{"id":63497,"date":"2023-11-06T12:11:01","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T11:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=63497"},"modified":"2024-12-16T17:24:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T16:24:15","slug":"the-oil-cartel-has-blood-on-their-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/63497\/the-oil-cartel-has-blood-on-their-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"The oil cartel has blood on their hands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Desmond
Veteran environmental justice activist and co-ordinator of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) Dr Desmond D\u2019Sa stands on the veranda of the organisation\u2019s offices. His home can be seen behind him and smokestacks of another refinery behind that.
\u00a9 Malcolm Rainers \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The oil cartel has blood on their hands. They worked with the apartheid regime against Black people in South Africa and in other parts of the African continent, and continue to destroy people\u2019s lives today. When activists in my hometown of Durban started fighting against polluting refineries 29 years ago, we did not think that the industrial plants that were there would still be operational now. But, if you want to beat giants, you can’t expect victory overnight and you have to give your all.<\/p>\n\n

In defending our communities and environment from extractive industries, some of us pay with our lives. Many comrades I work with throughout South Africa are being killed. People like Ma Fikile Ntshangase –<\/a> who opposed coal mining companies that wanted to take away her community\u2019s land – and Bazooka (Sikhosiphi Rhadebe)<\/a> from the South Coast – who was vocal in resisting mineral extraction projects – were both shot dead at their homes. But, you can\u2019t sit back once you know the truth. <\/p>\n\n

Spiral of pollution, illness and violence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

In my community in Durban, a University of Natal health study<\/a> was clear that air pollution caused chronic asthma in over 53% of participating students. Another showed that Leukemia rates in children from the South Durban Basin were much higher than the nation average<\/a>. And also, that this toxic cocktail of sickness created an environment rife for even more violence and death<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Prof Rajen Naidoo from @UKZN<\/a> explains their ground-breaking research into how air #pollution<\/a> changes DNA… and how that keeps poor communities in a spiral of poverty \ud83e\udd2f#CRUDE<\/a> #ClimateJustice<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qmKlqQraGY<\/a><\/p>— Greenpeace International (@Greenpeace) November 4, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>