South Africa faces an energy crisis and a highly contested end to coal. At the heart of the debates are a number of questions. What are the roles of different actors (state, private sector, civil society) in the just transition? Who should control sustainable/renewable energy generation and distribution? How may the idea of climate justice be mobilised to promote greater equity within South Africa and it’s coal-affected communities? And what are the responsibilities of the Global North to finance the just transition? As South Africans suffer from ongoing load-shedding, toxic levels of air pollution and exorbitantly expensive energy investments that take resources away from other basic services, it is necessary to consider the alternatives to the current situation, both in terms of alternatives to a coal-based energy sector as well as alternatives to the current Eskom model.
The first session of the Alternatives to Capitalism seminar series in 2023 invites you to a conversation with panelists:
- Prof Patrick Bond (University of Johannesburg)
- Promise Mabila (Highveld Environmental Justice Network)
- Sizwe Tyiso (Naledi)
- Prof Janet Cherry (Nelson Mandela University)
Facilitated by Dineo Skosana
Date: 20 April 2023
Time: 6pm
Hybrid: 248B Robert Sobukwe Block, Wits University or register online via Zoom www.tinyurl.com/coal-end