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Oil spills, coal digs, resource cursing and resistance, 12 January



Speaker: Patrick Bond
Date: Monday, 12 January 2015
Time: 12:30-14:00
Venue: CCS Seminar Room 602, 6th Floor, MTB Tower, Howard College, UKZN

Topic:
The Hillcrest oil spill - thanks to a rusted Transnet pipeline - on December 23 was only the most recent of dozens of incidents in which conflicts between fossil fuel addictions and socio-ecological values are coming into stark relief. The movement known as 'Climate Justice' is premised on addressing the adverse distributional implications of these relations. Another local example includes the Fuleni community's suffocation by coal mining on the edge of the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi park (Africa's oldest) in northern KwaZulu-Natal. In the northern Eastern Cape, meanwhile, a 'Resource Curse' may soon be associated with the extraction of the world's tenth-largest titanium deposits. In each case, civil society resistance is inspiring, but the narratives used are important to interrogate, especially in a period ahead in which community, labour, environmental and feminist values are being fused.

Speaker:
Bond directs CCS and recently authored two books, South Africa - The Present as History (Johannesburg, Jacana Press, 2014, co-authored with John Saul) and Elite Transition: From Apartheid to Neoliberalism in South Africa (third edition, 2014, London, Pluto Press).

Hillcrest's ironic fate: NIMBY blowback from Transnet




New Transnet pipeline route (green) versus old (dotted line)





Transnet oil spill pollutes wealthy gated village
A suburban Durban disaster reveals wider planetary abuse and eco-racism
By Patrick Bond

Over the holiday season, the front pages of the newspapers in Durban screamed out again and again about a major diesel spill. In the suburb of Hillcrest on December 23, a Durban-Johannesburg pipeline operated by Transnet gushed 220 000 liters into wealthy white residents’ gardens.

The pipeline, built in 1965 and now at least four years past its official retirement date, annually carries three billion litres of petroleum products for BP, Shell and Malaysian-owned Engen. An anonymous company source confirmed to The Witness newspaper, ‘The underground pipe had burst along a weld line which had given way.’ A Transnet spokesperson confessed that the Hillcrest clean-up would take ‘close to a year.’

Look more closely at the damage and how it might have been prevented. Not only should this become a case for rethinking both our addiction to climate-destroying petroleum and the geographically-illogical Johannesburg region’s excessive air pollution – and what narratives activists might deploy against fossil-fuel facilitators like Transnet.

Those were points made back in 2008 by one of the country’s finest civil society groups, the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), when they predicted this sort of incident based on experiences with multinational corporations at Africa’s largest oil refinery site. In 2001, one pipeline used by Shell and BP spilled of 1.3 million liters of oil in the South Durban Bluff neighbourhood (disclosure: this is where I live).

In addition, the mainly white Hillcrest residents’ ‘Not In My Back Yard!’ (‘NIMBY’) tradition stands exposed, as does Transnet’s solution to the unreliable old pipeline: pump more oil through a brand new pipeline traversing former KwaZulu bantustan areas and South Durban neighbourhoods inhabited by mainly low-income black people.

That ‘New Multi-Products Pipeline’ (NMPP) – whose piping was completed three years ago but which still awaits two new pump stations to reach full capacity – suffered huge delays and overruns, raising the cost from the initial estimate of R6.5 billion in 2006 to R23.4 billion at last count.

In September 2007, even Transnet’s oft-praised then CEO Maria Ramos had estimated the final cost at just R11.2 billion, less than half of what it would balloon to within a matter of three years after the route change through South Durban. Because different petroleum products (unleaded petrol, diesel and jet fuel) move through it, it was a complex pipe to lay out over 544 kilometers. The NMPP has been called the world’s largest pipeline of its kind.

As for timing, the new pipeline and pumping stations were meant to be completed by 2010 so the line running through Hillcrest should have been decommissioned, but April 2015 is Transnet’s latest target date. One reason for missing deadline after deadline is that dozens of kilometers were added by detouring via black residential areas.

The rerouting was done with excessive haste, resulting in an intense critique from SDCEA in 2008. Confirming SDCEA’s predictions, former Minister of Public Enterprises Malusi Gigaba conceded in parliament last April that Transnet’s management of the new pipeline project suffered ‘unsatisfactory safety performance, poor environmental compliance, insufficient quality controls, and inadequate control and supervision.’

Earlier, in December 2012 after an investigation, Gigaba had admitted that ‘Transnet Capital Projects lacked sufficient capacity and depth of experience for the client overview of a megaproject of this complexity. There was an inadequate analysis of risks. Transnet’s obligations on the project such as securing authorisations – Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), land acquisition for right of way, water and wetland permits – were not pursued with sufficient foresight and vigour.’

In 2008 when the new pipeline design was approved, Transnet’s ‘systematic failings’ (in Gigaba’s words) were overseen by Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin, a man who just four years earlier won endorsement from Foreign Affairs journal (the main voice of the US imperial establishment) to become the World Trade Organisation’s director-general, and by Ramos, who a year later was named by Fortune magazine as 9th most powerful woman in the world and who now leads the country’s second largest bank (Barclays’ subsidiary Absa).

In other words, this wasn’t rank incompetence, it was systemic eco-social abuse by some of South Africa’s leading public officials. As far as I can tell, they have faced no accountability for their own systematic failings in what was then Transnet’s largest-ever project. Erwin and Ramos were amongst a single handful of managers of South Africa’s neoliberal macroeconomic transition during the Mandela-Mbeki years (he was trade minister, she was finance director-general), but the damage they did also can be felt in many local contexts, including here in KwaZulu-Natal.

Neither Erwin, Ramos or others overseeing Transnet addressed widespread collusion by construction companies during tendering by one of the main Durban-Johannesburg pipeline beneficiaries, Group Five Civil Engineering. Many Transnet projects suffered unjustifiable 50% mark-ups thanks to the now notorious collusion. Corporate abuse of this sort affects the entire society, even the rich.

Indeed, the scene of the latest crime is Hillcrest’s Greenvale Village gated complex, built after 1965, under which the Transnet pipeline crossed in spite of servitudes dating back years. Greenvale boasts comfortable mansions, and one reason for their desirability is the proximity (within 3 kilometers) of some of Durban’s finest schools. This mink, Merc and manure belt, stretching along two highways from Assagay to Kloof, is truly a site of local ruling-class reproduction, just as much as Umhlanga, Durban North and Glenwood.

It was in places like this, SDCEA uncannily predicted in 2008, that Transnet’s carelessness would become obvious: ‘There is no emergency plan available regarding the existing pipeline so those living along its route have no way of knowing how to respond to an emergency or accident… There may be people living along the path of the existing pipeline who do not know it is there, what it may be doing to their land and water, and what to do if the aging structure bursts.’

In this bastion of smug wealth, the centre-right Democratic Alliance opposition political party is popular. Its eloquent local municipal councilor, Rick Crouch, appears aggressive in defending local interests. As he explained to The Mercury, ‘More than a year ago we addressed the issue with Transnet. They took me on an inspection in loco to show me how safe it was to have a pipeline near residential homes. I still had my doubts.’

Transnet’s serial carelessness and overcapacity
As well he should (though Crouch apparently kept them to himself), for Transnet was responsible for related disasters in 1998 and twice in 2013. Ramos’ celebrated endorsement of corporatisation apparently allowed managers to short-change broader social and ecological considerations. As an insider source told The Witness: ‘This is not the first time this has ¬happened. Within close proximity to the previous rupture site, the pipe had burst [in 1998] and they were warned of operating the line at high pressure. History repeats ¬itself.’

In 2013, the same pipeline leaked 300 000 liters on a dairy farm an hour west of Hillcrest. The incident was allegedly covered up by Transnet, but revealed the weakness of piping that was punctured by a farmworker ploughing the land. Remarked Bobby Peek, director of one of the country’s leading environmental NGOs, groundWork, ‘The fact that it took Transnet Pipelines three hours to arrest the flow of fuel from the rupture was an indictment on their ability to safely monitor their systems and act promptly in an emergency.’

In contrast, brags a government website, ‘Transnet Pipelines continually monitors the integrity of its pipeline network. Internal inspection tools, known as Intelligent Pigs, are valuable devices for this work. They make use of the magnetic stray flux principle to determine and record possible areas of metal loss from corrosion or any other cause. The results of the most recent Intelligent Pig survey of the network indicate that the pipelines, which are methodically protected against electrolytic corrosion, are in a generally good condition.’

Right then, blame pipeline rot on what must have been a litter of rather Unintelligent Pigs.

But Transnet was also indirectly responsible for a very different Hillcrest attack in September 2013. Just a dozen kilometres from Greenvale Village along the main road to Durban, a driver named Sanele May lost control of his container truck as he rolled down the very steep Fields Hill on the M13 highway. May then crashed into two kombi taxis and killed 24 working-class black people after his brakes apparently failed.

Six weeks ago, the 23 year old Swazi immigrant pleaded guilty to culpable homicide, entering South Africa illegally, being in possession of fake driver’s licences, operating a vehicle without a valid professional driving permit, and failing to comply with a road traffic sign. But the Taiwanese firm which owns the container – the world’s fourth largest shipping company, Evergreen – and Sagekal Logistics truck company which hired May and encouraged him to avoid a toll station on the N3 (because the truck’s registration was outdated) were not prosecuted, though they are to blame, in a systemic sense.

The structural problems driving the transport chaos remain unresolved, and Field’s Hill remains a site of periodic fatal truck accidents. These reflect the risks involved when, after 1994, the government and Transnet consented to shifting the six-meter long containers from railways to road. Transnet had no sensitivity to the needs of ordinary commuters in Durban, to minimal regulatory safety measures or to climate change.

A year ago, Business Day newspaper put Transnet’s climate denialism on the front page due to the parastatal’s rejected EIA for the first phase of Durban’s port expansion. In June last year, the company’s revised EIA confirmed its lack of concern for sea level rise, as its Cape Town consultants (ZAA Engineering Projects) simply misinterpreted a major United Nations climate study. Once again, SDCEA offered a devastating EIA critique.

The parastatal agency is only in the early stages of moving containers back from the road to its mainly idle rail lines. One result of such procrastination is that in 2011, 7000 truck crashes caused 70 fatalities in the Durban area alone. But since the post-apartheid trucking deregulation began, importers have built so much warehouse space and related logistics infrastructure along Durban’s main highways, that a shift back to rail will be nearly impossible under the logic of capitalist transport.

Moreover, at the South Durban port complex, Transnet’s planned R250 billion expansion of the existing harbour plus a new dig-out port at the site of the city’s old airport will, according to National Development Plan projections, raise Durban’s annual container throughput from 2.5 million in recent years to 20 million by 2040. Regardless of whether that estimate is accurate or yet another thumb-suck fantasy, nearly all the containers will continue to be transported by truck.

In contrast, the main merit of Transnet’s new oil pipeline is that far fewer truckloads of petrol and diesel are now being transported by truck. The new pipeline more than doubles the oil-transit capacity, because it uses 24-inch diameter size piping (double the old pipeline), and has a much stronger pumping system that, with much greater pressure possible, can triple the amount the Johannesburg region – with its 12 million residents – receives per year compared to the line that burst in Hillcrest.

