50 ECO-ADVOCATES SPEAKING UP FOR PLANET EARTH

Are you passionate about the environment and looking for inspiration and guidance from those at the forefront of the fight for sustainability in South Africa? Look no further than Treeshake's 50 eco-advocates speaking up for Planet Earth. They are the advocates who fight for change, the champions who lead the way, the journalists and media who inform and educate, the researchers and academics who deepen our understanding, the policy influencers who shape our laws and regulations, and the entrepreneurs who innovate and create new solutions. Together, they make up a dynamic and diverse group of voices shaping the conversation on issues that matter most to our environment and society.

Climate change is a global issue that demands immediate action. With the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, the rise in global temperatures, and the degradation of our ecosystems, the consequences of climate change are already being felt across the world. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human activities are the primary cause of climate change, and urgent action is required to limit global warming to 1.5°C to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

According to the World Bank, South Africa is one of the countries that will be most affected by the impacts of climate change. This includes more frequent and severe droughts, floods, and heatwaves, which will have a devastating impact on the country's people and economy, highlighting the urgent need for action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect vulnerable ecosystems. The eco-advocates featured on this list are taking this call to action seriously and are working tirelessly to make a difference.

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THE ENTREPRENEURS

Nadia Shah Naidoo

“Climate change is truly a developmental issue with justice at its core.”

Nadia Shah Naidoo, an inclusive climate action manager based in Cape Town, advocates for a greener future in South Africa that prioritises social and climate justice. As part of her work with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, she focuses on mitigating climate risks for vulnerable groups affected by extreme environmental conditions. Shah Naidoo has also provided guidance on climate change to governments at the national, provincial, and local levels in South Africa. 

Her career in climate change began at the eThekwini municipality, where she worked as a consultant on Durban’s Climate Change Strategy and the 100 Resilient Cities Programme. Shah Naidoo acknowledges that addressing environmental challenges requires an understanding of their interconnectedness with social and economic issues, and that climate change is ultimately a developmental issue rooted in justice.

Jon Kornik

“We're on track to build the largest virtual power plant of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere -- which should help alleviate loadshedding in SA, and aid in the clean energy transition more broadly.”

Jon Kornik is the CEO and Co-founder of Plentify, a company that builds smart technology that enables the energy system we all want – one where electricity is affordable, reliable, and clean. Jon's passion for tackling problems that matter stems from his upbringing in South Africa, where he witnessed the stark difference between those who fought against Apartheid and those who accepted it with complacency. In his first job in management consulting, Jon had the opportunity to work on a clean energy project that sparked his interest and ignited his passion for addressing climate change, which he believes is the greatest challenge facing our generation and disproportionately impacts the populations he cares about most. 

Since then, Jon has dedicated his career to environmental sustainability, constantly seeking to innovate and find novel solutions to deeply ingrained problems. What drives Jon to continue his work is the impact he makes, the intellectual stimulation he receives, and the satisfaction of knowing that he is playing a vital role in creating a clean energy system that the world needs and deserves.

Jocelyn van der Ross

“When you are down and out never give up, never stay down. Get up and start again.”

Meet Jocelyn van der Ross, the inspiring Director of Green Spot Recycling. Jocelyn's passion for the environment was sparked during a difficult time in her life - she was unemployed and going through a divorce when she moved to Franschhoek with her two children. Upon discovering the absence of recycling facilities in the area, Jocelyn took it upon herself to start collecting wine bottles in her Toyota Corolla. Over time, she expanded her operation to include a wider variety of materials and began offering jobs to the local community.

Jocelyn's dedication to the cause has only grown stronger over time. She is involved in various clean-up projects, such as keeping plastics out of rivers and streets and paying the community per bag. She is also passionate about educating schools on the importance of recycling and has implemented a buy back programme and a Swop Shop for the community.

What motivates Jocelyn to continue her work? The knowledge that Green Spot Recycling is making a tangible difference in the environment by keeping over 800,000 tons of recycling material from the Stellenbosch landfill each year. The satisfaction of knowing her contributions are having a positive impact on the planet keeps Jocelyn going every day.

THE POLICY INFLUENCERS

Mieke Bourne

“Giving up on restoring our landscapes is not an option if we want a world where people can live good lives with a healthy environment. We should not be asking if this can work but how do we make it succeed.”

Mieke Bourne is the Regreening Africa Programme Manager and Lead Stakeholder Engagement with Evidence at World Agroforestry. Her passion for environmental conservation and sustainability began at the age of 12, growing up in a breathtaking region with abundant forests and pristine oceans. 

With a firm belief that humanity must coexist harmoniously with nature, Mieke has dedicated her career to creating positive change in this field. Her unwavering motivation comes from witnessing the transformational impact of her work on both communities and landscapes, as well as the inspiring partnerships and individuals she collaborates with.

Neoka Naidoo

"Tough times are when you need support; ask for help when you need it. It is a strength, not a weakness."

At the frontline of the critical issue of climate change stands Neoka Naidoo. With qualifications in environmental science and public leadership, she excels as the project lead for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

Naidoo fosters strong relationships between governments and NPOs affected by the climate change convention, tirelessly working towards engaging all stakeholders in the fight against climate change. Through her work in the battle against the climate crisis, she aims to make a significant impact.

Mpho Parks Tau

“There are issues that I champion both in the city and on international platforms, ranging from environmental justice and sustainability to issues about building and creating inclusive cities.”

Mpho Parks Tau assumed the position of Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in March 2023, having been a Member of the South African National Assembly since February 2023. Prior to his parliamentary service, Tau served as a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature and was appointed as MEC for Economic Development from December 2020 to October 2022. Mr Tau is widely regarded as an innovative and effective leader in government, who has championed the cause of developmental local government and forged strategic partnerships across the globe. 

As the former Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, he spearheaded a transformative socio-economic agenda that sought to redress past injustices and create sustainable opportunities for the municipality's communities. In addition to his impressive record of service, Mr Tau has also served as co-Chairperson of the United Nations High Level Independent Panel, and sits on the board of the World Resources Institute's Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities, as well as having served as Chairperson of the South African Cities Network.

Mark New

“70% of extreme weather events studied over the last ten years have had their severity increased by anthropogenic climate change.”

Introducing Mark New, a distinguished Professor and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Climate Change, also serving as the Director of the African Climate and Development Initiative at the University of Cape Town. His scholarly interest in climate change began in 1990 when he embarked on his Masters and later pursued a PhD focused on the sensitivity of water resources in the Western Cape to climate change. 

Mark's fascination with the profound natural experiment of climate change has persisted throughout his career, evolving from understanding its causes to informing climate action. Today, his work focuses on advocating for emissions reduction, mitigating risks, and developing adaptive strategies to address the unavoidable impacts of climate change.

Happy Khambule

"If not now, when. If not you, who. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

Meet Happy Khambule, the dynamic Unit Head for Energy and Environment at Business Unity South Africa. His journey towards environmental and sustainability advocacy began with a desire to make a positive impact on his immediate surroundings and instill a sense of responsibility towards environmental stewardship and climate change awareness. 

His unwavering dedication to the cause is fueled by the inspiring changes he witnesses at various levels, and the sheer tenacity of fellow activists who share his vision for transformation. Happy Khambule is a passionate advocate for a sustainable and green future, and his work reflects a deep commitment to leaving the world a better place for future generations.

Dr. Chido Mpemba

“Young Africa has a role to play in solving the problems we face.”

Dr. Chido Mpemba, a renowned Pan-African youth advocate and public policy expert, is the African Union Special Envoy on Youth, responsible for representing the voices of over 870 Million young people in 55 countries and governments in Africa. She is recognized as one of the 100 most influential African women and a Top 100, Under 40 Most Influential Person of African Descent by CNN New York. 

Dr. Mpemba is committed to creating social equity and advocating for policies on education, climate change, public health, and youth empowerment across Africa. She is an alumni of the Emerging Security Sector Leaders Program from the Africa Center of Strategic Studies and holds an MBA degree with seven years of experience in international banking before becoming a diplomat.

Dr. Vhalinavho Khavhagali

“The world is looking for durable and effective options to tackle global challenges such as climate change, food and water security.”

Dr. Vhalinavho Khavhagali is a seasoned specialist in Biodiversity and Climate Change, boasting extensive experience in research, capacity building, and policy development. He obtained a Master of Science degree in Botany and Ecology from the University of Cape Town, after which he joined the corporate world. Khavhagali has held various key positions, including serving as the Director: Climate Change Adaptation at the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), Deputy Director for Biodiversity and Climate Change, and Senior Scientist at the Department of Environment and Nature Conservation, Northern Cape. 

Khavhagali has made significant contributions in the field of Climate Change Adaptation both in South Africa and internationally. In recognition of his work, Khavhagali was nominated as one of the Climate Change Leaders by the Mail & Guardian Newspaper in 2014. Khavhagali is currently pursuing his PhD, where his research focuses on climate change governance in South Africa, particularly the process and approaches used in the development of climate change policy and strategy. He is exploring the extent to which the national adaptation strategy addresses the country's challenges.

