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PRESS STATEMENT
South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA)
Date: 5 September 2025
Community Alliances Chart a Path for a Just Transition to a Liveable Future
The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) and groundWork, Friends of the Earth SA, along with a broad coalition of civil society NGOs (including faith based and academic organisations) fighting environmental injustice, launched the National Oil & Gas Conference for 2025. This gathering, titled PROTECTING OUR LAND AND OCEANS, SECURING OUR FUTURE, marks the strategic consolidation of a decades-long movement resisting environmentally destructive extraction and advocating for a people-centred energy future.
After the dawn of democracy in 1995, Nelson Mandela on his way to the Engen oil refinery in Durban, was ambushed by disgruntled community members of Wentworth, Merebank and other parts of South Durban. The struggle for freedom had been achieved and a democratic South Africa was in full swing, yet these communities were waging a new kind of struggle for environmental justice, cleaner air, clean water, and a healthy environment. This led to the formation of South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA).
Read Full Statement Here: SDCEA National Oil & Gas Conference Press Release