Ironically, though, after a 2012 peak of 6.023 billion litres carried in the combined old and new Durban-Johannesburg pipelines (an increase of 87% from 2010 levels), the amount carried last year was only 5.340 billion litres. The assumption in 2006 was that petrol consumption would follow the ‘Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa’ economic plan, which in 2005 had projected annual GDP growth of 6% for the 2010-14 period. In reality, South Africa managed annual average growth of just 2.5% over the last five years.

As a result of aligning state mega-infrastructure spending to persistently optimistic macro-economic assumptions, South Africa’s overbuilding craze was responsible for not just white elephant soccer stadiums built for the 2010 soccer World Cup (which are now draining most municipal coffers), but also massive overcapacity in new and renovated airports, the R25 billion Gautrain Johannesburg-Pretoria fast train (with just half the ridership anticipated), and also that region’s hated e-tolled highway.

Moving from trucks to piped petrol, while shifting pipes closer to poor black areas
As for the extreme overcapacity now evident in the Durban-Johannesburg oil pipeline, the main official in the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) responsible, Rod Crompton, also criticised Transnet for not understanding why petrol pipeline volumes soon began to fall: ‘This is a concern in view of the new pipeline capacity that Transnet has brought into operation.’

One reason for the disappointing performance, Crompton argued, was that ‘There still appears to be scope to move more volumes away from road and rail transport to pipeline transport.’ There is enormous scope, to be sure, but no incentive under the prevailing for-profit system.

Matters will probably not improve, because Transnet argues it must now charge customers vast increases to cover the new pipeline costs, and in March 2014 requested a 20% increase in overall revenue for the coming year. Crompton only awarded a 5% rise. This was not unusual, for in 2009, Transnet had requested a 74% pipeline-tariff increase but Nersa instead told it to cut tariffs by 10%.

However, it should be evident that the entire system needs rejigging, for as SDCEA pointed out back in 2008, ‘The cost of petroleum does not truly reflect the environmental costs and the increase in availability of petroleum does not reflect diminishing supplies that can be anticipated over time. As a non-renewable finite resource, petroleum supplies will only decrease and their costs will rise as a larger population struggles to share less and less of it. The availability of petroleum today should reflect its limited life-span as a fuel source.’

Even though oil prices fell 40% in 2014, the application of full-cost accounting to cover climate change and local pollution is long overdue. But this kind of logical response appears far beyond Crompton’s and the South African state’s conceptual capacity.

After the Hillcrest blowout, another critical question concerns the safety of the new pipeline – with its dozens of extra kilometres traversing the southern part of Durban – since so many people live alongside its path. As Peek remarked after the latest spill, ‘Now the residents of South Durban have the new pipeline next to their houses. In Hillcrest, the pipes pass through big gardens and are quite far from the houses, but in Umbumbulu it is literally next to the houses, on people’s doorsteps.’

Back in 1965, when the original Durban-Johannesburg oil pipeline was commissioned, the ‘dirty steel’ used had ‘sulphur inclusions’ and also suffered weld defects including ‘fatigue crack growth and preferential corrosion of seam weld.’ Transnet commissioned an investigation into the pipeline by ‘international experts’ who ‘confirmed the multiple inherent defect phenomena of the pre-1970 pipe used and recommended replacement.’

If so, given the excess capacity in the new pipeline, why was the old pipeline still being used on December 23, as well as back in 2013 at Mooi River? According to government’s 2007 Energy Security Master Plan, ‘When it comes to infrastructure investments in the South African liquid fuels sector, in the next five years, the single most important recommendation is the approval of a new appropriately sized, properly integrated pipeline, which should come on line in the 2nd quarter of 2010 at the latest.’ The first diesel began flowing through the NMPP in January 2012, but failure to build two final pumping stations – in the case of the Durban harbour station, because of tank buckling – kept the pipe’s throughput at just 50% of capacity, requiring ongoing use of the old line.

But Transnet apparently received word from pipeline managers that there was no problem with the existing pipeline. PricewaterhouseCooper infrastructure expert Georg Hofmeyr told the Financial Mail a year ago, in the magazine’s words, that ‘An assessment of the original pipeline revealed that it was in better condition than originally thought, and drag-reducing agents were introduced to increase its capacity.’

In its 2008 EIA filing against the new Transnet pipeline, SDCEA offered several critiques, including a re-routing that is ‘suspiciously reminiscent of the environmental racism we in South Durban have become familiar with’; inadequate public participation; dubious motivations for the pipeline; government’s failure to prevent, detect or manage pipeline leaks; and climate change. According to SDCEA, ‘The pipeline threatens people with potentially severe environmental safety and health problems (well known to refinery victims in South Durban), in a manner that is discriminatory along class and racial lines.’

An oil spill can be devastating to people in the immediate vicinity, D’Sa warned Hillcrest residents: ‘Health studies in 2002 and 2007 found that the emissions from petro-chemical plants put the cancer risk at 500 times the norm (1:100 000) and that 75% of cancers in South Durban are caused by the release of chemicals from the petro-chemical facilities.’

Another threat to health posed by petroleum is its use in automobiles, an especially troubling phenomenon in Johannesburg since so much of the ambient air pollution there can be traced to highways in addition to the black townships whose low-income residents still rely upon dirty energy. As SDCEA argued in 2008, pollution ‘will be exacerbated by the petroleum and other fuels distributed in this area by the Transnet pipeline. Again, Transnet’s projections for fuel demands fail to reflect actual conditions by ignoring external factors such as deplorable air quality.’ In May 2014, the World Health Organisation confirmed these fears, in a report that cited Johannesburg for particulate matters (10 microns) ten times the recommended maximum, putting Johannesburg in the same league as China’s ultra-polluted cities.

More petrol to Joburg requires more refining in South Durban, a site whose local ecology is already toxin-saturated, SDCEA argued: ‘Durban Bay, in which the harbour is situated, is struggling to cope with the pollution loads from harbour and associated activities, contaminated riverine and storm-water inflows. The expansion will require further removal of aspects of the Bay’s ecosystem, which will in turn further reduce the assimilative capacity of this threatened and fragile estuary.’

Global-scale pollution was also noted in SDCEA’s critique in 2008: ‘The rise of CO2 emissions that will be facilitated by the pipeline is immense, and is only referred to in the [EIA] Draft Scoping Report as a potential legal problem, with no details provided.’ Three years later, at the end of 2011, SDCEA was the main local host for activists during the United Nations climate summit and its leader Desmond D’Sa led the march of 10 000 to protest what was termed the ‘Conference of Polluters.’

Reducing demand – or increasing supply and redirecting the pipeline
As SDCEA complained in 2008, ‘We do not believe that Transnet should be rewarded by being allowed to install a new pipeline when they are unable to properly manage their existing one.’ What, then, should have happened in early 2008, as Transnet prepared its final pipeline proposal and as load-shedding first hit South Africa?

A rethink was eminently feasible because in February 2008, a great deal of infrastructure was reaching its full capacity. The chairperson of Standard Bank, Derek Cooper, even advised Mbeki to limit Eskom’s ultra-cheap electricity supply to BHP Billiton. In the words of BHP SA chairperson Vincent Maphai, who was at the same meeting, Cooper believed ‘a quick way to the solution of our power crisis was shutting down Hillside’ smelter in Richards Bay, advice that Maphai hotly disputed, threatening to end the firm’s relations with the bank.

But the logic was inexorable, as Mining writer Michael Coulson affirmed in June 2008: ‘The fact is that aluminium smelters, especially in a country with no supplies of the raw material, bauxite – which is one of the few minerals lacking in our rich resource base – are simply a way of exporting electricity. They don’t create many jobs, and the capital investment per job is enormous. They were a luxury we could afford in the 1980s, but are now expensive white elephants that absorb capital and power that could much more productively employed elsewhere. In terms of power alone, an aluminium smelter consumes as much electricity as a medium-sized town.’

In 2009, in what was an otherwise cautious critique of the call from African National Congress youth to nationalize the mines, SA Communist Party deputy leader (and deputy minister) Jeremy Cronin agreed: ‘An analysis of the systemic realities that are reproducing under-development in our country, must surely lead us to call for greater use of renewable energy sources, for the phasing out of aluminium smelters, and for the re-nationalisation of SASOL.’

In 2012, when margins became dangerously low again, Eskom began paying smelters to shut down, saving 500 megaWatts of power. Just 140 high-consuming companies are responsible for 40% of South Africa’s electricity demand. BHP alone consumes in the 5-10% range of electricity depending upon the aluminium market’s profitability.

Sometimes it takes a crisis to focus thinking and redirect energies. If this degree of radical rethinking of South Africa’s electricity consumption was possible (and is needed again as more load-shedding looms), then why not rethink the shipping of petrol products to Johannesburg?

Indeed in 2005, there was a major petrol shortage in Johannesburg and Cape Town – but as with Eskom and electricity, instead of promoting economic sanity, resource conservation and public transport, the result was greater pressure for supply enhancement, especially a new Durban-Johannesburg oil pipeline.

In early 2008, there were two routes forward:

1. first, reconsider the costs of Johannesburg’s status as the most industrialised mega-city in Africa, and therefore decentralise new economic activity so as to better distribute future populations closer to the availability of resources such as water; or
2. second, simply continue to promote limitless consumption, suburban sprawl, the Sandton financial district’s growth (as Johannesburg’s economic motor) and other forms of maldevelopment, by ‘supply enhancement.’

That would entail mega-projects to provide Johannesburg consumers with more electricity (from three new coal-fired power plants), water (through new Lesotho dams) and transport (e.g. the OR Tambo Airport refurbishment and Gautrain for wealthy commuters).

Since the second option was chosen, the next question was whether the largest single infrastructure project up to that point, the new Transnet pipeline, should cross the paths of rich white homeowners and farmers, or instead, poor black residents under the thumb of local ethnic rulers and ruling-party politicians.

Out of white sight
The latter route was chosen. One reason is that there were vocal opponents of new digging along (or nearby) the existing pipeline servitude, termed the ‘Northern Corridor’. Near Hillcrest, according to Transnet’s Zitholele consultancy, ‘Assagay landowners expressed grave concerns’ because ‘The likely construction damage and nuisance impact on the Northern Corridor is considered to be severe in the Assagay area as a result of the sensitivity of equestrian businesses to disruption.’ (South Africa’s 1% need their horses for recreation and showing off.)

One of the most effective Hillcrest activists was Lilian Develing, who headed the Combined Ratepayers' Association in Durban. She was quoted as warning that Transnet’s existing pipeline developed underground leaks: ‘These took some time to discover, causing damage to grazing, and animals had to be moved.’

Other reasons Zitholele gave for routing the pipeline through a Southern Corridor included ecological, agricultural and public open space. Yet just outside Durban, the existing servitude on one long section of the old pipeline – from Merrivale to Cedar’s Post through Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve – is being used for the larger pipe, apparently without any such concerns.