Bhekumuzi Dean Bhebhe

“The climate emergency is not waiting for us - climate justice is not just about worrying about how the world will look in 2050. Climate justice is about how the world already looks (in some parts of the world) today.”

Bhekumuzi Dean Bhebhe is the Campaigns Lead at Power Shift Africa, whose passion for the environment is deeply rooted in his upbringing. Growing up, Bhekumuzi spent school holidays in his grandparents' quaint village in Zimbabwe, relishing in the delectable meals and enthralling storytelling of his elders. However, as droughts and food shortages began to plague the village, Bhekumuzi realised that climate injustice was at the root of their suffering. 

This realisation fueled his dedication to fighting for the future of our planet and improving the lives of Africans. Bhekumuzi wakes up every day with renewed determination to be a voice for the voiceless and advocate for a better world for all. Despite the lack of progress and empty promises, Bhekumuzi is inspired to continue his work until the energy Apartheid is eradicated and decision-makers in boardrooms understand the dangerous consequences of their actions.

Lebo Molefe

“​​Action on climate change is not just about saving the planet, it is about saving people and saving the economy.”

Lebo Molefe is the Director of the Air Quality and Climate Change department at the City of Johannesburg Metro Council. With a demonstrated history of working in the environmental services industry, Lebo is a seasoned Director with a wealth of experience. Lebo's skill set includes natural resource management, management, editing, public speaking, and performance management. With an MSc in Botany from the University of Fort Hare, Lebo is a strong professional who is committed to making a difference in the field of environmental services.

THE ADVOCATES

Sarah Robyn Farrell

“I believe that all organising is science fiction - that we are shaping the future we long for and have not yet experienced.” - Adrienne Maree Brown

Sarah Robyn Farrell is a climate justice organizer, musician, and writer who has always valued caring for the earth and people, instilled in her by her mother from a young age. Her deep connection to outdoor spaces, particularly bodies of water and forests, heightened her awareness of the accelerating harm being done to our planet. This awareness led her to understand the systemic nature of the problem, and the link between environmental degradation and harm to people. 

Sarah's work with African Climate Alliance involves organising and campaigning. Her inspiration to continue this work comes from the many people who have worked before her to make the world a better place and the countless individuals who continue to give their hearts, minds, and bodies to create a better world today.

Xoli Fuyani

“I love working with young people from underserved communities because of the vision, innovation, and possibilities they see in this gloomy world.”

Xoli Fuyani is an environmentalist and the founder of Black Girls Rising. With over 15 years of experience, she has successfully educated intergenerational groups on environmental issues, taught in schools to raise awareness, trained young climate activists, and inspired them to live sustainably. Xoli's motivation stems from the disparities she witnessed in her community compared to nearby suburbs, where poor and marginalized people bear the brunt of climate change. 

Her work aims to empower the younger generation to care for and fall in love with their environment. Despite facing challenges, Xoli finds inspiration and hope in the vision and innovation of Black Girls Rising, and her biggest motivation is to develop girls and communities in building resilience and thriving societies.

CJ Carrington

 "What have you done for this irreplaceable planet, its garden & animals, entrusted to you?" 

CJ Carrington, a co-founder of the Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation, is a South African nature lover with a passion for preserving biodiversity. Growing up on a small farm in South Africa, Carina developed a deep connection with nature from a young age. With post-graduate qualifications in Agriculture, she now teaches sustainable organic farming to rural communities and actively participates in mining rehabilitation and environmental management projects. 

Carina's expertise lies in revitalizing over-grazed and poorly maintained veld, bringing it back to its natural state to support wildlife diversity. Her understanding of plant and tree functions is instrumental in her work. Whether she's helping an animal in need or simply basking in the beauty of the South African bush, Carina is most content when she's immersed in nature. Her natural empathy and compassion guide her in determining where she can make the most significant impact.

Makoma Lekalakala

“If you feel it's wrong, work towards creating an environment liveable for everyone.”

Makoma Lekalakala is a passionate social and environmental justice activist who serves as the Director at Earthlife Africa. Her journey in the environmental and sustainability space began in 2007/2008. Makoma draws inspiration from witnessing individuals take small but significant actions that contribute to climate change mitigation in their unique context.

Makoma's journey started as a youth activist through her church and progressed to trade unions, women's rights, social and economic justice, and ultimately environmental justice. Alongside Liz McDaid, Makoma was honoured with the prestigious 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize for the African region for their role in stopping a Russian-South African nuclear deal in 2017 through legal action.

Gabriel Klaasen

“South Africa is the biggest emitter on the continent. We owe it to the planet, people, and the future generations to come to call for a #justtransition.”

Gabriel Klaasen, a youth climate and social justice activist, is a prominent figure in Cape Town's movement for climate action. He works hands-on with communities and youth on the frontlines to build a future founded on intersectional justice. One of Klaasen's most notable achievements includes being a key organizer for the 2020 and 2021 Global Strikes in Cape Town, under the banner of intersectional climate justice. This work earned him recognition as one of the Mail & Guardian's 200 Young South Africans in 2021. Driven by a passion for his job and a desire to contribute to the greater good, Klaasen continues to make waves in the fight for a sustainable and equitable world.

Liz McDaid

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.“ - Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Liz McDaid is an environmentalist with over 30 years of experience in advocacy, political activism, and ecojustice. Her unwavering passion for justice has been the driving force behind her work, advocating for those who have been silenced and demanding a voice for a sustainable future for all living beings. Liz firmly believes that addressing climate change requires an inclusive approach that prioritizes the voices of those most affected by climate injustice. For Liz, justice and peace are the foundations for building a sustainable future for our beautiful planet.

THE CHAMPIONS

Hiten Parmar

“Vision without action is just a dream, action without vision just passes the time, and vision with action can change the world.” - Nelson Mandela

Hiten Parmar is an accomplished Executive and Thought Leader, dedicated to empowering the energy transition with sustainable mobility. With over 20 years of experience in the automotive sector, he realised a decade ago the detrimental impact of traditional fossil fuel-based technologies on air quality in cities worldwide. Shocked by reports that breathing air in Delhi was equivalent to smoking 44 cigarettes a day due to petrol and diesel combustion, he redirected his career path to sustainable energy and mobility in 2013.

As an engineer at heart, Hiten is driven by a constant desire to solve the challenges presented by the climate crisis. Drawing on his technical and business acumen, he is passionate about advancing the energy and transport sector through the deployment of technological interventions that address economic, competitive, and societal issues. He firmly believes that the electric mobility ecosystem presents a vital opportunity to facilitate the energy transition on a global scale, while also contributing to economic development and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Misha Teasdale

"For us as a society to stay healthy we must maintain the vital flow of value or “ecosystem services” that nature so willingly provides to us."

Meet Misha Teasdale, the co-founder and CEO of Greenpop, a passionate advocate for the restoration of our planet. Misha believes that it's not just about planting trees, but also about transforming our approach to the landscapes we inhabit. By working with and caring for the land, we can harness its potential to provide value in a meaningful and sustainable way.

Misha is optimistic about the future of our planet, seeing the infinite possibilities for positive change, from policy shifts to new technologies that enable us to better understand and protect our living planet. As an activist, he believes that hope is a key component of his work, and that by recognizing the potential for positive change in every situation, we can work towards a more beautiful world.

Catherine Constantinides

“Many of the great achievements of the world, were accomplished by tired and discouraged people who kept on working!”

Catherine Constantinides is widely recognized as a distinguished South African intellectual and environmental advocate who concentrates on critical issues such as climate change, sustainable development, food and water security, and waste management. Along with being a social entrepreneur, she is also an active social justice activist and human rights advocate. By collaborating with the government and private sector, she has been actively consulting with schools and rural communities. As an award-winning young leader of Africa, her focus remains to tackle the continent's challenges and to propel it towards economic viability and sustainable growth.

Romario Valentine

“You are never too young to help nature or help improve the lives of others because when we take care of nature. We take care of ourselves.”

Romario Valentine is an 11-year-old eco-warrior hailing from Durban, South Africa, who has already made significant strides in the realm of conservation. His passion for protecting the environment has led him to embark on several projects, including tree planting, beach clean-ups, and avian art, both in Africa and other parts of the world.

In his latest endeavour, Romario has written a book titled "Protect our Planet," where he shares his knowledge and experiences to guide young nature lovers through key environmental topics. From recycling and reforestation to pollution solutions and climate change, Romario enthusiastically educates and inspires his readers to take action and join him in the fight to protect our planet.

Prof. Tolullah Oni

“If we focus on what is, we are condemned to repeating what was. But if we focus on what is possible, we stand a chance of transcending what is.”

Tolullah Oni, a Public Health Physician and Urban Epidemiologist, is Clinical Director of Research at the University of Cambridge and Founder & Principal of UrbanBetter | Oni et al. She’s also an Extraordinary Professor in Architecture at the University of Pretoria and Honorary Associate Professor, University of Cape Town. 

