Johannesburg, 26 May 2021 — This morning, news reports emerged that the State Security Agency (SSA) will lend itself to companies such as MTN and Sasol as they expand their business. In response, Greenpeace Africa Senior Climate and Energy Campaigner Manager Happy Khambule has said:
“We cannot trust the state security to act in the interest of South Africa. It’s questionable that the South African government wants to use state funds to prop up the country’s second biggest polluter[1]. This is all too familiar. Greenpeace Africa rejects any system that blindly supports the fossil fuel industry while people surrounding Sasol’s Secunda plants, for example, continue to suffer from ill health and poverty.
“Greenpeace Africa has been directly harmed by the misuse of state resources by the SSA in the past. The ongoing Zondo Commission is still uncovering the nefarious ways that the SSA was used as a tool to spy on civil society and further corrupt public interests. Now, they are in league with one of the world’s biggest contributors to climate change. If Sasol intends to capture the SSA for their own use, Greenpeace Africa will oppose it. There is no reason why the Department of International Relations and Cooperation cannot do what the SSA is doing through diplomacy, as it is constitutionally mandated.
“The SSA has forgotten its primary mandate. The SSA and Sasol need to be reminded that it is not the time for corporate state capture by the polluting fossil fuel industry. It is time to shift to a system that favours transparency and renewable energy for the interest of the people of South Africa.”
ENDS
Notes
[1] See Greenpeace Africa’s research here.
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Greenpeace Africa Press Desk [email protected]
Chris Vlavianos
Greenpeace Africa Communications Officer
+27798837036
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