The privileged Hillcrest community’s NIMBY strategy was apparently the key factor. As Peek argued in the wake of the December 2014 spill, ‘Hillcrest residents did not want the new pipeline in their area, so they fought it and Transnet decided to move it.’

Along with Peek, D’Sa was a recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize for activism (in 1998 and 2014, respectively), and in an interview this week he too was fuming: ‘White monopoly capital had a huge influence in the new pipeline’s placement. Even in South Durban, for the majority of white people living here, the pipeline goes nowhere near their houses.’

But, he added, local collaborators helped Transnet get access to black residential sites: ‘The ANC councilors and chiefs in the areas affected by the new pipeline also sold out. They told everyone it would create jobs there. The councilors blocked us even talking to the people there. They were gatekeepers. They also need to be blamed. And other groups taking money from Transnet should also be held accountable.’

NIMBY – or NOPE?
There was a bit of resistance in South Durban, to be sure. In August 2010, the black residents of Adams Mission resisted Transnet’s 11-page temporary servitude agreement and an ‘angry resident’ complained about the construction: ‘Our houses are beginning to crack because of the constant digging Transnet must take their pipes and find an alternate route far from our homes.’

The NIMBY narrative needs reworking. As Naomi Klein argues about the climate change threat, ‘This changes everything.’ Policy elites and community activists alike should be properly preparing for a post-carbon future. The appropriate narrative is then to question our overconsumption of fossil fuels, especially via an overpriced and dangerous pipeline whose long delay in construction resulted in the use of the existing pipe beyond its lifespan.

What is missing is a set of arguments and pressure strategies aimed not at ‘an alternative route far from our homes’ (of whatever race or class orientation) but instead at a different economic and transport strategy not so reliant upon fossil fuels, so instead of supply enhancement, demand-side management leads to major conservation gains.

The only way to do this is to realign community politics away from NIMBY and towards eco-socialism, and to insert bodies not just into EIA documents but onto the streets and into the fields to block pipelines like Transnet’s. As Klein puts it in This Changes Everything, ‘Blockadia is not a specific location on a map but rather a roving transnational conflict zone that is cropping up with increasing frequency and intensity wherever extractive projects are attempting to dig and drill, whether for open-pit mines, or gas fracking, or tar sands oil pipelines.’

First, if ‘the trusty slur NIMBY has completely lost its bite’ in this climate justice movement, who is staffing Klein’s Blockadia? ‘The people at the forefront – packing local council meetings, marching in capital cities, being hauled off in police vans, even putting their bodies between the earth-movers and earth – do not look much like your typical activist, nor do the people in one Blockadia site resemble those in another. Rather, they each look like the places where they live, and they look like everyone: the local shop owners, the university professors, the high school students, the grandmothers.’

For Klein, it is vital for people to link interests, in the way that has not yet happened between Hillcrest and South Durban: ‘What is clear is that fighting a giant extractive industry on your own can seem impossible, especially in a remote, sparsely populated location. But being part of a continent-wide, even global, movement that has the industry surrounded is a very different story. Blockadia is turning the tables.’

She continues, ‘The fossil fuel companies, in short, are no longer dealing with those Big Green groups that can be silenced with a generous donation or a conscience-clearing
carbon offset program. The communities they are facing are, for the most part, not looking to negotiate a better deal – whether in the form of local jobs, higher royalties, or better safety standards. More and more, these communities are simply saying “No.” No to the pipeline.’

Instead of NIMBY, the new call-out is simply ‘NOPE’: Not On Planet Earth.

The NOPE demand was made by SDCEA back in 2008, as it contemplated Transnet’s expenditure of billions on the pipeline, but the organisation also expressed the perceived need for a short-termist NIMBY narrative: ‘Nearly every aspect of this pipeline project is contrary to national and global efforts to achieve environmental sustainability… The money should instead be invested in finding other ways of powering Johannesburg via renewable energy sources, or in the meantime, developing a shorter – and less environmentally racist – route for fuel delivery compared to the southerly route.’

There was more NOPE logic in SDCEA’s submission: ‘Global, climatologic and economic forces are pushing toward a sustainable energy package. It will ultimately cost South Africa more to put off adopting environmentally responsible programs because if we wait decades before working on the Long Term Mitigation Scenario commitments, the changes will not be able to occur gradually.’

Combining NIMBY and NOPE, SDCEA concluded, ‘If the north route is found to be unacceptable then the pipeline idea needs to be abandoned in full. The billions of rand that it will cost to build the pipeline should be spent on renewable energy and other more sustainable means. This would be the preferred option in SDCEA’s view because we feel that the presence of the pipeline will have adverse effects not only on the people of south Durban, but on the whole of South Africa, as it represents a major investment in an unsustainable energy program.’

Specifically, SDCEA suggested: ‘Refurbishing the existing pipeline in an incremental manner (instead of doubling capacity), as maintenance is required, replacing the sections with a larger pipeline, using the existing route and servitudes, and installing additional pump stations, as and when required. Accelerating the upgrade of railways and public transport in Johannesburg, so as to get more people and product off the roads to minimise transport-related congestion, fuel burning, emissions and associated health effects, by establishing urban transport networks to enable safe and affordable rail transport, linked to park and ride centres with connections to bus and taxi routes.’

What tools are available? Klein endorses fossil fuel corporate divestment, and this tool is one that, as in its use against Transnet by anti-apartheid activists during the 1980s, can be very powerful.

After all, Transnet is not financially healthy. Although its March 2014 annual report showed profits of R5.2 billion on revenues of R56.6 billion, the Sunday Times offered a corrective: ‘The bottom line is flattered to some extent by technicalities such as a sharp drop in the revaluation of assets, a drop which helped the 12.3% increase in earnings before interest, tax and depreciation to translate into a 25% increase in bottom-line profit.’

In June 2014, Transnet’s credit rating was cut to BBB-, just one level above junk status. There were further financial ‘problems in the pipeline for Transnet,’ Business Day reported, as a result of declining confidence in the parastatal’s ability to deliver. In mid-2013, for example, when Transnet offered a R750 million security to overseas investors, only R122 million was bid for, leading to the bond’s abandonment.

SDCEA has threatened Transnet with a financial sanctions campaign before, due to the R250 billion port-petrochemical expansion in South Durban. The last such campaign it initiated, in early 2010, created a near-crisis for Eskom because once campaigning began, major World Bank shareholders ranging from Norway to the United States refused to support the Bank’s largest-ever loan: $3.75 billion for the Medupi coal-fired powerplant, even after a high-profile appeal from then finance minister Pravin Gordhan.

Infrastructure of this sort, wrote University of Manchester geographers Erik Swyngedouw and Maria Kaika in a pathbreaking article in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research fifteen years ago, needs special attention. Projects like the Durban-Johannesburg pipelines are ‘largely hidden, opaque, invisible, disappearing underground, locked into pipes, cables, conduits, tubes, passages and electronic waves. It is exactly this hidden form that renders the tense relationship between nature and the city blurred, that contributes to severing the process of social transformation of nature from the process of urbanization. Perhaps more importantly, the hidden flows and their technological framing render occult the social relations and power mechanisms that are scripted in and enacted through these flows.’

It is our work in society, regardless of whether we live in South Durban, Hillcrest, Johannesburg, inbetween or far beyond, to unveil these power relations and wreck them, hopefully faster than Transnet’s pipelines – old and new – continue to wreck and be wrecked.
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Ukuchitheka kwamafutha aseNingizimu Afrika kungcolise lapho kubusa khona izicebi ezimhlophe
Kodwa lenhlekelele eyenzeke kulesisigceme saseThekwini siveze obala ukuhlukunyezwa komhlaba okusabalele kanye nokubandlululwa ngezemvelo

NguPatrick Bond Yahunyuswa nguFaith ka-Manzi

Ngesikhathi samaholidi, amakhasi aphambili amaphephandaba aseThekwini – idolobhakazi elikhulu lesithathu eNingizimu Afrika –ayememeza ngokuphindelela ngkuchitheka kwamafutha kadizili. Lapho kuhlal akhona abadla izambane likapondo eHillcrest mhlazingu23 kuZibandlela, ipayipi elisuka eThekwini liya eGoli eliphethwe imboni enkulu kakhulu ezimele kuthi engxenye iphathwe nguhulumeni iTransnet yachitha amalitha angu220 000 ezingadini zemizi zezakhamizi eziyizicebi.

Lomzila wepayipi, owakhiwa ngonyaka ka1965 futhi manje osekudlule iminyaka emine uphelelwe isikhathi sawo, njalo ngonyaka uthwala amalitha ayizigidigidi ezintathu zemikhiqizo yamafutha ezimboni Obp, iShell kanye noEngen abanikazi bayo bangesizwe saseMalaysia. Othize ongafunangwa ukuthi laziwe igama lakhe osebenzela lemboni waqinisekisa kwiphephandaba iThe Witness ukuthi, ‘Lelipayipi elingaphansi komhlaba laqhuma kanye nolayini wokuwelda owavela wadlebeleka.’ Okhulumela iTransent wafakazela ukuthi ukuhlanzwa kweHillcrest kuzothatha isikhathi ‘cishe esingangonyaka’.

Awusondele ubukele eduze umonakalo nokuthi ubungavinjwa kanjani. Lokhu akufanele-nje kube udaba lokucatshangwa kabusha mayelana nokudakwa kwethu ngamafutha acekela phansi isimo sezulu kanye nesifundazwe saseGoli esingcolisa umoya ngokungenamqondo –futhi iziphi izinkulumo izishoshovu ezizoqhamuka nazo kwizimboni zamandla amafatha ezifana neTransnet.

Lawa ngamaphuzu enziwa kudala ngonyaka ka2008 ngenye yezinhlangano zomphakathi eziphambili, ithe South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), lapho basho ukuthi lengozi iyokwenzeka beshiso izinto abazaziyo esezike zenzeka ngaphambilini esizindeni esikhulukazi sezimboni ezisabalele emhlabeni wonke okuncibilikiswa khona amafutha eAfrika. Ngonyaka ka2001, umzila owodwa wepayipi owawusetshenziswa nguShell kanye neBP wachitha amalitha angu1.3 wezigidi zamafutha komakhelwane baseBluff eNingizimu neTheku (isaziso: ilapho ngihlala khona).

Ngaphezu kwalokho, umkhuba wokuthi ‘Hayi ngemuva kwezindlu zethu’ wezakhamizi iningi lazo okungabamhlophe zaseHillcrest uvele wahlala obala, njengoba kwenza isixazululo seTransnet kulomzila omdala wepayipi: ompompa amafutha amaningi kusetshenziswa umzila omusha wamafutha odlula emaphandleni abantu abamnyama kanye nasezigcemeni ezingomakhelwane baseNingizimu neTheku lapho kuhlala khona ikakhulukazi abantu abamnyama abahola amaholo aphansi.

Lomzila Omusha Wemikhiqizo Eminingi –ipayipi lakhona elaqedwa eminyakeni emithathu edlule kodwa esalinde izigceme ezimbili ezintsha ukuthi igcwale ngokuchichima –libe nokubambezeleka kakhulu kanye nangokuchichimayo, kwanyuka imali ebibekiwe kusukela kwizigidgidi ezingu6.5 zamarandi ngonyaka ka2006 kuya kwizigidigidi ezingu23.4 kugcina ukubalwa.

