Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 6: Down at <strong>the</strong> dumpsCDM and local strugglesThe CDM deal covered LFG energy projects at <strong>the</strong> Bisasar Road, La Mercy andMariannhill landfills. It was proposed in 2002 and advertised at <strong>the</strong> World Summit onSustainable Development (WSSD) as a demonstration of South Africa’s commitmentto sustainable development. This was <strong>the</strong> first CDM project in Africa, according toErion et al [2008], and was promised $15 million start up capital by <strong>the</strong> World Bank’sPrototype Carbon Fund.The deal immediately linked local conflicts over Bisasar Road to global conflicts overcarbon trading and <strong>the</strong> workings of CDM in particular. Locally, <strong>the</strong> residents of ClareEstates had been fighting for <strong>the</strong> closure of <strong>the</strong> dump since <strong>the</strong> day it was opened in1980. The residents of <strong>the</strong> Kennedy Road shack settlement, however, saw <strong>the</strong> dumpas a source of livelihoods and were led to believe that <strong>the</strong> CDM project itself wouldsupport community upliftment.The smell from Clare EstateSajida Khan died of cancer in July 2007 at <strong>the</strong> age of 55. She lived in one of <strong>the</strong>big houses at <strong>the</strong> top end of Kennedy Road immediately next to <strong>the</strong> dump. Havingmonitored <strong>the</strong> dump and documented <strong>the</strong> incidence of cancers in <strong>the</strong> local community,she had no doubt that her own cancer was <strong>the</strong> consequence of breathing toxic fumesfor 27 years, both from <strong>the</strong> dump itself and from a medical waste incinerator thatoperated on <strong>the</strong> site until 1997.Khan came to be recognised as <strong>the</strong> face of Clare Estate’s struggle to have <strong>the</strong> dumpclosed. It was not, however, just her fight. The original decision by Durban’s apar<strong>the</strong>idlocal council to locate <strong>the</strong> dump in an Indian area was clearly racist and residents ofClare Estates protested vigorously. Acting within <strong>the</strong> political fortifications of apar<strong>the</strong>id,<strong>the</strong> council could and did ignore <strong>the</strong>se protests and opened <strong>the</strong> dump in 1980.The experience of living next to it was, if anything, worse than anticipated. The stenchwas unspeakable and <strong>the</strong> dust invasive. The campaign against <strong>the</strong> dump intensifiedand <strong>the</strong> city authorities were driven to promise that it would be closed in 1987. As<strong>the</strong>y broke that promise, <strong>the</strong>y responded to community protests with a new one: <strong>the</strong>dump would be closed in 1996 and rehabilitated as a recreational amenity. Thesepromises were repeated by political parties ahead of <strong>the</strong> first democratic electionsin 1994. However, consultations which Clare Estate residents thought were about- 144 - groundWork - <strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong>