African Anthropocene

Part two | Zondo’s nuclear deal revelations

In the second of this two-part series, evidence before the state capture inquiry makes it clear that South Africans will shoulder the real cost of adding nuclear generation to the energy mix.

Part one | Zondo’s nuclear deal revelations

In the first of this two-part series, evidence before the state capture inquiry shows how the multibillion-rand deal went ahead despite warnings about the exorbitant cost and danger to health.

Part four | The slow violence of SA’s nuclear waste

The final part of this four-part story outlines the futility of storing waste with radioactive time frames, arguing that nuclear energy should be abandoned in favour of renewables.

Part three | The slow violence of SA’s nuclear waste

This third installment of a four-part story looks at the dangers of keeping high-level waste at nuclear facilities as well as the risks involved in making temporary solutions permanent.

Part two | The slow violence of SA’s nuclear waste

This second of a four-part story details the shambles at the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute, which is yet to begin work on its mandate, despite spending millions.

Part one | The slow violence of SA’s nuclear waste

Part one of this four-part story considers the imminent danger involved in storing used radioactive materials, a dilemma growing at a rate of more than 32 tonnes a year.

Part three | Nuclear energy in Africa

The last in this three-part series looks at the cost of nuclear waste disposal, decommissioning power plants and accident clean-ups, and suggests a logical energy-generation alternative for the continent.

Part two | Nuclear energy in Africa

The second in this three-part series looks at how power purchase agreements raise the cost of electricity for consumers and act as major sources of inflationary pressure in economies.

Part one | Nuclear energy in Africa

The first in this three-part series looks at the cost of nuclear power and how vendors minimise their financial risk by maximising profits through power purchase agreements with governments.

Protected areas need not pit humans against nature

The ever-increasing capitalist onslaught on protected environments will be stopped only if we fundamentally change the way we conceptualise their value and purpose.

Insanitary tradition of fouling Cape Town’s seas

A look at the history of sewage outfalls in the bays around the city shows that residents have been complaining since the first one was completed in 1905. And as now, their concerns were ignored.

Budget reallocation puts the lie to ANC’s pro-poor claims

The government’s recent budget cuts have shown that it prioritises the punted nuclear build over connecting thousands of residents in impoverished communities to the electricity grid.

Mineral council denies mines are Covid-19 hotspots

Despite evidence that communities around mines are infection epicentres, the Mineral Council of South Africa is scrambling to ‘shape the message’ by fudging the numbers.

Mining communities bear the burden of disease

Despite a court order, residents near mines were ignored when Covid-19 guidelines were drawn up. Now the virus devastates the very people made vulnerable by their operations.