Johannesburg - Activist Desmond D’Sa has been awarded the “green Nobel” – a top international environmental prize – for his work in eliminating toxic waste in Durban.
Along with six others, D’Sa was recognised at the Goldman Environmental Prize ceremony in San Francisco on Monday.
Friends and co-workers applauded his many achievements in fighting for environmental justice in industrial South Durban, an area known as “cancer valley” for its high rates of cancer and asthma.
D’Sa co-founded the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) in 1996 to fight environmental degradation.
He won the prize, which includes a $175 000 (R1.85 million) award, for his work in closing a 20-year-old hazardous waste landfill that was contaminating groundwater and releasing chemicals in the air to nearby communities.
Wasteman, the company operating the landfill, applied in 2009 to extend its lease on the landfill until 2021, according to the Goldman Prize website.
Developing smell charts to help residents identify the toxins in their air, D’Sa rallied the community and organised large public protests against the company and the pollution its landfill brings.
In 2010 Wasteman announced it would stop seeking an extension of its lease, and in 2011 the company closed the landfill permanently.
Fellow environmentalists say D’Sa’s life has been characterised by one fight after another against the industrial giants who threaten the community.
Recently, he helped secure harbour access for subsistence fishermen in South Durban. The harbour had been closed to subsistence fishers since the 9/11 attacks led to tightened security, but D’Sa and SDCEA navigated the courts to restore their rights.
“He’s a tireless fighter for environmental justice,” said Vanessa Black, vice-chairwoman of the SDCEA board.
Currently D’Sa is leading the charge to stop a port development project in an area of Durban that SDCEA calls the last standing “green land”. The development would cause toxic pollution and environmental degradation near schools.
The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation gives out the prize annually.
D’Sa’s friend Bobby Peek, a South African environmentalist who runs groundWork, a green justice agency in South Durban, also won the award. Peek was with D’Sa at the ceremony in the US.
The Star