Ngenyanga kaMandulo ngonyaka ka2007, ngisho nomphathi omkhulu weTransnet wangalesosikhathi owayejwayelwe ukunconywa uMaria Ramos wayeqagele ukuthi ukubiza kokugcina kwakuyizigidgidi ezigu11.2 zamarandi, okungaphansi kwengxnye eyanga kakhulu eminyakeni emithathu emva kokuba umzila usushintshiwe usudlula eNingizimu neTheku. Ngenxa yemikhiqizo ehlakahlukene yamafutha (okumbandakanya kwangahlaziwe, udizili kanye namafutha ezindizamshini)udlula kuwona, kwakuyipayipa elinenkinga ukulendlala kumakhilomitha ngu544. LOmzila Omusha Wemikhiqizo Eminingi ubizwa ngohlobo lomzila omkhulukazi emhlabeni wonke.

Mayelana nesikhathi, ipayipi elisha kanye nezigceme zokumpompa kwakufanele ziqedwe ukwakhiwa ngonyaka ka2010 ngakho-ke umzila onqamula eHillcrest kwakse kufanele uyekwe, kodwa-ke usuku lwangenyanga kaMbasa ngo2015 ilona olungumlamlajuqu olubekwe yiTransnet. Isizathu mayelana nalokho kuthi usuku oluhlale lumiselwe lokho luhlale luqhutshezelwa phambili ngenxa yamashumi shumi amakhilomitha abuye andiswa ngokuthi kususkwa kumzila owawukade uhleliwe okyiwa kulona osunqamula ezindaweni lapho kuhlala khona izakhamizi ezimnyama.

Ukwenziwa umzila kabusha wenziwa ngokukhulu ukuxhamazela, okwaholela ekugxekweni okumnangalisayo okwaqhamuka kwiSDCEA ngonyaka ka2008.Eqinisekisa ngokusho kwabo ngokwakuzokwenzeka owakushiwo yiSDCEA, lowo owayekade enguMongameli Wezemisebenzi Yemiphakathi uMalusi Gigaba wavuma ephalamennde ngenyanga kaMbasa kunyaka odlule ukuthi ukulwawula kukaTransnet kweprojekti yomzila omusha wepayipi ubekhane nezingqinamba ‘zokwenza okungagculisi, ukumelana nezemvelo okusesimeni esibi, kanye nokungalawulwa kokulawulwa kwamazinga ngokwanenele kanye nokunganeli kokulawula kanye nokuhlolwa.
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Umzila omusha wepayipi leTransnet (umbala oluhlaza) ubhekene nomzila omdala (umzila onezindingiliza ezimnyama)
Source: Transnet NMPP Environmental Impact Assessment Draft Scoping Report, 2008

Ngaphambilini, ngenyanga kaZibandlela ngonyaka ka2012 emva kophenyo, uGigaba wavuma ukuthi iTransnet Capital Project yayingenakho ukufukameleka okwanele kanye nokujula ngolwazi ngokubhekisisswa kwaloluhlelokazi olujule kakhulu. Akubanga khona ukuhlaziya okwanele ngokungase kube nobungozi. Ukuzibophezela kweTransnet kuloluhlelo njengokuthola izimvume - njengeEnvironmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), ukutholakala komhlaba ngelungelo lomzila, amanzi kanye nezimvume zomhlaba omatile – azizange zilandelwe ngokubhekelea okunobuhlakani kanye nomfutho.’

Ngonyaka ka2008 ngesikhathi ukudwetshwa kwepayipi elisha sekwamukelwe, ukwehluleka kweTransnet (ngamazi kaGigaba) kwakubhekelelwa nguNgqongqoshe Wezemisebenzi Yemiphakathi uAlec Erwin, indoda eminyakeni emine ngaphambilini eyayiphumelele ekuxhasweni ngumquluweForeifg Affairs ( okuyilona izwi elihamba phambili kwisizinda sokubusa amanye amazwe ngokusabalala saseMelika) ukuthi abe ngumqondisi-jikelele weWorld Trade Organisation,nguRamos, futhi kwathi emva konyaka wethiwa iphephabhuku iFortune (uRamos) njengowesifazane wesishagalolunye onamandla kakhulu emhlabeni wonke futhi manje ohlola ibhange lesibili elikhulukazi kulelizwe (iABSA eyingxenye yeBarclays).

Ngamanye amazwi, lokhu kwakungekhona ukwehluleka ngamazinga obuholi, kwakungukuqhubeka kwendlela yokuhlukunyezwa kwezemvelo kanye nezenhlalakahle ngezinye zezikhulu ezhola phambili eNingizimu Afrika. Uma-nje ngingasho-nje, abazange babhekane nalokhu kwehluleka kulonahlelo noma projekti enkulukazi eyake yenziwa yiTransnet. UErwin kanye noRamos bayingxenye yabanye abaphathi abambalwa bokushintsha kombuso wezomnotho wakuleli eNingizimu Afrika ukuthi kube ngowobungxiwankulu ngesikhathi seminyaka kaMandela benoMbeki (yena uErwin wayengungqongqoshe wezokuhweba, bese kuthi uRamos abe ngumqondisi-jikelele wezezimali), kodwa umonakalo abawenza ubonakala kakhulu ezindaweni eziningi kuleli, okumbandakanya nalapha KwaZulu-Natal.

Futhi bona oErwin, noRamos kanye nabanye abaphathi baseTransnet abazange babhekane nokushayisana okusabalele phakathi kwezimboni ezakhayo ngesikhathi kwukhishwa amathenda ngababezozuza ngalelipayipi elisuka eThekwini liya eGoli. iGroup Five Engineering. Ziningi izinhlelo zeTransnet ezahlangabezana nezinkinga ngokungafanele okwenyukela ngamaphesenti angamashumi amahlanu futhi ngalokho kubongwa lokhu kungaboni ngaso linye. Ukuxhaswazwa okwenziwa yizimboni kwalendlela kunomthelela kwisizwe sonke, ngisho nabacebile.

Empeleni, okusanda kwenzeka okuyicala eHillcrest eGreenvale Village esakhiweni esicvikelelekile, esakhiwa emva konyak aka1965, lapho umzila wepayipi leTransnet wadlula khona noma kwakukhona ukungazibusi okusuke eminyakeni eminingi edlule. IGrrenvale iziqhayisa ngezakhiwo zezindlu ezinkulukazi, futhi esinye isizathu esenza lendawo ithandeke ukusondela kwayo (ngamakhilomitha mathathu) kwizikole ezibiza izambane likapondo zaseThekwini. Lendawo yezicebi, nezimoto eziphambili kanye nomhlaba ovundile kusukela eAssagay kuya eKloof, ngempela uyindawo lapho kukhiqizwa khona ababusi bendawo, njengoba kwenzeka nasezindaweni ezinjengaseMhlanga, eNtshonalanga neTheku kanye naseGlenwood.

Kwakusezindaweni ezinjena, lapho, iSDCEA ngokushaya emhloleni ngonyaka ka2008 yasho ukuthi ukungacopheleli kweTrnasnet kogcina kuvele obala: ‘Akukho cebo eliphuthumayo elikhona mayelana nalelipayipi elikhona ngakho-ke labo abaphila kulomzila abanayo indlela abazi ukuthi kufanele benzenjani uma kunesimo esiphuthumayo nomangase kudaleke ingozi… Kungenzeka kube nabantu abahlala kulomzila walelipayipi elikhona abangazi ukuthi likhona, nokuthi ngabe lenzani kumhlaba walo kanye namanzi, nokuthi benzenjani umangase lelipayipi eselilidala lingase liqhume.’

Kulesisinda lapho kuvikelwa khona ingcebo yomntakabani, iqembu lezombusazwe elimaphakathi ngokuyela ngakontamolukhuni iDemocratic Alliance ilona elinedumela. Ikhansela lendawo liamaspilala eliyiciko lokukhuluma, uRick Crouch, ubonakala enodlame ngokuvikela izidingo zabantu bakulendawo, Njengoba ayechaza kwiphephandaba iMercury, ‘Sekuphele unyaka sikhuluma ngaloludaba neTransnet. Bangiyisa kohlola ukuze bangikhombise ukuthi lelipayipi livikeleke kangakanani ukuthi libe seduze nalabo kunemizi khona yabantu. Kodwa ngaqhubeka ngaba nokungabaza.

Ukuhlala njalo ukungacopheleli kukaTransnet kanye nokumumatha ngokwedlulele
Njengokuba kwakufanele (noma-ke uCrouch loluzwazi azigcinela yena), uTransnet futhi wawumbandakanywa nezinye izinhlekelele ezifanayo ngonyaka ka1998 kwathi ngonyaka ka2013 zenzeka kabili. URamos wajabulelo ukuxhaswa kwokwenziwa kwesincomo semboni futhi kubonakala sengathi wasevumela abaphathi ukuthi bangabhekeli ngokeanele izimo eziningi zezenhlalakahle kanye nezemvelo. Njengoba omunye umnyombo oqhamuka eTrasnet watshela iphephandaba iThe Witness ukuthi: ‘Akukona okokuqala lokhu kwenzeka. Eduzane nalapho kuqhume khona, ipayipi laqhuma [ngonyaka ka1998] futhi baxwayiswa ngokusebenzisa ipayipi ngengcindezi ephakeme. Umlando-ke uyaziphinda phinda.’

Ngonyaka ka2013, lelipayipi lavuza amalitha angu300 000 liters kwelinye lamaplazi obisi indawo engangehora uma usuke empumalanga neHillcrest. Lesisiphihli kusolakala sengathi safihlwa yiTransnet, kodwa savezela obala ubuthakathaka bepayipi elalijojekile ngesikhathi umsebenzi waseplazini elima. Kubeka umbono umqondisi wasegroundWork enye yezinhlangano ezizimele ehamba phambili mayelana nobulungiswa kwezemvelo, uBobby Peek wathi, ‘Indaba yokuthi kwathatha uTransnet Pipelines amahora mathathu ukunqamula amafutha ayevuza okwakuqhamuka lapho laliqhume khona ipayipi kwakukhombisa khona ukuthi benze icala mayelana nezindlela abahlola ngazo ukuvikeleka kwezinqubo zabo nokubhekana nalesisimo esiphuthumayo ngokushesha okukhulu.’

Mase futhi kubhekwa ngokuphikisana nalokhu, ngokuqhosha kwewebsite kahulumeni, ‘iTransnet Pipelines ihlale ihlola isithunzi sabaxhumana mayelana nnalelipayipi. Ukuhlolwa kwamathuluzi angaphakathi, okwaziwa njengamaIntelligent Pigs, kuyizinto ezibalulekile kulomsebenzi. Bangasebenzisa amathuluzi okubamba ukubhekelela kanye nokuqopha izindawo okungenzeka kube khona ukulahleka kwezinsimbi ngenxa yokushayisana noma uikuphi okungadala lokho. Imiphumela yokuhlonza okusanda kwenziwa yiIntelligent Pigs ukuthi imizila yamapayipi, evikelekelwe ekusahyiseni ngeelctrolyte, kujwayele ukuba sesimweni esihle.’