She works across policy, private and civil society sectors, designing planetary health into the fabric of rapidly growing cities. She is a Fellow of the International Science Council and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

Source: LinkedIn

Dr. Kumi Naidoo

“You know how they say, ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?’ What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic.” — Dr. Kumi Naidoo

Dr. Kumi Naidoo, an unwavering champion for human rights and the environment, has dedicated his life to driving education, development, and social justice initiatives. As the founding chair of Africans Rising, a Pan-African movement committed to promoting peace, justice, and dignity, he inspires people and organizations to unite for a better future. 

Dr. Naidoo's advice to young people is simple but powerful: don't wait for adult politicians to lead the way. Leadership can come from anywhere, and the fight against catastrophic climate change is the most significant challenge humanity has ever faced. With his extraordinary vision, Dr. Naidoo urges everyone to step forward and become the leaders we need to secure life as we know it.

Piet Theron

Piet has said that his love for conservation is people-oriented more than anything and he feels that working with local communities is one of the most important aspects of his work.

Piet Theron, a Landscape Architect with a Bachelor in Landscape Architecture and an MPhil in Environmental Science, boasts over 26 years of experience in Southern Africa's natural resource management and social development projects. His forte lies in facilitating partnerships among governments, private sectors, and NGOs to plan, manage, and execute large and complex integrated conservation and rural development schemes at the landscape level. 

Piet's expertise includes spearheading the Southern African Development Community's Transfrontier Conservation Areas Programme for over 15 years, where he has overseen the planning, development, and management of five Transfrontier conservation area projects. He has also played a crucial role in bilateral and trilateral collaborations on conservation management, wildlife crime, cross-border tourism, community benefits, and livelihood diversification.

Peter Fearnhead

“The global climate crisis is completely intertwined with the biodiversity crisis, and the destruction of nature and the biodiversity that makes up nature is one of the key factors that is actually causing the climate crisis … where wildlife thrives, people thrive.”

Peter Fearnhead co-founded African Parks and currently serves as its Chief Executive Officer. His passion for conservation began at a young age when he created a wildlife reserve on his school campus in Zimbabwe. Peter holds a BSc in Agric Economics from the University of Natal and an MSc in Agric and Resource Economics from the University of Oxford. He started his career as a strategy consultant at Deloitte before joining South African National Parks (SANParks) where he served in various capacities, including Resource Economist and Head of Commercial Development.

Throughout his career, Peter has been a trailblazer in conservation and has pioneered innovative strategies, including incorporating the commercial sector into conservation efforts. He implemented a successful commercialization program at SANParks, expanded national conservation through contract-park agreements, and established the African Parks Endowment Fund. Today, African Parks manages 22 protected areas in 12 countries, covering an impressive 20 million hectares.

Paul Maluleke

"As we enter water month we all play a part in making an impact downstream. The question is: will yours be a positive or negative one?"

Paul Maluleke is the visionary and Project Manager behind Alexandra Greening Route, an ecotourism venture in Johannesburg's Alexandra township. With his leadership, the Alex Water Warriors, a group of around 250 volunteers, gather twice a week to restore the river that flows through the township. Paul's passion for this project stems from the urgent need to combat the pollution caused by discarded plastic, which jeopardises the health and well-being of the local community. As an advocate for reviving tourism in the area, Paul recognises the significance of cleaning up the river and instilling new values in the younger generation.

Otsile Nkadimeng

“Young people are experiencing an existential fight. This is why we are getting involved. The biggest solution to climate change is youth.” 

At just 19 years old, Otsile Nkadimeng has already made a name for himself as a passionate climate change activist hailing from Johannesburg. With a firm belief that youth must lead the charge in tackling this global crisis, Nkadimeng is determined to make a difference.

Drawing inspiration from the historic role of young people as catalysts for change, Nkadimeng has worked tirelessly with various NGOs to raise awareness and engage with others on the issue of climate change. This has included direct action, such as engaging with large corporations that contribute to the problem. Despite his youth, Nkadimeng's dedication to the cause has earned him a reputation as a powerful and effective voice in the fight against climate change. As he continues to advocate for change, it's clear that he will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

Siyabonga Ndlangamandla

“Just keep doing the right thing all the time someone is watching and it shall benefit someone or yourself one day (Just plant something or water a tree today that you might not enjoy its shadow but someone will).”

Siyabonga Ndlangamandla is a driven social agri-prenuer who finds inspiration in the community around him. He believes that even the smallest actions can make a significant impact, whether it's picking up litter, reporting illegal dumping or crime, or addressing poverty. 

Siyabonga wakes up every day with a strong desire to make a positive change in someone's life, measuring his achievements by the number of lives he has touched and the amount of litter he has cleaned up. He is motivated by the belief that a brighter future is possible for everyone and is committed to doing his part to make it a reality. With a deep appreciation for the beauty of our planet and the people who inhabit it, Siyabonga is dedicated to making a difference in any way he can.

Chris Wild

“I don't like hard conversations but know they are often the most important. They don't get easier.”

Chris Wild currently serves as the Executive Director of Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA), having first become involved with the organization in 2008. Prior to his work in the environmental, sustainability, and advocacy space, Chris worked as an Analyst, drawing on his background in economics. However, he ultimately found greater purpose in social development, food security, and environmental issues. His passion for these causes has only grown since joining FTFA, and he is particularly interested in bio-intensive agriculture, bee-keeping, and technology. When asked about his ongoing motivation, Chris cites the dedication and hard work of his team as a constant source of inspiration.

Mina Guli

“We can do hard things, like solving the water crisis, or running 200 Marathons in one year!”

Mina Guli, an ultramarathoner and water campaigner. After a successful 15-year career in law, finance, and climate change, Mina established Thirst Foundation in 2012. The non-profit organisation aims to raise awareness, create urgency, and drive action on water conservation. Mina is a global leader who is committed to protecting the world's water resources.

Mina has completed several globally-recognised expeditions, including running 200 marathons in one year for the #RunBlue campaign in 2023. She ran 40 marathons across seven deserts in seven weeks for The 7 Deserts Run in 2016, and 40 marathons across six rivers in 40 days for The River Run in 2017. In 2018, Mina attempted 100 marathons in 100 days for the #RunningDry campaign but broke her leg on Marathon 62. Despite this setback, people worldwide supported her to complete the campaign, and through these expeditions, Mina has created a global community of water advocates in over 190 countries and territories.

Mina's leadership on water conservation has been widely acknowledged, including being recognised by Fortune as one of the greatest leaders in the world. She has spoken at the United Nations and has been regularly featured in major global, local, and regional media outlets worldwide. Mina has committed her life to the water crisis, believing that we can be the solution. 

THE JOURNALISTS & MEDIA

Andiswa Matikinca

“None of us are getting out of this life thing alive so live. Live authentically so. Make your mistakes, forgive yourself and live. Love the people you claim to love and lessen the nonsense in your life.”

As an award-winning investigative journalist, Andiswa Matikinca is passionate about environmental reporting in Africa. She is an associate at Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism, where she uses data journalism and cutting-edge geo-narrative platforms to produce impactful stories. In her role as associate journalist, Andiswa managed the extractives data-driven digital tool, #MineAlert, which provided the basis for several of her award-winning investigations. Her exceptional work earned her the Vodacom Regional Young Journalist Award for the KwaZulu-Natal region in 2019. Currently, Andiswa is focused on her role as an environmental reporter and data journalist, where she continues to bring attention to critical issues affecting the environment.

Thabo Molelekwa

“My life revolves around journalism, I write impact/solution-driven articles in order to bring change to our communities.”

Thabo Molelekwa is a dedicated journalist and advocate with a passion for the environment. He recognises that the environment has a profound impact on people's lives, whether in cities or rural areas. With the growing threat of climate change due to the use of fossil fuels for generating electricity, Thabo is committed to reporting on these issues and educating people about the importance of transitioning to green energy. 

However, he is also acutely aware of the impacts of such a transition on coal-affected communities, and strives to give voice to their concerns. Despite the challenges, Thabo finds inspiration in the ever-evolving field of climate, energy, and health, where new research and information constantly emerge, and he takes pride in breaking down complex topics into accessible information for the general public.

Fiona Macleod

“We've probably played a big role in making environmental journalism sexy.”

Fiona Macleod is an accomplished investigative environmental journalist who spearheads the utilisation of cutting-edge media tools to uncover eco-offenses in Southern Africa and beyond. As the editor of Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism, Macleod leads collaborations that have brought about transformative changes in people's lives, policies, and laws. Her innovative approach has been replicated in various parts of the world and has received worldwide acclaim. Macleod's expertise is not limited to Southern Africa, as she and her team have also developed novel tools to report on environmental crimes in Europe, Asia, and Africa. 

Her exceptional work has earned her several accolades, including the prestigious SAB EnviroMedia Written Media Award and the SAB EnviroMedia Print and Online Award. She also led Oxpeckers to win multiple awards, including the 2017 SAB Environmental Journalist of the Year and the CNN Multichoice African Environment Journalist of the Year Award in 2016. Before founding Oxpeckers, Macleod worked as an award-winning journalist and editor at various top media organizations in the region, including the Mail & Guardian, where she served as the environment editor for ten years.

