
  • Environmental awareness has improved through the launching of the Comparative Study on Oil Refineries in Denmark and South Durban.
  • The installation of Geographic Information System (GIS) in the SDCEA office. This captures all community pollution complaints. It has now forced local and provincial government to install a similar system. This also produces Pollution Maps, which have been given to local schools.
  • A Toxic Tour brochure has been produced, and this has resulted in many tours, which educates international visitors and learners alike.
  • The Bucket Brigade takes independent air samples, when we are called out by local communities. This sample is not tainted by local government or industry, and informs communities what is in the air that they are breathing, and gives a wider range of chemicals.
  • SDCEA has become a one stop knowledge shop, for students, academics and learners. We distribute information on a range of environmental topics, free of charge.
  • We produce a newsletter every three months, which is distributed locally and internationally.
  • SDCEA also organizes a number of workshops, seminars, public meetings which contributes towards public participation, education and mandates for action. We also give a number of presentations to diverse forums.
  • Our organisation also plans legal protests, and challenges government (all 3 levels) on the high levels of pollution, to give effect to our constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment. Section 24 (a).
  • SDCEA has along with groundWork, and Friends of the Earth International, confronted Shell International about the incidents, accidents and high level of pollution from their refinery in Durban. This has gotten international NGO collaboration, as well as international media attention. Some of the books written about Shell include information about SAPREF, this Information was contributed by SDCEA.
  • These include Riding the Dragon by well known American author, Jack Doyle as well as Leaking Pipelines – a book about Shell in South Africa. Shell – Failing the challenge was presented at the Shell AGM 2003.
  • SDCEA achieved NPO (Non Profit Organisation) status in 2003.
  • SDCEA has contributed to hundreds of EIAs (Environmental Impact Assessments) by providing information and technical assistance to local communities to challenge ‘dirty’ expansion programmes. This has resulted in some companies changing to cleaner fuels and technology.
  • The recent publication called Applied Meteorology and Climatology in South Durban. This is aimed at educators and learners to inform and enlighten them about pollution issues and how relevant they are to our daily lives.
  • Through SDCEAs’ participation in the Multi-Point Plan, the following has been achieved:
    • There has been a broad Health Study in South Durban Communities, which is being implemented at present under the auspices of the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine with international collaboration from the University of Michigan.
    • There has been the installation of 14 monitoring stations in the area, along with two meteorological stations. This was done in conjunction with NILU and eThekwini Municipality.

     

  • SDCEA always continues their work locally, nationally, and internationally. Current Campaigns