Kulungile-ke, akusolwe ukubola komzila wepayipi okubonakala sengathu kuyimfucuza yamaUnintelligent Pigs.

Kodwa uTransnet futhi nawo ufanele ukusolwa noma kungabhekene nakho ngqo ngokuhlaselwa okwehlukile okwenzeka eHillcrest ngenyanga kaMandulo ngo2013. Amakhilomitha ambalwa usuka eGreenvale Village uma uya emgaqweni oya eThekwini, umshayeli uSanele May waphulukudlelwa yitrukhi ayeyishayela ngesikhathi ehla ngalomgwaqo owehlelayo kuFields Hill kuthelawayeka uM13. UMay wakhwela amakhumbi amabili athutha abantu kwisibhicongo esabulala abasebenzi abamnyama abangamashumi amabili nane emva kokuba amabrakes avele ahluleka.

Emasonwteni ayisithupha edlule, lesisakhamuzi saseSwazini esineminyaka engu23 esikuleli ngokufika savuma ukubulala abantu ngokungenhloso, ngokungena eNingizimu Afrika ngokungemthetho, ukuba nencwadi zokushayela ezingekho emthethweni, ukusebenzisa isithuthi ngaphandle kwemvume esemthethweni yokushayela, kanye nokwahluleka ukuhlonipha uphawu olulawula ukushayela emgaqweni. Kodwa imboni owakuyiyona abanikazi becontaniner – okuyimboni enkulukazi yesine ngezokuthutha ngemikhumbi emhlabeni wonke, iEvergreen – kanye neSagekal Logistics imboni yetrukhi eyayiqashe uMay futhi yamgqugqzela ukuthi angahambi ngomgwaqo okhokhelwayo okuN3 (ngoba ukubhaliswa kwetrukhi kwase kuphelelwe isikhathi) futhi bona bazange bashushiswe, kodwa bebe nabo benecala, ngendlela ababeqhuba ngayo.

Izinkinga ezibhekene nenyakanyaka mayelana nezokuthutha azikaxazululwa, futhi isizinda sakuField’s Hill siyaqhubeka nokuba indawo lapho kuhlale kunezinhlekelele zezingozi zamatrukhi. Lokhu kukhombisa ubungozi obukhona lapho, emva kuka1994, uhulumeni kanye nohulumeni bavumela ukushenxa amacontainer amade ngamamitha ayisithupha ukuthi asuke kumzila wezitimela angene emigwaqeni. UTransnet awunazwelo mayelana nezidingo zabagibeli baseThekwini, ukuthi kube izindlela ezincane zokulawula izindlela zokuvikela noma ukuguquguquka kwesimo sezulu.

Esikhathini esingangonyaka esedlule, iphephandaba iBusiness Day yashicilela ukuphika kweTrasnet kwikhasi lokuqala ngenxa yokuthi lesisikhondlakhondla sanqaba ukwamukela umbiko wokuqala weEIA wokwandiswa kwechweba laseThekwini. Ngenyanga kaNhlangulela ngonyaka odlule, ukubuyekezwa kweEIA kwalembni kwaqinisekisa ukungabi namdlandla kwayo ngokunyuka kwamazinga olwandle, nejngoba abasebenza nabo waseKapa (iZAA Engineering Projects) yahluleka ukuhlaziya isifundo esenziwa Inhlangano Yezizwe. Kanti-ke futhi, iSDCEA yakwazi ukugxeka ngokuthi lesisimo siyoba nomphumela omubi kakhulu.

Lesisikhondlakhondla sisasekuqaleni kumalungiselelo okususa amacontainer kusukela emigwaqeni kuya emizileni yezitimela esajamile. Umphumela owodwa walobubuvila ukuthi ngonyaka ka2011, kwaba khona izinhlekelele ezingu7000 zokushayisana kwamatrukhi okwaholela ekutheni kudlule imiphefumulo engamashumi ayisikhombisa eThekwini-nje kuphela. Kodwa kusukela kuqala ukwenziwqa kabusha kwemigomo eyayilawula ngesikhathi sobandlululo, abathuthela izimpahla zangaphandle beziletha kuleli sebakhe izindawo ezinkulu zokugcina izimpahla kanye nezinye izingqlasizinda kothelawayeka bemigwaqo yaseThekwini, kangangokuthi ukushintsha kubuyelwa emzilweni yesitimela kunbonakala kuzoba nzima uma sekubhekwana nendlela ongxiwankulu abathutha ngayo.

Ngaphezulu kwalokho, esakhiweni saseThekwini echwebeni, iTransnet ihlele ukwandisa ngezigidigidi ezingu250 zamadola kulelichweba elikhona kanye nokumbiwa kwalo kulesisizinda lapho kwakuyindawo yokusuka nokufika kwezindiza, lokhu, ngokubuka kweNational Development Plan projections, kuyonyusa isibalo samacontainer kusukela kwizigidi ezingu2.5 kuleminyaka kuya kumacontainer ayizigidi ezingamashumi amabili ngonyaka ka2040. Noma ngabe-ke ukuqagela kushaya emhloleni noma akukhona, cishe wonke amacontainer azoqhubeka athuthwe ngamatrukhi.

Ngokuphikisana nalokhu, okuhle-nje ngomzila omusha wepayipi leTransnet ukuthi asembalwa amatrukhi athutha udizili kanye namafutha ngamatrukhi. Umzila omusha wepayipi uphindaphindeke kabili ngaphezulu mayelana nokumumatha amafutha, ngoba usebenzisaamaintshi angu24 (ngokuphindaphindiwe umzila omdala wepayipi), futhi enendlela enamandla yokumpompa okungathi, uma kungase kusetshenziswe ingcindezi kakhulu, kungenzeka ngokuphindwe kathathu isibalo sesifunda saseGoli –esinezakhamizi eziyizigidi eziyishumi nambili –okutholakala njalo ngonyaka uma kuqhathaniswa nalomzila oqhume eHillcrest.

Futhi ngokungakholakali, noma-ke, emva kokwenyuka kwango2012 ngamalitha ezigidigidi ezingu6.023 okwakuthwelwe kwimizila yamapayipi ahlanganisiwe amadala namasha aseThekwini kanye naseGoli (ukunyuka kwamaphesenti angu87 kusukela kumazinga angonyaka ka2010), isibalo esathwalwa ngonyaka odlule sasingamalitha ayizigidigidi ezingu5.340. Umcabango ngonyaka ka2006 kwakungukuthi ukusetshenziswa kwamafutha ezokuthutha kuyolandela uhlelo lwezomnotho olwaziwa nge‘Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa’, lapho ngonyaka ka2005 yabheka ukukhula kweGDP kwangonyaka kwamaphesenti ayisithupha kwesikhathi esisuka ku2010 kuya ku2014. Empeleni, iNingizimu Afrika yakwazi ukukhulisa ngamaphesenti angu2.5 eminyakeni emihlanu edlule.

Njengomphumela wokuhlanganisa ukusetshenziswa kwakhulu kwezimali mayelana nezinqalasizinda ezinkulukazi mayelana nemicabango engapheli yezomnotho wezwelonke. Ukwakha okunobuhlanya baseNingizimu Afrika ikona okwaholela ukuthi kungabikhona-nje ukwakhiwa kwezinkundla zebhola likanobhutshuzwayo ngonyaka ka2010 ngesikhathi seNdebe Yomhlaba (okumanje enze imali kamasipala iphelele kuzona ngenxa yokunakekelwa), kodwa nezikhumulo zezindiza ezintsha nezilungisiwe ezimumatha ngokwedlulele, isitimela esigijima kakhulu esabiza izigidigidi ezingu25 zamarandi iUgatrain esuka eGoli iya ePitoli (njengoba abagibeli bayo beyingxenye yalabo abalindelwe ukuba basisebenzise), kanye nothelawayeka abazondwa kakhulu abakhokhelwayo esifundazweni saseGoli.

Ukuyeka ukuthuthwa kwamafutha upetroli ngamatrukhi, kusetshenziswa amapayipi abekwe eduzane nalapho kwakhe khona abantu abamnyama abanhlwempu
Njengoba kunokuchichima okukhulu okusobala kumzila wepayipi lamafutha elisuka eThekwini liya eGoli, isikhulu okuyisona esihamba phambili esilawulayo ngokusemthethweni kwisikhungo iNational Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) esiholela kulokhu, uRod Crompton, naye wayigxeka iTransnet ngokungaqondi ukuthi kwakungani ukuchichima kwalomzila wamafutha kwaqala kwahluleka:‘Lokhu kuletha ukukhathazeka mayelana nombono wokumumatha kwepayipi elisha uTransnet alisebenzisayo.’

Isizathi esisodwa esijabhisayo ngalokhu kwenza, kusho uCrompton, ukuthi, ‘Kusalokhu kubonakala kunethuba lokuthutha amaningi amafutha kusukwa emgwaqweni kanye nasemzileni wesitimela kuthuthwa ngomzila wepayipi.’ Alikho ithuba elikhulu kangaka, ukuqiniseka, kodwa ayikho indlela engaphansi ehamba phambili ukuze kwenziwe inzuzo.

Lokhu mhlawumbe ngeke kube neqnubekela phambili, ngoba uTransnet ulokhu uthi kufanele ukhokhise abantu imali enkulu ukuze ukwazi ukumelana nokukhokhela umzila omusha wepayipi, futhi ngenyanga kaNdasa ngo2014 wafuna ukwenyukisa ngamaphesenti angamashumi amabili kwinzuzo kulonyaka ozayo. UCrompton yena wayinyusa ngamaphesenti ayisihlanu. Lokhu kwakungeyona into engajwayelekile, ngoba ngonyaka ka2009, uTransnet wayefuna amaphesenti angamashumi nesikhombisa nane okuthi kunyuswe imali yomzila wepaiyipi kodwa iNersa kodwa yathi ayiyehlise leyomali ngamaphesenti ayishumi.

Kodwa-ke, kufanele kube sobala ukuthi loluhlelo lonke ludinga ukwenziwa kabusha, ngoba njengoba iSDCEA yakhombisa kudala ngo2008, ‘Ukubiza kwamafutha akukhombisi ngempela okwenzeka emvelweni kanye nokubiza kokubakhona kwamafutha akukhombisi ukuncipha ukulethwa kwalomkhiqizo okulokhu kuya ngokuphela ngokuhamba kwesikhathi. Njengoba kungumkhiqizo okwazi ukuthi wenziwe kabusha, ukulethwa kwalomkhiqizo wamafutha kyokwehla kuthi ukubiza kwawo kunyuke futhi ngalesosikhathi iningi labantu lazabalaza ukuthi liwuthole lomkhiqizo. Ukuba khona kwamafutha namhlanje ufanel ngabe kukhombisa impilo yawo engaqhubeki njengomsuka wawo.’