Lerato Mutsila

“SA will not have a green future as long as Mr. clean coal is at the helm.”

Lerato Mutsila is a skilled climate justice and environmental journalist trained in multimedia storytelling. With a Bachelor's degree in Journalism, she majored in broadcast journalism, political science, and communication at Pearson Institute of Higher Education in 2021. In August 2022, she joined the current affairs desk at Briefly News. Lerato is a proud fellow of the 2021/2022 Young African Journalists Acceleration Programme, which focused on training African journalists in climate journalism. She has a passion for both written and visual storytelling and excels at depicting stories in a captivating manner.

Andy Muranda

“Starting Ilona Green helped me find 'cents in waste' and embark on a new journey in mitigating environmental desolation.”

Andy Muranda, a director at Ilona Green and Botjilo Bethu, is captivated by complex problems and strives to promote social and ecological resilience. He seeks to demystify sustainability while indulging in his creative passion for storytelling and photography. Andy's professional focus is on the intersection of the environment, social issues, and development, and he enjoys lecturing on sustainability, energy cultures, and media. 

When not immersed in his work, Andy delights in the mysteries and enchantment of life, family, people, culture, and the great outdoors. He is a passionate advocate for shared wisdom on sustainability matters and has produced independent content for TV media since 2002, even managing a collection centre for recyclable waste along the way.

Armand Hough

“The next few years will be absolutely critical to our environment. I would like to bear witness to who played a role in doing their part to save the planet from ourselves.”

Armand Hough is a photojournalist with a particular interest in the advocacy, environmental, and sustainability space. With climate change looming as the most significant story of the century, Armand feels compelled to uncover and tell this story. What motivates him to keep going is the inspiring sight of people who take a bold stand against authority to support their beliefs. Through his lens, Armand captures the beauty of the natural world and the struggles of those fighting to protect it, sharing their stories nationally and globally.

Ilham Rawoot

“You need to divest from fossil fuel companies because that’s the only way they are going to change.”

Ilham Rawoot is a dedicated climate justice activist fighting against corporate impunity. She leads the international efforts of the Say No to Gas! Campaign, in partnership with JA!, a Mozambican organization, and various global allies. Ilham works for Justiça Ambiental/Friends of the Earth Mozambique, a non-governmental organization that focuses on the detrimental impact of Mozambique's unsustainable and uncontrolled development on the environment, climate, and society. 

Ilham's advocacy for affected individuals and journalists who oppose gas extraction projects is especially vital, given the arrest and persecution of those who speak out in Mozambique. Foreign corporations and banks, including Dutch bank ING, finance these gas projects, and Ilham urges Dutch citizens to take action. Ilham's mission is to create a world where corporations are accountable for their actions, unable to cause harm to the planet, humanity, and the climate with impunity.

Wendy Knowler

“The situation is pretty dire and we need to make some changes to reduce what is going to landfill, and make them pretty quickly. Those of us who do have a platform should use it to raise the consciousness little by little in the hope that, in South Africa at least, we make some difference.”

Wendy Knowler, an award-winning consumer journalist, has shed light on conscious consumption and recycling through her factful print, digital, and radio journalism. Her balanced approach to the plastics issue has helped audiences better comprehend this complex topic. Wendy has received numerous media awards for her consumer exposés, including the Vodacom Journalist of the Year awards and the national Petco (Plastic Recycling SA) Media Spotlight award in 2019. She strives to create awareness about recycling issues, dispel myths, shame companies that design packaging without recycling in mind, and inspire consumers to do their part.

Don Pinnock

“The problems of human impact on the natural world are too big, too complex for ordinary people like us to deal with. If we care, we have to rely on scientists, politicians, lobbyists, NGOs and global multilateral conferences to put things right.”

Don Pinnock is an accomplished writer, criminologist, and photographer with 17 books to his credit, covering diverse topics such as history, politics, gangs, and science. As an associate of Southern Write, a prestigious group of natural history writers and photographers in Africa, he has demonstrated his expertise in travel and nature writing. With a diverse background that includes being an electronic engineer, a lecturer in journalism and criminology, a consultant to the Mandela government, a professional yachtsman, an explorer, and even a cable-car operator on the Rock of Gibraltar, Don brings a unique perspective to his work. His current focus is on the impact of human activity on the planet, a subject about which he is passionate.

Sipho Kings

"If we expect solutions to the climate crisis to be determined exclusively by the same corporations and governments, then we have good reason to be pessimistic about the future."

Meet Sipho Kings, the Editorial Director at The Continent and former acting editor-in-chief of the Mail & Guardian. Hailing from eSwatini, Sipho grew up in a small village in Botswana and pursued his education in Limpopo. With a deep passion for addressing critical issues such as climate change, Sipho started his career as an intern at the Mail & Guardian, where he eventually became the paper's sole environment reporter for several years. His unwavering dedication to putting climate change at the forefront of journalism has seen him co-author the book “South Africa’s Survival Guide to Climate Change” and earned him numerous accolades, including a journalism fellowship at Harvard University.

Leonie Joubert

“We need a collective experience of the overview effect. This isn’t just a call for a bunny-hugging value system change. It’s a reminder that we need to shift our entire political economy to reflect the immutable scientific truth that our survival is embedded in the laws of nature.”

Meet Leonie Joubert, a science writer based in Cape Town, who grapples with pressing environmental and social justice issues of our time. With over two decades of experience, she's an expert in pollution, specifically the systems-collapsing effects of aggressive neo-liberal capitalism. She uses her expertise to shed light on topics such as climate collapse, environmental change, energy policy, urban development, and the hunger-obesity poverty paradox. 

Leonie's preferred writing style is long-form journalistic storytelling that intertwines personal anecdotes and scientific complexities. She has published books, journalism pieces, creative non-fiction, and has even hosted podcasts and given public speeches. Recently, she's worked on assignments for National Geographic magazine and its digital platform. Leonie is both in awe of our planet and aware of the urgent need to share stories that highlight the impact of our destructive practices on it.

Nick Hedley

“The energy transition is about more than just tackling climate change. It's also an opportunity to create a fairer economy, with social ownership of electricity infrastructure, and to reduce the volatility and cost of energy. For those who are willing to participate, there are so many potential benefits to households and society in the transition.”

Nick Hedley is a columnist, journalist, and researcher with a passion for climate issues. His work in the environmental/sustainability/advocacy space began after delving into the science of climate change, which led him to become an activist. With the scale of the problem fully grasped, it became difficult for him not to get involved. Nick is inspired to continue his work by the little pockets of progress he sees all around the world, proving that the climate crisis can be overcome.

THE RESEARCHERS & ACADEMIA

Lee-Ann Sade Modley

“I believe in making an impact on society through my research. I want my research to reach different communities in different ways so I always ensure that my community-based projects are inclusive and impactful.”

Meet Lee-Ann Modley, a distinguished Senior Lecturer and Deputy HoD at the University of Johannesburg's Faculty of Science. Within the Department of Geography, Environmental Management, and Energy Studies, Lee-Ann has established herself as a leading expert in the field of environmental management, sustainability, and advocacy.

Her passion for this line of work dates back 11 years, when she earned her master's degree in environmental management. Since then, Lee-Ann has remained deeply committed to making a positive impact in the communities she serves. She has already witnessed two of her projects create significant change, addressing the urgent need for clean water and sanitation in underprivileged areas.

Lee-Ann's research is focused on co-operation with stakeholders at various levels, promoting inclusive water resource management, and advocating for marginalized communities to have access to clean water and decent sanitation. Witnessing the tangible difference her work has made inspires Lee-Ann to push harder, striving for even greater progress in her efforts to provide vital resources to those who need them most.

Claire Davis-Reddy

“The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites one family. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”

Meet Claire Davis-Reddy, a seasoned Data Product Specialist with 15 years of experience in geospatial data management, analysis, and product development. Claire's passion for environmental sustainability and advocacy stems from her upbringing on a farm where she learned the importance of caring for animals, sustainable farming practices, and reducing waste. 

Her values and commitment to the environment inspire her to make a positive impact every day. Claire believes that even the smallest actions can create a ripple effect and contribute to a better world for people, animals, and the planet.

Ayakha Melithafa

“We, as society, have a chance now to change things.”

Ayakha Melithafa is a renowned climate justice activist, known for her tireless advocacy work in the environmental and sustainability space. She serves as a youth commissioner on the South African Climate commission and is the founder of the Ayakha Melithafa Foundation.

As the youngest commissioner on the Presidential Climate commission in South Africa, Ayakha has been a public representative of the African Climate Alliance. She is a recipient of several awards, including the Women of Firsts Award from the Charlotte Mannya Maxeke Institute and was nominated as one of South Africa’s Most Powerful Women by the Mail and Guardian in 2020.

