According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2019 was the year of the pig. For environmental justice campaigners, workers, unions, politicians and the community people living in the plume and poverty that dirty energy dumps on us, it could also be seen as the year of the just transition. Not that it was delivered, but rather that it became a central talking point from the United Nations to the streets of Mpumalanga, where coal defines life.
This we must take as a victory. If it were not for community people, workers, unions and environmental justice organisations remaining vigilant, this debate would not be on the table. We even got a just transition into our Integrated Resource Plan – although Minister Gwede Mantashe appears to be using the just transition as a brake on renewables – but government is not pursuing it with urgency.