Noma ngabe amanani amafutha awa ngamaphesenti angamashumi amane ngo2014, isicelo senani eligcwele ukubhekana nokuguquguquka kwesimo sezulu kanye nokungcola komoya kulendawo kufanele ngabe kade kwenzeka. Kodwa loluhlobo lwempendulo enomqondo lubonakala kokucabanga kombuso waseNingizimu Afrika kanye noCrompton.

Emva kwalenhlekelele eyenzeke eHillcrest, omunye umbuzo obalulekile umayelana nokuphepha komzila omusha wepayipi –kuhlangene nesibalo esiningi samakhilomitha anqamula inngxenye yeningizimu yaseThekwini –njengoba abantu abaningi behlala lapho kuhamba khona lelipayipi. Njengoba uPeek ephawulile emva kokuchitheka kwamafutha okusanda kwenzeka, ‘Manje izakhamizi zaseNingizimu neTheku sezinomzila wepayipi elisha eduzane nemizi yazo. EHillcrest, amapayipi adlula ezinsimini ezinkulu futhi akude nemizi, kodwa eMbumbulu liseduze kwezindlu, phambi kweminyango yabantu.’

Kudala ngo1965, lapho umzila wamafutha wokuqala osuka eThekwini uya eGoli kwakuthiwe awakhiwe, insimbi ‘engcolile’ eyzyisetshenziswa ‘yayihlanganisa nesulphur’ futhi yaba nenkinga ngokushiselwa okwakuhlanganisa ‘ukuhlephuka okwakudala ukukhulu kokukhathala kanye nokushayisana kwalapho kwakushiselwe khona.’ UTransnet wawusuyalela ukuthi kube khona uphenyo olwenziwa ‘izazi ezaziqhamuka emazweni aphesheya’ ezaqinisekisa ukuba khona kokukhubazeka okuningi kwepayipi elalenziwe ngaphambi kuka1970 elalisetshenziswa zase zigqugquzela ukuthi kube khona elisha elizosesthenziswa.’

Uma kunjalo, uma sekubhekwe lokhukuchichima okukhulu kumzila wepayipi elisha, kungani umzila omdala wepayipi wawusasetshenziswa ngoZibandlela mhlazingu23, ngisho nango2013 eMooi River? Ngokusho kukahulumeni kwiEnergy Security Master Plan ngo2007, ‘Uma sekuziwa ekutshalweni kwezimali kwizinqalasizinda eNingizimu Afrika ikakhulukazi kwimboni yamafutha, eminyakeni emihlanu ezayo, into eyodwa ebalulekile okufanele yenziwe ukuvunyelwa kwepayipi elisha elikahle ngokulingana, okufanele libe khona ngengxenye yesibili yango2010.’ Udizili wokuqala owahamba ngalomzila udlula eNMPP ngenyanga kaNhlangulana ngo2012, kodwa ukwahluleka ukwakha izizinda ezimbili zokumpompa –njengasesezindeni sechweba laseThekwini, ngenxa yokuxega kwamathangi –okwenza ukuthi ukusebenza kwepayipi likwazi ukumumatha amaphesenti angamashumi amahlanu, okudinga ukuqhubeka nokusetshenziswa komzila omdala.

Kodwa kubukeka sengathi uTransnet uthole izwi eliqhamuka kubaphathi bomzila wepayipi ukuthi akukho nkinga mayelana nomzila wepayipi elikhona njengamanje. Ungcweti wezinqalasizinda wasePricewaterhouseCooper uGeorg Hofmeyr watshela iFinancial Mail ngonyaka odlule, ngokusho kwaleliphephabhukua, ‘Ukuhlolwa komzila wokuqala wepayipi wakhombisa ukuthi lisesimweni esingcono kunengendlela okwakucatshangwa ngayo, futhi izinto zokwehlisa ukuthatha zalethwa ukunyusa ukumumatha.’

Ukugcwalisa kweEIA ng2008 kumelene nomzila omusha wepayipi leTransnet. iSDCEA yaqhamuka nokugxeka okumbalwa ezimbalwa, okumbandakanya ukuthi ukuhambisa ngomunye umzila ‘kwakufana nobandlululo ngezemvelo lapha eNingizimu neTheku esesikujwayele’; ukungabikhona ngokwanele ukungenelela komphakathi; izizathu ezingathembekile zokwakha lomzila wepayipi; ukuhluleka kukahulumeni ukuvimba, ukusola kanye nokulawula ukuvuza komzila wepayipi; kanye nokuguquguquka kwesimo sezulu. Ngokusho kweSDCEA, ‘Umzila wepayipi uzofaka engcupheni abantu mayelana nokuvikelela kwezemvelo kanye nezinkinga zezempilo (okwaziwa kakhulu yizisulu zezingcibilikisi zamafutha eNingizimu neTheku), ngendlela ekhombisa ukubandlululwa ngamazinga okuphila kanye nangebala.’

Ukuchitheka kwamafutha kuba nomthelela omubi kakhulu kubantu absondelene nalapho kusuke kwenzeke khona lomonakalo, uD’Sa wazixwayisa izakhamizi zaseHillcrest: ‘Izifundo zezempilo ngo200 nango2007 zathola ukuthi ukuphafuka kwezisisi ezingcolisa umoya okuqhamuka ezizindeni noma ezimbonini zamafutha kanye namakhemikhali kwenza ubungozi bomdlavuza bunyuke ngezikhathi ezingamakhulu amahlanu kunokujwayelekile (oyedwa enkulungwaneni -1:100 000) (nokuthi amaphesenti angamashumi ayisikhombisa nesihlanu emidlavuza eNingizimu neTheku adalwa ukuphumela kwamakhemikhali aqhamuka ezimbonini zamafutha kanye namakhemikhaliand.’

Obunye ubungozi kwezempilo obulethwa ngamafutha ukusetshenziswa kwawo ezimotweni, ikakhulukazi lokhu okuyisimangaliso okwenzeka eGoli kusukela njegoba umoya omningi obukeka umuhle ongcoliayo uqhamuka kothelawaye bemigwaqo kanye nokuthi izakhamizi eziningi ezihlala emalokishini abamnyama zisasebenzisa amandla kagesi angcolile. Njengoba iSDCEA yahso ngo2008, ukungcola komoya ‘kuyoqhutshezwa ngamafutha kanye nokunye okusabalaliswa kulendawo ngumzila wamafutha wepayipi likaTransnet. Futhi ukuqagela kweTrasnet mayelana nokudingeka kwamafutha ezokuthutha kwahluleka ukusho izimo nngokuqondile ngokuzibana nezino eziqhamuka ngaphandle njengozinga elimbi kakhulu lomoya.’Ngenyanga kaMbasa ngo2014, Inhlangano Yomhlaba Yezempilo yaqinisekisa lokhu kwesaba, kumbiko okwaphawulwa ngawo Goli mayelana nalezizindaba enokuphindaphindwe ngeshumi ukungcola komoya njengokuvumelekile, okubeka iGoli libe sezingeni elilinganayo neChina mayelana namazwe anomoya abangcole ngokwedlulele.

Amafutha maningi aya eGoli adinga ukucwengwa eNingizimu neTheku, isizinda lapho ezemvelo zakulendawo vele isigcwele ukungcoliswa izisisisi, iSDCEA yathi: ‘Isiznda lapho kunechweba laseThekwini, siyazabalaza ukubhekana nobuningi bokungcola komoya okusuka echwebeni kanye nezinye izenzo ezenziwa khona, imifudlana esinelazezisisi kanye nokungenelela kwamanzi adalwa izikhukhula. Ukunetshwa kuyodinga ngokudlulele ukuthi kususwe eminye imikhiqizo yemvelo, okuyobuye kwehlise ukusebenza ngokwanele kwalendawo yezemvelo vele esisengcupheni.’

Ukungcola komoya okusabalele emhlabeni wonke futhi kwakhulunywa ngakho ngenkathi kumbono weSDCEA ngo2008: ‘Ukunyuka kokuphafuza kwesisisi icarbon eyaziwa ngeC02 okuyodalwa ngumzila wepayipi kukhulu, futhi kubalwa yiuDraft Scoping Report yeEIA njengenkinga yezomthetho, noma-ke ingekho imininingwane ecacisiwe.’ Emva kweminyaka emithathu, sekuphela unyaka ka2011, iSDCEA eyayibhekelele izishoshsovu ezazifikele kuleli ngessikhathi sengqungquthela yomhlaba mayelana nesomo sezulu seNhlangano Yezizwe kanye nomholi wayo uDesmond D’Sa bahola imashi yabantu abangu10 000 ababebhikilishela okubuzwa ngokuthi Ingqungquthela Yabangcolisi Bomoya phecelezi ‘Conference of Polluters.’

Ukwehlisa isidingo – noma ukunyusa ukuletha lomkhiqizo noma ukuhambisa ngenye indlela umzila wepayipi
Njengoba iSDCEA yakhononfa ngo2008, ‘Asikholelwa ekutheni iTransnet kufanele ingixabezwe ngokuthi ivunyelwe ukufaka umzila wepayipi elisha ngesikhathi ingakwazi ukulawula kahle leli elikhona.’ Ngabe, kwwakumele kwenzekeni kusaqala unyaka ka2008, njengoba uTransnet walungiselela ukucelela ipayipi futhi nagesikhathi lapho ukunqamuka kukagesi kwakuqala kwasabalal eNingizimu Afrika?

Ukucabanga kabusha kwakungenzeka ngoba ngenyanga kaNhlolanja ngo2008, izinqalasizinda eziningi zase zizogcwala. Usihlalo weStandard Bank, uDerek Cooper, futhi wabonisa uMbeki ukulawula ukulethelwa kwamandla akagesi wamanani aphansi kakhulu kwimboni iBHP Billiton. Ngamazwi akhulunywa ngusihlalo weBHP eNingizimu Afrika uVincent Maphai, owayekhona kulowomhlangano, uCooper wayekholelwa ‘indlela esheshayo kwisixazululo kwinkinga yethu yamndla kagesi ukuthi kwakungaba ukuvala isincibilikisi saseHillside eRichards Bay, ukubonisa uMaphai akuphikisa kakhulu, esabisa ngokuqeda ubudlelwano balemboni kanye nebhange.

Kodwa lomqondo awuzangwe uyekwe, njengoba umbhali ngezezimayini uMichael Coulson waqinisekisa ngenyanga kaNhlangulana ngo2008 ethi: ‘Iqiniso ukuthi izincibilikisi zealuminium, ikakhulukazi ezweni elinengenayo imikhiqizo yokuzimilela, ibauxite –okungenye yemikhiqizo esingenayo kwisizinda sethu esicebile esikhiqiza okumbiwa phansi –lokhu kuyindlela elula yokuthuthela emazweni angaphandle amandla kagesi. Akudali imisebenzi eminingi, futhi nokutshalwa kwezimali umsebenzi ngamunye kukhulu kakhulu. Kwakungumkhiqizo esasingakwazi ukuwukhokhela ngeminyaka yama1980s, kodwa manje sekuyimikhiqizo edla kakhulu ibali kunokungenisa inzuzo futhi edla kakhulu amandla kagesi okungabayizinto ezingasetshenziswa ngokunomphumela kwezinye izindawo. Mayelana namandal kagesi wodwa, isincibilikisi se-aluminium sidle kakhlu ugesi ngokulinganayo kanye nedolobha ububanzi balo obuphakathi nendawo.’