Ayakha's mission is to address the greatest ecological crisis of our time and enable leaders to drive scalable, collaborative action for systemic change. Her activism aims to inspire South African youth voices towards addressing key issues on creating a sustainable, low carbon future and to exert pressure on big emitters to stop blocking global climate action. Ayakha draws inspiration from her mother, who is a farmer and continues to be affected by climate change.

Alex Lenferna

“Today, our youth face an interconnected and compounding crisis of climate change, unemployment, poverty and inequality. These four crises do not often get connected, and if we fail to act on climate change, we will deepen the other three crises.” 

Alex Lenferna is a post-doctoral fellow at Nelson Mandela University specializing in Development Studies. His research centers around realizing a radical climate justice agenda for South Africa, one of the world's most polluted and unequal countries. As the secretary of the Climate Justice Coalition, he collaborates with civil society, grassroots, trade union, and community-based organizations to push for transformative climate justice policies. Prior to this, Alex worked as a climate justice campaigner with 350Africa.org, a non-profit organization committed to building a global grassroots climate justice movement. He holds a PhD in climate justice from the University of Washington and is a Mandela Rhodes and Fulbright scholar.

Ndivhuho Raphulu

“Nature is the best technology we have.”

Ndivhuho Raphulu is an accomplished sustainability expert with extensive experience directing prominent environmental organizations in South Africa. He currently serves as the Director of the National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa and oversees the RECP Programme for the Department of Trade and Industry. Prior to this, he held the position of Senior Sustainability Advisor at Eskom, the national power utility. With a degree in Environmental Science and Development Studies, Ndivhuho is a respected member of the African Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production and has served as its former President. He also holds the position of Chairman of the European Union-African Union Partnership on SCP and co-chairs the Steering Committee of the African Eco-Labelling Project. In addition to his leadership roles, he actively serves on the boards of several national trusts and organisations.

Prof. Linda Godfrey

"Youngsters are growing up in this environment of convenience, of single use, of this throwaway society, of a very linear environment of consumption and disposable - that has to change."

With expertise in integrated waste management, Prof. Linda Godfrey is a principal researcher at the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and an associate professor at North-West University. She heads up the Waste Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap Implementation Unit for the Department of Science and Technology. 

Prof. Godfrey has provided strategic input in waste and green economy initiatives for several organizations, including the United Nations and the Development Bank of South Africa. She has authored or co-authored over 125 research and contract specialist reports, 25 international and local conference papers, 12 peer-reviewed journal papers, and five book chapters. Additionally, Prof. Godfrey has published numerous popular articles and policy briefs on waste management, reflecting her passion for science communication.

Lesley Green

“It is the logic of the Anthropocene in which the growth of capital is at the expense of soil and water.”

Lesley Green is an accomplished Professor of Anthropology in the School of African and Gender Studies, Anthropology, and Linguistics at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She also serves as the Director of Environmental Humanities South, where she focuses primarily on the environmental humanities. This interdisciplinary work goes beyond simply combining fields, as Green explores how the concept of climate change and the Anthropocene challenge the traditional divisions between sciences and humanities, prompting a rethinking of research practices and intellectual legacies.

She has devoted her attention to examining how disciplinary knowledge from fields such as history, geography, and philosophy can engage with alternative worldviews, such as those found in Palikur stories that she and David Green collected in Amapa, Brazil from 1997-2008. This work is showcased in her forthcoming publication, "Knowing the Day, Knowing the World: Engaging Amerindian Thought in Public Archaeology," co-authored with David Green and set to be published by Arizona University Press.

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From conservation and biology to renewable energy and recycling and waste management, South Africa is fortunate to have some of the most passionate and dedicated eco-advocates in the world. Through their tireless efforts, they have made a positive impact on the environment and inspired countless others to follow in their footsteps.

By supporting and connecting with these advocates, we can all play a part in creating a brighter, greener, and more sustainable future for generations to come.

Is anyone missing from our list? Pop us an email at hello@treeshake.com to let us know, so that we can continue celebrating South Africa’s top eco-advocates.

Plant Power - 50 Inspiring SA Organisations to celebrate and support

The world is changing, and so is the way we think about our food choices. From plant-based burgers to dairy-free milk alternatives, it has become easier than ever to ditch animal products and adopt a more compassionate and ethical approach to eating. But, a plant-based lifestyle is no longer just about the food or just a dietary preference, it's a lifestyle and a movement that's gaining momentum globally, and for a good reason. Ranging from improved well-being and mental health to mitigating environmental concerns and improving the lives of farm animals, the results of making even the smallest changes in the way you eat and live can add up to massive changes. 

However, change cannot happen overnight. It takes a collective effort from a number of dedicated individuals and organisations to achieve solutions to many of the world’s most pressing problems - deforestation, climate change and the extinction of species just to name a few. The organisations on this list are at the forefront of the movement and have tirelessly dedicated themselves to making the world a kinder, safer and healthier place through their advocacy of a plant-based lifestyle. 

Whether you are a seasoned vegan or just curious about this movement, it's clear that the work of these organisations is having a profound impact on our world and will continue to shape the future of our planet. So how can you help? All you need to do is support them. Whether it be through donations, volunteering your time and skills, or simply spreading the word about their efforts, every little bit counts.

Source: Authentic Roots

Authentic Roots

Authentic Roots is a bespoke gift and plantable children's book company dedicated to eco-friendliness and animal welfare. Their gifts are crafted from trendsetting materials such as pineapple leather, recycled plastic and cotton, and the plantable storybook is educational and made from recycled paper embedded with seeds for lettuce and tomato. Supporting local artisans, all products are produced locally. 

The company's founder, Tanya van Rees, is a passionate humanitarian who prioritizes sustainability and community development in her business practices. Inspiration is drawn from nature and a conscious living philosophy. Their product line includes Pinatex (made from natural, sustainable pineapple leaf fibres), recycled plastic PET fabric, 100% cotton totes and eye pillows, and 100% biodegradable picnic and gin sets. The latest addition, a handmade plantable storybook, brings together eco-consciousness and childhood education.

Savannah Greeff Photography

Nick and Nichol’s

Nick and Nicole, a husband-and-wife artist team, are committed to healing the planet and reducing pollution through their upcycled creations. They transform discarded inner tubes from car and truck tires into stylish designer bags, shoes, homeware, and accessories that resemble leather, earning them the title of "Vegan Leather" from many customers. After honing their skills for two years in a garage, they opened a studio shop at Caster Bridge in White River, Mpumalanga, where they met global customers and introduced their products to the world. However, with the pandemic and a desire to connect with more customers and create more awareness around who they are and what they do, they closed the shop and went online in 2020.

Now, Nick and Nicole have purchased a hectare of land near the beautiful Makhonjwa Mountains in Mpumalanga, South Africa, and have acquired 14 new machines to expand their business, increase environmental conservation, and empower a local impoverished community all at the same time. They plan to build a workshop, studio, and training centre and transfer skills to the young people in the area, creating employment for at least 25 people. To make this vision a reality, they need help with infrastructure such as Wendy Houses to put their 14 machines in, solar power, a vehicle for collecting raw materials, and plumbing facilities. By helping to build this workshop, they can start making beautiful creations right away and reduce the number of inner tubes that end up in landfills. You can watch their story here. If you would like to support their cause, please visit their Patreon page.

Source: http://hennhoneyball.com/work/south-african-vegan-society/

South African Vegan Society

The South African Vegan Society is a volunteer organisation that promotes the vegan lifestyle through public outreach, resource distribution, product endorsement, and support for those who choose this way of life. Founded in 2007 by a group of passionate activists, the Society has been instrumental in creating awareness and increasing knowledge about veganism in South Africa. Today, it aims to make the vegan lifestyle accessible, enjoyable, and sustainable for all South Africans.

In addition to its outreach efforts, the South African Vegan Society also endorses products and services that align with its mission. The Society hopes to continue being a part of the broader community of activists working towards welfare, liberation, and social justice by promoting veganism as an ethical baseline. Through its website, the South African Vegan Society provides people with the information they need to embrace and maintain a vegan lifestyle.

The Green Dietitian

The Green Dietitian, a dynamic duo made up of Jessica Kotlowitz and Nadia Mulder, is leading the charge in plant-based and vegan nutrition in Cape Town's Sea Point. As registered dietitians, they bring a wealth of knowledge to the table and are dedicated to helping clients of all dietary backgrounds achieve their health and wellness goals. They believe in the principles of body and food neutrality, promoting food freedom and intuitive eating to build positive relationships with food.

These experts also support a long-term approach to veganism that dispels any myths about the lifestyle and keeps vegans healthy at all ages. Staying at the forefront of plant-based nutrition research, they are adept at translating complex science into practical and easy-to-understand information for all. The Green Dietitians are determined to bust nutrition myths and educate both the public and their fellow healthcare colleagues.

