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Russian-occupied: The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been exposed to the dangers of active warfare. Photo: Wikipedia

Earth Day in a time of war: Nuclear risk can no longer be ignored

Earth Day should remind us that the planet is protected by political courage, international accountability and the choices states make about the systems they build and defend

Komati Power Station decommissioned after serving for 60 years. The shutdown took place on 31 October 2022. The power plant will be converted into a renewable generation site powered with 150MW of solar, 70MW of wind and 150MW of storage batteries.

UPDATED: Komati illustrates the human cost of South Africa’s energy transition

What should have been a model for climate action has become a cautionary tale of what happens when communities are excluded from decisions that reshape their lives

Radiating: The Koeberg nuclear power station 30km north of Cape Town is the only one on the entire African continent, but Russia plans to change this. Photo: Misha Jordaan/Gallo Images

Power battle over nuclear ‘solution’ for South Africa’s energy crisis

Proponents of nuclear power claim it is safe and cheaper than renewable energy but eco-justice activists say it is expensive and dangerous

A solar panel is installed on the roof of a mud hut in Qhaka, a village near Port St Johns. Photo by Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images

Activists say draft electricity plan will deepen energy poverty

The IRP2023 ‘lacks climate commitment’ in the face of the global environmental emergency

The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP)’s compliance watchdog has recommended that it immediately cancel the memorandum of understanding it entered into with the controversial Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone. (Photo: James Puttick)

UN to pull out of agreement with Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone

Essential policies were bypassed and entering into a memorandum of understanding with the economic zone would be high risk for United Nations Development Programme This content…

KwaZulu-Natal residents who are unemployed, financially struggling and hungry have lambasted Eskom’s proposed 36.1% tariff hike. (Dean Hutton/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Judgment in application to halt Eskom’s gas power plant in Richards Bay reserved

Two environmental organisations have asked the court to stop the authorisation for a 3 000 megawatt gas-to-power plant in Richards Bay

Emissions rise from the cooling towers of the Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. Kriel coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa, on Monday, Dec. 23, 2019. The level of sulfur dioxide emissions in the Kriel area in Mpumalanga province only lags the Norilsk Nickel metal complex in the Russian town of Norilsk, the environmental group Greenpeace said in a statement, citing 2018 data from NASA satellites. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Eskom pollution reduction delays are ‘unlawful’

Earthlife Africa and groundWork say the ‘legal quagmire’ Eskom finds itself in ‘is almost entirely self-inflicted’

The fate of South Africa’s controversial Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) in Limpopo is uncertain, according to activists who are celebrating China’s announcement that it will stop all international coal financing.  (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Environmental groups welcome China’s pledge on coal

Will China’s end of coal finance be the final nail in the coffin for MMESZ?

As South Africa steps into a new chapter with the Climate Change Act, it is crucial to question the depth of its commitment and the substance of its promises. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Fossil fuel initiatives must consider climate change consequences – draft guidelines

The guidelines must be considered during the environmental impact assessment phase

16 November 2020. Residents of Steenbokpan Village have to fill reserve containers with water as municipal tap water supply has become limited and erratic. The proposed water pipeline to the area will not improve their situation as it will be supplying the mines and power stations almost exclusively. Photograph: James Puttick.

‘We struggle for water, but power stations and coal mines don’t’

A proposed pipeline will bring water polluted with Gauteng’s sewage to the Waterberg in Limpopo to boost the coal industry during the climate crisis

The JSC in 2021 affirmed a finding by the Judicial Conduct Tribunal that Hlophe had committed gross misconduct by raising a pending ruling relating to former president and now MK party leader Jacob Zuma’s arms deal corruption case with two constitutional court justices. File photo

Hlophe: Goliath’s ‘false allegations’ amount to gross misconduct

The Western Cape Judge President has made a counter-complaint against his deputy and responded to her allegation

Gloves off: Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe and his wife, Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe, on their wedding day in 2015. Judge Patricia Goliath has levelled several serious allegations against the pair.  (Esa Alexander/Gallo Images/Sunday Times)

Hlophe complaint is an eerie echo

But the new complaint against the Western Cape judge president is also unprecedented

Celebrations outside the Western Cape High Court after it ruled against the South African government’s proposed nuclear deal.

Court ruling on Zuma’s nuclear deal is a marker of South Africa’s political health

The court ruling which declared South Africa’s nuclear energy plan as illegal may have put paid Zuma’s ambitions of clinching during his presidency

Eskom apologises for spying on Greenpeace, Earthlife

Eskom has apologised for using a private security company at the Medupi power station in Limpopo to spy on environmental bodies.

Green organisations allege Eskom spying

Power utility Eskom spied on the activities of green organisations in the country, claims Earthlife Africa and Greenpeace.

Activists lie on the floor in protest against protest South Africa’s nuclear expansion plans.

Activists want govt to say no to nuclear

A group of activists from various environmental organisations took part in a march in Johannesburg to protest South Africa’s nuclear expansion plans.

Thousands join Earthlife protesters in march on Eskom

Thousands join Earthlife protesters in march on Eskom

About 1 500 people marched to the offices Eskom and BHP Billiton in Jo’burg to protest against the way they affected the environment.

‘Avoid disaster on our shores’

‘Avoid disaster on our shores’

Environmentalists call on government to reconsider SA’s nuclear energy plans.

My neighbour

My neighbour, the mine dump

Second in a series of stories in which we explores AMD in SA, this week’s focus is on gold mining and communities that live with its after-effects.

Generators to banish ‘lights out’ at Twenty20

The three venues for the Twenty20 World Championship — Wanderers, Kingsmead and Newlands — have all decided to use generators as the preferred source of energy to light the…