MNgo2009, mayelana nokwakubonakala njengendlela yokumemezela yokugxeka enokucophelela eyayivela kwilusha lukaKhongolose ukuthi izimboni zekombiwa phansi zilawulwe ngumbuso, isekela lomholi weNhlangano Yamakhomanisi aseNingizimu Afrika (futhi owayeyisekela likangqonqgoshe) uJeremy Cronin wavuma wathi: ‘Ukuhlaziya ngezindleal eziyiqiniso ezingakhiqiza kabusha ezwei elingathuthukile kakhulu lakithi, kufanele nakanjani lisiholele ekumemezeleni ukusetshenziswa kabusha kwezizinda zamandla kagesi, ukuze kuqedwe izincibilikisi ze-aluminium, knaye futhi nokulawula kabusha ngumbuso kweSASOL.’

Ngo2012, ngesikhathi imali eyayikhona isincipha kakhulu futhi, uEskom waqala ukukhokhela izincibilikisi ukuthi zivale, kwagcinwa amamewatts angu500 kamandla kagesi. Izimboni ezingu140 eNingizimu Afrika ezisebenzisa kakhulu amandla kagesi angamaphesenti angamashumi amane. IBHP-nje iyodwa isebenzisa phakathi kwamaphesenti amahlanu kuya kwayishumi kamandla kagesi lokhu futhi kuncike kwizinzuzo etholakalayo emaketheni lapho kwenziwa khona inzuzo.

Ngesinye isikhathi kuye kuze kudaleke inking ukubhekana nokucabanga nokuthi amandla ethu siwabhekisa kwenye indawo. Umangabe lelizinga lokucabanga kabusha mayelana nokusetshenziswa kwamandla kagesi aseNingizimu Afrika kwakungenzeka (futhi okudingekayo njengoba ukunqamuka kukagesi futhi sekuzoqala phansi), kungani njani uma singacabanga kabusha ukuthutha imikhiqizo yamafutha eGoli siyithuthe ngemikhumbi?

Empeleni ngo2005, kwakunokusweleka okukhulu kwamafutha eGoli kanye naseKapa –kodwa njengoba-ke uEskom kanye namandla kagesi, esikhundleni sokugqugquzela ukuphila ngomqondo mayelana nezomnotho, ukugcinwa kwemikhiqizo engumsinsi wokuzimilela kanye nezokuthutha imiphakathi, umphumela waba ingcindezi enkulu yokunyusa ukulethwa kwamafutha, ikakhulukazi kumzila wepayipi yamafutha osuka eThekwini uyaEgoli.

Usaqal u2008, kwakunemizila emili eyayiphambili:

• okokuqala, ukubhekelela kabusha ukubiza kwendawo yaseGoli njengelinye lamadolobhakazi elinezimboni kakhulu eAfrika, kanye nokusabalalisa izenzo zomnotho ukwenza kangcono uyisa kwezinye izindawo kwizizukulwane zangomuso ukuthi zibe seduze nezidingo ezifana namanzi; noma
• okwesibili, kalula-nje kuqhutshekwe nokugqugquzela ukusetshenziswa okungenamkhawulo, ukusabalala kwezindawo zezakhamizi ezidla izambane likapondo, ukukhula kwesizinda sezimali eSandton (njengesithuthi sezomnotho waseGoli) kanye nezinye izindlela zokuthuthukisa okucekela phansi, ngokusabalalisa ukulethe.’

Lokho kuyohlanganisa izinhlelo ezinkulukazi ukulethela abathengi baseGoli amandla kagesi ngokwengenziwe (okusuka ezizindeni ezintathu ezintsha zamandla kagesi eziphehlwe ngamalahle0, amanzi (azodlula emadamini amasha aseLesotho) kanye nezokuthutha (isibonelo-nje ukwenziwa kabusha isikhumulo sezindiza iOR Tambo Airport kanye nesitimela iGautrain kubagibeli abayizicebi).

Kusukela lokhu okwesibili kukhethiwe, umbuzo olandelayo kwakungabe uhlelo lwenqalasizinda eyodwa enkulukazi ngalesosikhathi, umzila omusha wepayipi likaTransnet, kufanele udlule lapho kunemizi khona yezakhamizi ezimhlophe kanaye nabanikazi bamapulazi, noma esikhundleni salkho, ezakhamizini ezimnyama ngaphansi kwesithupha noma kwengcindezi yamakhosi endabuko noma abezombusazwe beqembu elibusayo.

Lokho okungekho emehlweni abantu
Lomzila wokugcina iwona owakhethwa. Isizathu esisodwa ukuthi kwakunokuphikisana okwakhishelwa ngaphandle ngokumbiwa okusha eduzane nomzila wepayipi elalikhona. Eduzane naseHillcrest, ngokusho kwababesebenzisana noTransnet, iZitholele, ‘Abanikazi bomhlaba baseAssagay bazwakalisa ukukhathazeka kakhulu’ ngoba ‘Umonakalo owawungase wenzeka kwakhiwa kanye nomphumela kuMzila OseNyakatho ubonakala uzoba mubi kakhulu endaweni yase- futhi umphumela kube ukuphazamiseka ekuhwebeni ngamahashi.’ (Iphesenti elilodwa labaseNingizimu Afrika lidinga amahashi ngokuzijabulisa noma ngokukloloda.)

Omunye wezishoshovu ezinemiphumela kwezikwenzayo eHillcrest kwakunguLilian Develing, owayehola iCombined Ratepayers' Association eThekwini. Wezwakala exwayisa ukuthi lomzila vele okhona wepayipi leTransnet owawakhiwe ngaphansi komhlaba uyavuza: ‘Bathatha isikhathi eside ukwazi lokhu, benza umonakalo ekudleni kwemfuyo, futhi izilwane kwafanele ukuthi zisuswe.’

Ezinye izzithathu ezashiwo iZithulele mayelana nokujika indlela ipayipi elalihamba ngawo ukuthi lithuthele eninghizimu kwakumbandakanya ezemveleo, ezolimo kanye nendawo evulelekile yomphakathi. Kodwa ngaphandle kwaseThekwini, ukuba ngaphansi kwabanye kwinxgenye ende yomzila omdala wepayipi – kusukela eMerrivale, kuya eCedar’s Post kudlule eMgeni Valley Nature Reserve – kusetshenziselwa ipayipi elikhulukazi, kodwa ngaphandle kokuba nandaba nalokho.

Indlela yeNIMBY yezicebi eziwumphakathi waseHillcrest iyona eyaba isizathi esiphambili. Njengoba uPeek asho ngesikhathi kuchitheka amafutha ngenyanga kaZibandlela ngo2014, ‘Izakhamizi zaseHillcrest zazingawufuni umzila omusha wepayipi endaweni yazo, ngakho-ke zalwa futhi-ke uTransnet wavele wanquma ukuwususa.’

Kanye nePeek, uD’Sa waklonyeliswa ngeGoldman Environmental Prize ngobushoshsovu (ngo1998 nango2014, ngokulandelana kwabo), futhi kwinkulumo kulelisonto wayedinwe eqhuma: ‘Ukwenza kwabamhlophe ngenxa yokuthi banezimali ikhona okwaholela ekutheni umzila wepaiyipi elisha ushintshwe. Ngisho naseNingizimu neTheku ngalapho kuhlala khona abanye abantu abamhlophe, umzila wepayipi awusondeli nhlobo eduze kwezindlu zabo.’

Kodwa, eqhubeka, abasebenzisana neTransnet baseduzane bona bathola kalula ukungenelela ezizindeni zezakhamizi ezimnyama: ‘Amakhansela kaKhongolose kanye namakhosi kulezizindawo ezibhekene nalengwadla yomzila wepayipi elisha ibona abdayise ngabantu. Batshela bonke abantu ukuthi kuyodaleka imisbeenzi kulezizindawo. Amakhansela avimba ngisho nathi ukuthi sikhulume nabantu kulezizindawo. Babengabagcini balezizindawo. Nabo kufanele basolwe. Kanye namanye amaqembu athatha imali eqhamuka kwiTransnet kufanele asolwe.’

HEL – or HE? (PHECELEZI NIMBY AND NOPE)
Kwaba khona ukumelana nalokhu okuncane owkavela eNingizimu neTheku, ukuqinisekisa, Ngenyanga kaNcwaba ngo2010, izakhamizi ezimnyama zaseAdams Mission zaphikisana namakhasi ayishumi nanye esivumelwano ayeqhamuka kuTransnet akuthi abuswe futhi elinye ilunga eliyisakhamuzi elalidinwe liganwe unwabu lakhononda ngalokhu kwakhiwa: ‘Izindlu zethu seziqala ukuqhekeka ngenxa yokuhlala kumbiwa uTransnet kufane uthathe lamapayipi futhi uthole omunye umzila okude kunamakhaya ethu.’

Izingxoxo zeHEL zidinga ukusetshenzwa kabusha. Njengoba noNaomi Klein esho mayelana nenkinga elethwa ukuguquguquka kwesimo sezulu, ‘Lokhu kushintsha Yonke Into.’ Umgomo wababusi kanye nezishoshovu ngokufanayo kufanele bazilungiselele ikusasa elingenaso isisisi secarbon. Inkulumo elungele lokho ukuthi simbuze mayelana nokusetshenziswa ngokwedlulele kwemikhiqizo yemvelo yokubasa, ikakhulukazi okudlula kumzila onobungozi futhi obiza ngokwedluele, ukulibaziseka kwawo ekwakhiweni onomphumela wokusetshenziswa kwepayipi elisakhona ngale kuze kudlule isikhathi ebesibekiwe.

Okungekho izinkulumo mpikiswano kanye nezindlela zokufaka ingcindezi ezibhekelele ‘hayi umzila okude nemizi yethu’ (noma ngabe iliphi ibala noma izinga lokuphila) kodwa esikhundleni salokho indlela ehlukile yezomnotho kanye nednlela yokuthutha engancikile kumandla emikhiqizo yezemvelo, ngakho-ke esikhundleni sokunyusa ukuletha komkhiqizo, akufunwe ezinye izindlela eziseceleni zokulawula eziholela lapho uzozua ukugcinwa kwezemvelo.

Indlela eyodwa yokwenza lokhu eyokuhlanganisa ezombusazwe zemiphakathi zisuke kwiNIMBY zisondelele kwezenhlalakahle-zemvelo, kanye nokufaka imizimba hayi-nje efana nemibhalo yeEIA kodwa kuyiwe emigwaqeni kanye nasezindaweni lapho kuzovinjwa imizila yamapayipi afana nawakwaTransnet. Njengoba kubeka uKlein kwi ‘Lokhu Kushintsha Yonke Into, ‘Ukuvimba akukhona-nje endaweni ethile ekwibalazwe kodwa izindawo zokuvimba okusabalele emhlabeni wonke okuvela ngesivinini esikhulu kanye nangokujula noma ikuphi lapho izinhlelo zokumba phansi zizama ukumba, noma ngabe imigodi evulelekile njalonjalo.’

