Energy, Environment, and Equity in South Africa

Abstract

This article outlines the history of electricity supply in South Africa and provides details of current production. It presents the argument that because electricity production and distribution has been utilized as a tool for government policy, those who have opposed that state have targeted it for acts of sabotage from the 1940s into the present. Although South Africa emerged from apartheid to democracy in 1994, electricity supply and distribution has not been democratized and continues to create environmental conditions that are detrimental to many people, particularly to the poor and marginalized. Despite the visible deleterious impacts of power production on lives and health, no strong environmental justice movement has evolved to try to effect change in this sector. Moreover, contrary to expectation, organized labor rejects a move toward renewable sources of energy for the working class.