Source: TedxCapeTown

ProVeg South Africa

ProVeg South Africa is an organisation that seeks to revolutionise the global food system by introducing plant-based and cultured alternatives to animal-based products. They recognise that many of the world's most pressing issues are linked to the food we consume, and are passionate about educating people on the positive changes they can make to the planet, animals, and themselves with their dietary choices. By empowering people to make conscious, healthy decisions about what they put on their plate, ProVeg works towards a future where everyone can enjoy delicious and nutritious food that is beneficial to all.

Partnering closely with international decision-making bodies, governments, food producers, investors, the media, and the general public, ProVeg South Africa works towards a future where everyone can enjoy delicious and nutritious food that is beneficial to all and to fulfil their ultimate mission: to reduce the global consumption of animals by 50% by 2040.

Source: Facebook Page

Mahala Botanicals

Mahala Botanicals is a premium non-alcoholic, triple-distilled spirit that offers a unique taste experience for health-conscious and mindful consumers. From farm to glass, the entire process of foraging botanicals to distillation is owned and operated by the company, using custom-built vacuum stills in South Africa.

Master Distiller, Danielle Schoeman, started experimenting with various alcohol-free distilled spirits in 2020, and after foraging botanicals from her family farm in the Cape, she discovered the perfect recipe for Mahala Botanical. The spirit is made using nine different botanicals, some of which are indigenous to the Western Cape, and as the name Mahala, meaning “free” in Zulu suggests, is free from sugar, alcohol, colourants, and artificial flavours. The spirits are also gluten and vegan-friendly, offering a sophisticated alternative to alcoholic beverages.

Not only does Mahala produce premium non-alcoholic spirits, but it is a socially responsible business that is dedicated to empowering previously disadvantaged individuals by offering them employment opportunities. They also support local workers, such as The Sparrow Society, who collaborate with Mahala to create stunning product display bags. Additionally, a portion of their sales in South Africa goes to The Botanical Society of South Africa, an organisation that works tirelessly to conserve South Africa's remarkable plant diversity and ecosystems through biodiversity conservation efforts.

PAN South Africa

PAN (Physicians Association for Nutrition) South Africa was established in 2020 with the goal of providing healthcare professionals with access to plant-based nutrition information. Since then, PAN South Africa has hosted two webinars on plant-based nutrition and climate change and is working to educate medical students. Its mission is to address the climate crisis and pandemic risk associated with the current food system and equip healthcare professionals with the tools to treat patients through nutrition.

PAN South Africa is constantly expanding, working to create a national network of physicians, dieticians, medical students, and other healthcare workers, who collaborate with an international community to influence policy-makers and create positive change in food environments. By 2050, PAN South Africa hopes to eliminate diet-related deaths.

Source: Google

Oh my cluck

Oh My Cluck is a team of innovative minds with a mission to revolutionize the quality of vegan products grown and produced locally in South Africa. They strive to create plant-based, chickless products that leave a lasting impression, using only the finest ingredients.

From their crispy 100% vegan chick'un to their groundbreaking fry-at-home vegan eggs, Oh My Cluck has you covered for all your chickless needs. Their products are 100% vegan, gluten-free and made without causing harm to any animals.

Source: Facebook Page

Grumpy and Runt

Grumpy & Runt is a Cape Town-based deli and vegan bakery that specializes in hand-crafted donuts (or doughnuts). Their donuts are made fresh daily, with a rotating selection of 8 unique flavours that change every Tuesday. They blend classic donut flavours with traditional desserts, nostalgic treats, South African classics, French pastries and even have a donut waffle, called the "Do-Waffle".

In addition to their donuts, Grumpy & Runt also offers vegan New York-style deli food, baked goods and daily provisions. They strive to make everything from scratch, including their vegan butter, vegan cheese, vegan deli meats, dough, and mayonnaise, for an ethical and indulgent vegan experience. All their donuts are made using 100% natural ingredients and require 18 hours of preparation. They also serve a unique blend of Single Origin coffee, micro-roasted to perfection and produced in collaboration with Mikro Roastery in Hermanus, making it the perfect partner for plant-based Mylk.

Vegan Street Food

Vegan Street Food, located in Observatory, Cape Town, is the epitome of plant-based fusion cuisine. Owners Braidy and her mother Lee-Ann are passionate vegans committed to creating exciting vegan experiences and spreading the love for the vegan movement. With a mission rooted in heart, body, and soul, they offer 100% vegan cuisine and believe in making a positive impact.

Established in 2016, Vegan Street Food started as a small, family-owned cafe at local markets and has since grown into a bespoke eatery with grand ambitions. Lee and Braidy are continuously striving to innovate new and exciting products and events to expand awareness of the vegan philosophy far and wide. With their passion and expertise, they are making a difference in their local community and the vegan world.

Source: Facebook Page

Muiz Kitchen

Muiz Kitchen is a thriving community vegan kitchen located in Muizenberg. This kitchen serves as a hub of nutritious, plant-based meals that are both affordable and accessible to the community. Muiz Kitchen is designed to be a space of growth, learning, and sharing where everyone is welcome to come and participate.

The kitchen works closely with the Muizenberg Community Garden and local ingredient suppliers to promote economic growth and build relationships for a more resilient future. The unique alternative exchange system, Muiz Coin, allows individuals to earn meals through volunteering in the kitchen or garden or participating in weekly street cleanups.

In addition to co-hosting nutritional workshops with Spaza Hub, Muiz Kitchen offers a variety of affordable meal options with different payment options, freezer meals, weekly veg boxes, catering services for schools, events and celebrations, and so much more.

Source: Mzansi Meat Co.

Mzansi Meat Co

Mzansi Meat Co. was established with the aim of revolutionizing the food system and the way meat is produced. The company is devoted to bringing the best of Mzansi to the table through healthy, affordable, and accessible meat. With the help of science, they have been able to make real meat with less fat, while maintaining the integrity of its taste. Additionally, cultivated meat is expected to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture by using much less land and water, making production more cost-efficient.

Mzansi Meat Co. strongly believes that people can still enjoy their favorite foods without jeopardizing the environment and is determined to make a real impact in the food industry. By introducing cultivated meat to the African continent, they are striving towards long-term food security. The company's philosophy is rooted in a harm-free approach, and their mission is to create an ecosystem that will help to achieve just that.

Source: Facebook Page

Herbivore Earth Foods

Herbivore Earthfoods, based in Cape Town, offers plant-based and vegan products that are both healthy and affordable. Since 2014, the company has been committed to making plant-based foods accessible in South Africa and to reducing waste by using compostable packaging.

Look for the Soil-to-Soil logo on each product to know that it is environmentally friendly. Herbivore Earthfoods is leading the way in the plant-based revolution, making it easier for consumers to make sustainable choices.

Source: Facebook Page

Fry Family Food Co

The Fry Family Food Co. was founded in 1991 with the goal of creating nutritious plant-based products for their family who were passionate about following a vegan diet. At the time, the idea of plant-based meat alternatives was a novel concept. However, with determination and a passion for plant-based living, they started crafting quality vegan meat alternatives that were comparable in taste and texture to real meat.

Over the last three decades, the Fry's brand has become a leader in the vegan food industry, with over 40 different products available in more than 40 countries. The company's focus remains on crafting quality meat alternatives made from the best plant proteins sourced from ethical and non-GM sources. Each product is rigorously tested and certified free from pesticides, ensuring that customers receive only the best vegan products.

The Fry's family's unwavering commitment to creating food that they would be proud to feed their own family has not wavered in the last thirty years. They have been at the forefront of the vegan movement, collaborating with NGOs, activists, advocacy groups, and leading vegan influencers to establish a global vegan standard. Fry's remains dedicated to bringing the best plant-based products to the world, and their passion for veganism continues to drive their mission forward.

Source: Facebook Page

Vegan SA

Vegan SA is the ultimate guide for South African vegans, offering a comprehensive directory of vegan-friendly restaurants, shops, products, and accommodation. The website is dedicated to making life easier for vegans in South Africa, providing resources and support for an enjoyable and fulfilling life. With a focus on connecting vegans from all over the country, the directory helps vegans find like-minded people and businesses, and stay up-to-date on the latest news and changes in the vegan movement.

Vegan SA operates as a self-funded organisation, relying on volunteers to keep the directory running. They welcome contributions and support from their community, especially those who are willing to act as volunteer managers for listings in their own regions. As part of the global vegan movement, they believe that the more organized their efforts are, the more effective and successful they will become, without compromising their ethical values.

Source: Facebook Page

Fauxmage Nut Cheese

Fauxmage is a gourmet food brand that brings together the worlds of healthy eating and decadent indulgence. They believe in the transformative power of food and strive to make the world a better place through their offerings. Their dairy-free cheese, made from nutrient-rich cashews, is the epitome of this belief, offering delicious and healthy options to those who are conscious of their health and the environment.

With a focus on local, wholesome, and ethical ingredients, Fauxmage prioritizes both taste and sustainability in its products. They source locally whenever possible, growing their own herbs in their back garden and incorporating local elements into their recipes. Their cheeses are also fermented, incorporating bioactive probiotics for a gut-friendly option.

