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SDCEA holds protest to oppose Karpowership deal

A peaceful protest was held to strongly oppose to the signing of controversial Karpowership project. The placard-waving demonstrators gathered at various beaches across Durban, including Cuttings Beach, in Merebank, last Thursday.

Community activists including South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), KZN Subsistence Fisherfolk Forum, and other civil society organisations, believe if the new controversial Karpowership project is implemented, it will not only affect their health, but their livelihoods as well.

A peaceful protest was held to strongly oppose to the signing of controversial Karpowership project. The placard-waving demonstrators gathered at various beaches across Durban, including Cuttings Beach, in Merebank, last Thursday.

SDCEA’s Desmond D’sa said Karpowerships are floating gas-fired power plants, which are proposed to produce energy that will be fed into the national grid as part of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPP).

“The bid is for three of these ships to be docked along South Africa’s coastline as part of the government’s plans to address the load-shedding crisis on an expedited basis. This 20-year contract is worth more than R218 billion, but will make electricity more expensive for South Africans as the Karpowership tariffs depend predominantly on imported fossil fuels, as well as the volatile US Dollar to Rand exchange rate. This unprecedented 20-year ‘emergency’ contract will tie South Africa into a future dependent on non-renewable, climate-damaging fuels, long after the electricity supply gap has been closed,” said D’sa.

He added that cheaper electricity was available in the form of clean, renewable energy at 75c/kWh (wind) or 91c/kWh (solar).

ALSO READ: Enthusiastic fisherfolk attend launch of Cuttings Fishing Forum

“The pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from these ships are also of great concern. It therefore comes as no surprise that Karpowership’s application for environmental authorisation has been rejected by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). Whilst the rejection has since been appealed by Karpowership, there is no indication as yet on when the final decision made by DFFE will be announced. The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, has also extended the preferred bidders’ deadline to reach financial close at the end of September. By this date, Karpowership and the other bidders are required not only to be in possession of all of their multiple required authorisations, but also to have all of their financing lined up,” D’sa added.

Cuttings Fishing Forum member, Justin Lynx, said he was worried that the Karpowerships would disrupt local fishing activities, causing small scale fishermen and their families to go hungry.

“As it is now, we are already suffering as fishermen because of the pollution from the industries and sewage companies that are killing the fish. There are a lot of us who sustain our families through fishing and there are days when we come to the beach to fish and we go home with nothing. Imagine coming to fish and there’s three or four days, even a week, when you are not catching any fish. That’s money out of your pocket so how do you support your family. If the Karpowership has to happen, then it’s going to make things much worse,” said a concerned Lynx.

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