Okokuqala, umangabe ‘ukukhuluma ngokungacacile okwethenjwe kweNIMBY sekungasasebenzi’ kumbuthano obhekelele ubulungiswa mayelana nesimo sezulu, ubanié ozoba ilunga laBavimbeli bakaKlein? ‘Abantu abaphambili – abazogcwalisa imihlangano ebizwe ngamakhansela, ukumasha emadolobheni amakhulu, ukufakwa emavenini amaphoyisa, ukubeka imizimba yabo phakathi kwezokuthutha ezigudluza umhlaba kanye nenhlabathi – lokhu akubonakali kakhulu njengendlela izishoshsovu ezijwayele ukwenza ngayo, noma futhi abantu absesizindeni esisodwa Sokuvimba abazokwenza ngendlela efanayo nabakwesinye isizinda. Kodwa, zonke lezizindawo zifane nalapho behlala khona, futhi bafana nalabantu abahlala kulezozindawo: abanikazi bezitolo basendaweni, osolwazi basezikhungweni zemfundo ephakeme, abafundi basezikoleni zamabanga aphezulu, kanye nogog.’

NgokukaKlein. kubalulekile ukuthi abantu abahlanganisa izinto eziyizidingo zabo ngokufanayo, ngendlela engakaze yenzeke phakathi kweHillcrest kanye neNingizimu neTheku: ‘Okusobala ukuthi ukulwa nemboni enkulukazi yezokumbiwa phansi uwedwa kubonakala kungenzeke, ikakhulukazi ezindaweni ezikude ezingenazo izakhamizi eziningi. Kodwa ukuba yingxenye yombuthano wezwekazi lonke, noma umhlaba wonke ezungeze imboni ngolunye udaba lolo. Ukuvimba kuguqula amatafula.’

Eqhubeka uthi, ‘Lezizimboni zemikhiqizo yokubasa yemvelo. ngamagfushane-nje, awasabhekani nalawoqembu Amakhulu Aluhlaza (Big Green) akwaziyo ukuthuliswa ngokunikelelwa izimali ezinkulu noma ngokuthi kwenziwe izinhlelo zokugudluzwa kweisisi icarbon okubhekene nonembeza. Imiphakathi abhekene, ingxenye enkulu, hayi ukuthi axoxisane ngendlela engcono – mhlawumbe njengokuthi ithole imisebenzi, izimali eziphezulu, noma izindlela zokuphepha ezingcono. Ngokunyukela njalo, lemiphakathi kalula-nje ithi “Cha.” Cha asiwufuni umzila wepayipi.’

Esikhundleni sokuthi HEL, isismemezelo esisha sithi kalula-je ‘HE’: HAYI EMHLABENI.

Ukuthi HEW kwenziwa iSDCEA kudala ngo2008, ngesikhathi isacabanga ukusetshenziswa kwezigidigidi zezimali nguTransnet kumzila wepayipi, kodwa lenhlangano futhi yamemezela isidingo esasibonakala sesikhashana esifushane senkulumo yeNIMBY: ‘Cishe yonke idlela yaloluhlelo lwalomzila walelipayipi uphikisana nemizamo yezwelonke kanye neyomhlaba ukuthi kubhekwane nendlela ezogcina ezemvelo…Imali kufanele itshalelwe ekutholakaleni kwezinye izindlela yokulethwa amandla eGoli ngkusebenzisa amandla kagesi asetshenziswa kabusha, noma-ke ngalesisikhathi, ukuthuthukisa umzila omfushane, futhi ongabandlululi ngezemvelo- ukuze kulethwe amafutha kunokusebenzisa umzila odlula eningizimu.

Wawungekho umqondo kaHEW ngesikhathi iSDCEA iyothula inkulumo: ‘Emhlabeni, ezesimo zezulu kanye namandla ezomnotho ziphushela kwindlela ezovikela amandla okubasa. Lokhu kuyogcina kubiza Iningizimu Afrika kakhulu ukulokhu iziba ukuthatha izinhlelo ezibhekelela ukunakekela ezemvelo ngoba uma silinda amashimi eminyaka ngaphambi ngokusebenzisa izibophezelo zeLong Term Mitigation Scenario, ushintsho ngeke lwenzeke ekugcineni.’

Ukuhlanganisa iNIMBY neHEW, sekuqeda Isdcea yathi, ‘Umangabe umzila wasenyakatho utholakala ukuthi awamukelekile ngakho-ke umqondo womzila wepayipi kufanele uyekwe wonke. Izigidigid zamarandi kufanele isetshenziswe kumandla kagesi akwazi ukusetshenziswa kabusha kanye nezinye izindlela zokugcina. Lokhu kuyoba indlela enye engamukeleka ngombono weSDCEA ngoba sibona ukuthi ukubakhona komzila wepayipi kuyoba nomphumela omubi hayi-nje kubantu baseningizimu neTheku, kodwa eNingizimu Afrika yonke, njengoba kuyimali enkulu kakhulu etshaliwe kuhlelo olushabalalayo lwamandla kagesi.’

Ikakhulukazi, ngokubeka umbono kweSDCEA: ‘Ukwenza kabusha umzila wepayipi elikhona ngokwandisa (esikhundleni sokuphinda phinda kabili ukumumatha), njengoba ukuligcina kudinga lokho, ukubeka kabusha ezinye izingxenye zomzila wepayipi, kusetshenziswa lomzila okhona kanye nokukhothama abanye ngenxa yebala, nokwakhwa izizinda zokumpompa, uma kudingeka. Ukwenyusa ukwenza kangcono ezokuthutha zemizila yezitimela kanye nezomphakathi eGoli, ukuze kutholwe abantu ngokwedlulele kanye nokukhipha lomkhiqizo emgaqweni ukwehlisa ukugcwala okudalwa ezokuthutha, ukushisa kwamafutha, ukukhiqizela umoya ongcolile emkhathini kanye nemiphumela yezempilo ehambisana nakho, ngokuqala izindlela zokuxhumana zokuthutha ukuthi kukwazeke ukuba khona okuphephile kanye nokungakhokheleka kwezokuthutha kwezitimela, okuxhumana namapaki nezindawo zokugibela kanye nemizila yamatekisi kanye namabhasi.’

Imaphi amathuluzi akhona? UKlein umemezela ukuthi kungabe kusatshalwa izimali kwizimboni ezisebenza amadnla kagesi emvelo. futhi nokuthi lelithuluzi ileli, elalisetshenziswa kumelenwe neTransnet yishoshovu ezaziphikisana nobandlululo ngeminyaka yama1980s, futhi elinamandla kakhulu.

Phela vele emva konke, uTransnet akaphilile ngezezimali. Noma-ke ngenyanga kaMbasa ngo2014 umbiko wonyaka wakhombisa inzuzo yezigidigidi ezingu5.2 zamarandi kwezentela yezigidigidi ezingu56.6 zamarandi. kodwa-ke iphephandaba iSunday Times yalilungisa lelophutha : ‘Eqinisweni imali eshiwoyo ihaba uma usubheka ukuncishiswa kokubuyekezwa kwezimpahla (zeTransnet), okwasiza ngokunyuka ngamaphesenti angu12.3 emaholweni ngapahmbi kwenzuzo, intela okuyikhona-ke okungathiwa ukunyuka ngamaphesenti angu25 kwinzuzo seyiyonke.’

Ngenyanga kaNhlangulana ngo2014, isikweletu seTransnet sasifike kwizinga leBBB-, izinga elingaphezudlwana kwemfucuza. Futhi kwaqhubeka kwaba khona izinkinga zezimali ngomzila wepayipi likaTransnet,’ kubika iphephandaba iBusiness Day, umphumela walokho kwaba ukwehla kwethemba kulemboni ukuthi ingakwazi ukwenza. Maphakathi nonyaka ka2013, ngokwesibonelo-nje, ngesikhathi uTransnet ehambisa izigidi ezingu750 zamarandi njengesibophezelo kubathsali bezimali basemazweni aphesheya, kwakukade kucelwe izigidi ezingu122 zamarandi, okwenza leyomali igcinwe ingatholakalanga.

ISDCEA isabise uTransnet ngomkhankasela wokuthi iTransnet inswinywe ngezimali ngaphambilini, ngenxa yokwandiswa kwechweba lamafutha elidla izgidigidi ezingu250 zamarandi eNingizimu neTheku. Umkhankaso onjalo wokugcina owawuyenzile, usaqala unyaka ka2010, wadala ukuthi kucishe kube khona inkinga kaEskom ngoba ngesikhathi umkhankaso usuqalile, abanamasheya amakhulu beBhange Lomhlaba kusukela ezweni laseNorway kuya eMelika banqaba ukuxhasa imali enkulukazi yokubolekisa eyake yaba khona eyayenziwa yilelibhange: izgidigidi ezingu3.73 zamadola kwisizinda samandla kagesi aphehlwa ngamalahle eMedupi, ngisho emva kwesicelo esasiqhamuka phezulu kulowo ngalesosikhatho owayengqungqongqoshe wezezimali uPravin Gordhan.

Inqalasizinda yaloluhlobo, kubhala izazi zebalazwe oErik Swyngedouw kanye noMaria Kaika kumbhalo onobuyoninco kwiInternational Journal of Urban and Regional Research eminyakeni eyishumi nesihlanu edlule, sidinga ukunakekelwa ngokucophelela. Izinhlelo ezifana nemizila esuka eThekwini iya eGoli, zijwayelwe ukufihlwa, azivezwa obala, ziyicashiswa, ziphelele ngaphansi, zikhiywe kumapayipi kanye namakhebula. Iyona impela lendlela yokufihla eyenza ukuthi bube nzima ubudlelwane phakathi kwezemvelo kanye ndolobha futhi bungacaci, futhi okuholela ekwenzeni bucayi indlela yokushintsho ezenhlalakahle zemvelo uma kusukwa ekwakhiweni kwamadolobha. Mhlawumbe okubalulekile kakhulu, ukuhamba ngokufihla kanye nezobuchwepheshe kuthakathaka ubudlelwane bezenhlalakahle kanye nezindlela zamasemandlelni okubhaliwe futhi okufanele kwenziwe kuleminyakazo efihliwe.’

Kungumsebenzi wethu emphakathini, noma ngabe sihlala eNingizimu neTheku, eHillcrest, eGoli, noma phakathi nendawo noma kude ngaphesheya, ukuveza obala lobubudlelwano bamandla futhi bese sibucekela phansi, ngokuthemba futhi lokhu kwenzeke ngokushesha kakhulu kunomzila wepayipi leTransnet –emisha noma emidala –eqhubeka nokucekela phansi ekufanele icekelwe phansi.
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UPatrick Bond ungumqondisi eCentre for Civil Society esesikhungweni semfundo ephakeme eUKZN futhi ungumbhali wePolitics of Climate Justice.

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