Four farm worker families lost their homes on Kleinberg farm in De Doorns during the storms that hit the Western Cape in May. Photo by GroundUp/Ashraf Hendricks

By Asanda Magadla, Ilizwi Lamafama

The Inyanda National Land Movement has rejected the Climate Change Bill, calling it biased against poor people. More than 30 delegates at the two-day workshop in KuGompo, formerly East London, resolved to challenge the current discriminatory Climate Change Bill, arguing that it fails to accommodate everyone, particularly poor and working-class communities.

The main purpose of the workshop was to share information about the Bill, but it also facilitated the exchange of knowledge and the empowerment of communities on climate change. Several communities across the Eastern Cape, including women and young people, were represented at the workshop.
Women shared their experiences of how climate change affects them, as it manifests in water scarcity and floods. These changes seriously affect household livelihoods, which women are responsible for. Small-scale and subsistence farmers emphasised that climate change forces them to seek alternatives to conventional farming methods.

“Platforms like this are good for marginalised communities. Floods hit my area. It’s a huge challenge for us young people because it worsens the unemployment crisis. When floods destroy our homes, the situation becomes even worse because there’s no income, and government disaster support is not enough,” said Lukhanyo Mkhonqo from Scenery Park, KuGompo.
Mkhonqo said he plans to use what he learnt to empower other young people facing similar challenges during Youth Month.
Abigail Brook from Kariega, formerly Uitenhage, discussed the effects of climate change on farming and on daily life.
“Women need to know their rights when it comes to climate change. As farmers, we have had to adopt alternative methods because climate change has forced us to change the way we farm,” she said.

Participants raised serious concerns about the Bill, which, according to the workshop, still favours the rich and the middle class, who make final policy decisions, have greater access to lobbying, shape policies, and benefit from tenders or contracts for climate change projects.
“We need to challenge the Bill until it accommodates everyone. Marginalised communities continue to be victims of the climate crisis,” said Mboniseli Mkhonwana.

Participants also highlighted the Bill’s silence on the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Small-scale farmers say they are being forced to use GMOs despite the associated health risks, and the policy does not discourage their use.

Meanwhile, Section 24 of the Constitution states that everyone has the right to a healthy and safe environment. However, participants said this right is not being realised in marginalised communities because of insufficient support and a slow government response to climate disasters.

As climate change continues to affect marginalised communities, the workshop participants hope the government will allocate sufficient funds for disaster response. The participants also said that the industries that contribute to the climate crisis should be held accountable for climate finance and must adapt to a just energy transition to minimise the crisis in these communities. Thus, the current Climate Change Bill does not address the needs of marginalised communities.