At Fauxmage, animal welfare is a top priority. They avoid using any animal products in their cheeses, making them suitable for vegans and steer clear of harmful palm oil. Their cheeses are made by hand in small batches, ensuring that each bite is a unique flavour experience.

Source: Facebook Page

The Honest Apron

The Honest Apron (THA) is a vegan online bakery based in the East Rand of Johannesburg, South Africa that offers a wide range of delicious vegan baked goods. From Cupcakes, Sugar Cookies, Ganache Tartlets, Lamingtons, Milk Tart, Lemon Meringue, and Malva Pudding, THA is a haven for sweet treat lovers. But the offerings don't stop there. The bakery also offers stunning cakes in Vanilla, Chocolate, and Red Velvet, with fillings of Berry Compote, Salted Caramel, Chocolate Ganache, or Lemon Curd.

Baking without eggs is a challenge that THA has embraced, using egg replacements such as aquafaba, flax meal, applesauce, chia seeds, and more, to create delectable baked goods that are not only delicious but also cruelty-free. With a passion for creating edible works of art, THA’s owner Angelique is dedicated to bringing joy to people through her baked creations.

Source: ThundaFund Project

All things Earthly SA

All Things Earthly is an organic and ethical shop located in Noordhoek that provides customers with a selection of clean, natural, and locally sourced products. From organic produce, chemical-free groceries, cruelty-free body care, to eco-friendly household items, the store offers a range of options for a sustainable lifestyle.

Owners Talitha Kotze and Diane Willson du Toit, both mothers, have a passion for promoting a future that benefits both their children and the planet. They are committed to providing products free from preservatives, additives, and cruelty, while prioritizing locally sourced and organic options. With everything from dairy, eggs, snacks, body care, gifts, and more, All Things Earthly is a one-stop shop for those seeking a healthier and more mindful lifestyle.

Source: Love in A Bowl

Love in a bowl

The Love in a Bowl initiative in Hout Bay is a collaboration that brings communities together to grow and share organic produce from community farms. They are committed to providing fresh, healthy veggies for local consumers and distributing them to those who are most vulnerable in the town. By growing and sharing these vegetables, the community is creating a positive change in their lives, village, and the world. The community of Hout Bay believes in the power of love and that if one person goes hungry, they all do.

By expanding their 96 veggie circles, Love in a Bowl hopes to offer employment and training to 55 Hout Bay residents while providing nutritious food to 6,000 vulnerable children and elderly. The initiative transformed into a dynamic new programme recently, merging with Hout Bay’s COURAGE Initiative, originally founded to address hunger during the COVID lockdown.

Source: Facebook Page

Vegan Shop

Vegan Shop is the ultimate destination for vegan grocery shopping in South Africa. The store offers a variety of gluten-free, organic, and non-GMO options, making it suitable for all vegans. Not only are all products available online, but it also the Vegan Shop offers a walk-in store experience in Pretoria, making it easily accessible for all.

The store offers convenient delivery options throughout South Africa, and a range of payment methods, including KoopKrag. Customers can browse through the product gallery to get a taste of the amazing products on offer. Whether you're a seasoned vegan or just starting out, Vegan Shop is the perfect place to start one’s journey.

Source: Facebook Page

Grumpy Snacks

Grumpy Snacks is a brand that produces healthier grab-and-go snacks that don't compromise on taste or break the bank. Snacking is a daily routine for many, and hunger can quickly turn into grumpiness. Grumpy Snacks offers an alternative to the standard unhealthy ready-to-eat options.

Their focus is on chickpea roasting, which they have perfected over months in their kitchen. The chickpeas are dry-roasted with minimal oil and spices, or coated in dairy-free vegan chocolate. All ingredients used are natural and the roasting process is optimized for maximum nutritional absorption.

Source: Facebook Page

The Gypsy Kitchen SA (Megan Wessels)

Megan Wessels, the mastermind behind The Gypsy Kitchen, is a self-taught baker who has made a name for herself as a boss lady in the world of cruelty-free baking. With a passion for creating delicious treats that make people feel good, Megan has been changing the world one cupcake at a time since the birth of The Gypsy Kitchen in 2016.

The journey began when Megan fell for a boy who had a sweet tooth and she wanted to impress him with her baking skills. Despite having no prior experience in the kitchen, Megan took on the challenge and perfecting her very first product, the Choc Chip cookie. Little did she know, this pursuit would turn into a lifelong passion for baking and cruelty-free recipes.

The Gypsy Kitchen is a testament to Megan's passion for baking and her commitment to making the world a sweeter place. And as a happy coincidence, she married the boy she baked for and together they have a beautiful vegan family.

Source: Facebook Page

On the Green Side

On the Green Side, established in 2018 in Western Cape, South Africa, was born from a chance encounter between a visionary food scientist and an innovative farmer over a bottle of wine. The two combined their expertise to bring their shared dream to life - a plan to revolutionize the way we eat for a healthier and more sustainable future. With a focus on chicken-inspired, plant-based protein products that are both delicious and effortless to prepare, On the Green Side is leading the way in version 2.0 of plant-based eating.

The company recognizes that reducing our consumption of meat is one of the most impactful choices we can make for our health, the environment, and all living creatures. On the Green Side wants to create a world where technology and taste come together to make a more fair global food system with easy, affordable plant-based options for everyone. Its goal is to encourage people to live more sustainably by giving them easy, tasty meat-free meals.

Source: Facebook Page

The Fussy Vegan

Established in 2018, The Fussy Vegan has been at the forefront of spreading awareness about the vegan lifestyle. With a mission to educate people about the ethical and environmental benefits of veganism, the organisation has been a vocal advocate for the rights of animals. The  Fussy Vegan is dedicated to creating a welcoming community for all those who choose to embrace a plant-based lifestyle, regardless of their dietary preferences or labels.

The Fussy Vegan invites everyone to challenge the norm and incorporate more plant-based meals into their daily routines, for the well-being of the animals, the planet, and themselves. With a passion to disrupt and inspire, The Fussy Vegan offers a safe haven for those who dare to challenge the status quo. This unwavering commitment to their mission has earned The Fussy Vegan the title of the "Best Vegan Restaurant in Joburg" in 2021, a testament to their impact and the support of their vibrant community.

Source: Facebook Page

Charlotte Rhys

CHARLOTTE RHYS is a luxurious escape from the everyday, offering a collection of fragrance and lifestyle products crafted with care. Here, sustainability meets sophistication in a range of bath, body, home, and lifestyle products. As a leading luxury brand, CHARLOTTE RHYS has embraced a stringent green policy, putting the protection of natural resources and sustainable development at the forefront, while reducing the negative impact of the cosmetics and beauty industry on the planet.

The brand is committed to Beauty without Cruelty regulations, creating products that are both kind to the consumer and the environment. Every aspect of CHARLOTTE RHYS products, from the ingredients to the packaging, are thoughtfully selected with criteria such as green safety, efficacy, sustainability, Fairtrade, and veganism in mind, sourcing sustainable and environmentally friendly resources from South Africa. Experience the world of CHARLOTTE RHYS, where indulgence and responsibility seamlessly unite.

Source: Facebook Page

Oh-Lief Skin Care

Oh-lief, founded in 2010 by sisters Christine Buchanan and Louiza Rademan, is a natural and organic skincare brand born out of their passion for nature and a desire to use safe and eco-friendly products. Its name is inspired by olive oil, the primary ingredient in all of its products, and the Afrikaans word "lief," meaning love for organic, nature and your skin. The brand offers a complete range of certified natural and organic baby, body, and sun care products, made from 100% natural and organic raw ingredients sourced locally.

They use a base of organic olive oil and beeswax, combined with other organic ingredients, to create products suitable for all skin types. Oh-lief's products are free from harsh chemicals, artificial fragrances, petroleum, parabens, artificial colours, and synthetic bases. The brand is committed to producing clean cosmetics and is cruelty-free, with vegetarian and vegan options available. Oh-lief is handmade with love, offering a natural and organic solution for your skin.

Source: Facebook Page

Skin Creamery

Founded by Hannah Rubin in 2014, Skin Creamery was created as a solution to an increasingly over-saturated world of information and choice, offering a simplified approach to skincare that prioritises only the essentials that naturally nourish and nurture the skin. Skin Creamery's Slow Beauty ethos and vision advocate for being kind to both the earth and one's skin simultaneously. It inspires individuals to make self-care a daily ritual, enabling them to appreciate themselves and their natural beauty.

Slow Beauty is a holistic, natural way of taking care of your skin, placing personal and environmental well-being at the forefront. It is a way to redefine beauty standards, reconnect with oneself, and discover skincare rituals that enhance one's unique beauty while embracing your natural self.

Source: Facebook Page

Faithful to Nature

Faithful to Nature is a conscious shopping destination, established in 2006 to provide consumers with access to honest, affordable, and ethical products. With a world-first ingredient policy, they strive to offer clean, toxin-free options. Their mission is to create a future where conscious shopping is the norm, protecting both individuals and the planet. Through ongoing refinement of its ingredient policy, social impact initiatives, and efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, Faithful to Nature is dedicated to positively shaping the landscape of conscious retail.

Faithful to Nature blazed a trail as the first African retailer to attain BCorp certification in 2021. B Corps are cutting-edge companies that utilise the power of business to tackle social and environmental issues. This certification demonstrates Faithful to Nature's adherence to stringent standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency, and showcases the effects of their practices on employees, community, customers, and the environment. Faithful to Nature joins a prestigious group of over 2,200 B Corps globally. The company takes pride in being part of this movement, shaping a new definition of business success that prioritises making a positive impact.

Source: Lexi’s Eatery

Lexi’s Eatery

Lexi's Healthy Eatery is a restaurant that is mostly vegan and serves whole-foods, with the goal of making sustainable and conscious living more accessible and convenient for the community. The eatery strives to encourage a healthier, more ethical and eco-friendly lifestyle through the consumption of mostly plants, reducing processed food and excluding animal products.

The team at Lexi's believe that by encouraging these small changes, they can help to shape the landscape of healthy eating and sustainability in South Africa  - one beetroot falafel wrap at a time. No matter if someone follows a vegan, vegetarian, banting, paleo, or simply wants to make healthier and more ethical choices, Lexi's Eatery stresses the importance of eating in a way that makes you feel good, and in a way that you can be proud of what you are putting in your body.

Source: Facebook Page

Cheaky Co

Cheaky Co. is a specialist in chickpeas, crafting plant-based snacks that showcase the versatile nature of this legume. Launched in 2019, the company started in a small kitchen in Cape Town, exploring new ways to incorporate chickpeas in confectioneries.

With a focus on healthier snacks made from nutritious ingredients, Cheaky Co. offers three distinct ranges: Orbs, a sweet snack reminiscent of chocolate-coated balls with a high-fibre, protein-rich chickpea centre coated in smooth dark or oat milk chocolate; Chyps, a crunchy, savoury snack made from dry-roasted chickpeas and a blend of spices, best enjoyed with a cold drink; and Chunx, crunchy chickpea clusters coated in smooth chocolate, gluten-free, high in fibre, and vegan. 

All Cheaky Co. products are free from gluten and preservatives, vegan-friendly, and come in a variety of flavours. The company is committed to giving back to the community and the environment, using recyclable packaging and avoiding animal-derived products.

Veg Friendly CT

Thanks to Talya Goldberg, finding vegan and vegetarian options in Cape Town has become so much easier. Talya has become the go-to source for all things related to a vegan, vegetarian and plant-based lifestyle in Cape Town. She has taken it upon herself to share her love for plant-based food by curating a comprehensive guide on Veg Friendly Cape Town.

Here, one can embark on a culinary journey, exploring the best veg-friendly restaurants and cafes in the city. Talya's recommendations are based on her own personal experiences, ensuring that each place she features offers a truly delicious and satisfying vegan experience. From savoury meals to sweet treats, she covers it all and shares her insights on what to order and where to go.

Source: Facebook Page

We Cafe

At We Cafe, cooking is a passion fueled by a love for vegan, healthy food made with positive energy. The cafe has been curated with life, nature, its guests and care for the planet in mind. They prioritise rational resource consumption, friendship, and purity in all that they do. The team at We Cafe believes in showcasing the natural flavour of each ingredient, using only the best products that nature has to offer.

Vegan cooking is not just a job, it's a lifestyle, and the cafe is particularly passionate about plant-based desserts and sweets. We Cafe does not use any animal products, dairy, or sugar, ensuring only natural ingredients are used in all drinks and desserts. With gluten-free options available in every section, We Cafe cares about its guests and their health. Every recipe is developed with the goal of promoting a healthy lifestyle and a good mood.

Source: Google

The Vegan Life

The Vegan Life is the ultimate online destination for all things vegan. From the latest plant-based products to sustainable, eco-friendly goods, The Vegan Life has it all. The marketplace showcases an extensive collection of brands including On The Green Side, Herbivore, Fauxmage, Urban Vegan, Violife, Just Egg, Mylk, Vegan Butcherie, Miyokos, Beyond Meat, Upton's, Violife, Oatly, and many more.

Whether you want to get your favourite vegan products delivered to your door with just a few clicks, or shop for them on UberEats, the options are endless. The Vegan Life offers an easy-to-use iOS and Android app, making it even more convenient for users to shop for their favourite vegan products from the comfort of their own homes.

Source: Facebook Page

Eat More Greens

Eat More Greens is a revolutionary social dining experience that showcases the finest in gourmet plant-based cuisine. Regardless of whether you follow a vegan, vegetarian, or plant-based lifestyle, or are simply exploring healthier dietary options, they warmly invited to join them at the table.

With its focus on cruelty-free dining experiences, Eat More Greens hosts vegan pop-up dinners led by expert chefs, as well as community-organised potluck dinners that encourage guests to bring and share their favourite plant-based dishes. The goal is to create meaningful and magical experiences that bring together a compassionate community of like-minded individuals.

Source: Ubuntu Wellness

Ubuntu Wellness

Ubuntu Wellness NPO is a catalyst for positive change in Africa, utilising plant-based solutions to promote skills, create jobs, and tackle food security issues. Since its inception in 2013, this award-winning charity and training school has become a leading force in sustainable solutions for Africa through its unique social impact model that brings together the for-profit and non-profit sectors.

As a level 1 BBBEE NPO, "Ubuntu Trust" and its subsidiary level 2, "Ubuntu Academy", this organisation is dedicated to amplifying the plant-based community and making a lasting impact on the lives of those they serve. Ubuntu Wellness aims to establish Africa's first financially sustainable educational academy that prioritizes wellness. Additionally, the NPO seeks to empower communities to embrace healthy lifestyles and heal the environment. Focusing on vulnerable communities in South Africa, the mission addresses food security and works towards achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger.

Source: Facebook Page

Vegan Things

Vegan Things is a foodie guide that offers an extensive directory of all things plant-based for those seeking vegan options in RSA. From restaurants to recipes and product reviews, Vegan Things is the ultimate resource for discovering the best of the vegan world.

With a focus on highlighting top brands, products, and restaurants, the guide provides insightful recommendations and reviews, making it easier to find your next plant-based meal. Whether you're a seasoned vegan or just curious about the lifestyle, Vegan Things has something for just about everyone.

Source: Facebook Page

Scheckter’s Raw

Scheckter's Raw is a haven of wholesome nourishment, where the spirit of giving and sharing is at the forefront of every dish. With a commitment to honesty, natural ingredients, and innovation, they bring to life a menu that is unrivalled in its beauty and purity. The food is crafted with love and is always plant-based, cruelty-free, and nutrient-rich. Ingredients are sourced from the finest local and international suppliers, ensuring only the best reaches your plate.

As you savour each bite, you'll be inspired by the passion, gratitude, and generosity infused in every dish. Scheckter's Raw is dedicated to sharing their love for healthy, wholesome food, one delicious meal at a time. Each visit is an experience to be cherished, a moment of health and happiness that nourishes the mind, body, and soul. It is an invitation to embrace the beauty of nature and live life to the fullest.

Source: Org de Rac Winery

Org de Rac Winery

Org de Rac is a premier wine farm nestled in the heart of the Western Cape’s Swartland region that offers a unique blend of locally and globally grown organic wines. The winery was purchased in 2000 by Nico Bacon, an entrepreneurial South African fishing industry veteran, who had a vision of creating a sustainable wine farm that would become a leader in the industry.

The first vines were planted in 2002, and within a short time, Org de Rac had established itself as one of South Africa's premier organic wine farms, renowned for its commitment to sustainable agriculture. With the growing demand for vegan wines, the farm has embraced this new approach in their production process.

Unlike traditional wines that often use egg whites and fish products as fining agents, Org de Rac uses a clay-based bentonite to reduce astringency and bitterness, as well as clarify and adjust the wine's colour without relying on animal products. This unique approach has helped the winery to stand out in the industry, offering a truly organic and ethical product to consumers.

Source: Facebook Page

Vegan Sisters Apparel - South Africa

Vegan Sisters Apparel (VSA) was founded on vegan sisters Jo Reynolds and Louise Reynolds’ compassion for all living things and the environment. Striving to be a positive change in a world plagued by cruelty, exploitation, and destruction, VSA creates wearable artwork through which they hope to spread the vegan message and generate interest in their cause. They are passionate about the potential difference that their art can make.

To ensure their garments are ethically produced and of high quality, they collaborate with talented vegan artists, use non-animal inks, and small batch production. Furthermore, sustainability is a priority for the brand, and they incorporate recycled fabrics wherever possible and are working to introduce organic cotton into their range. VSA also focuses on local production to reduce their carbon footprint and create garments that can be treasured for years to come.

Source: Google

Call it Spring

Call It Spring proudly offers a range of shoes, bags, and accessories that are 100% free from animal derivatives, including animal skins, feathers, fur, hair, wool, shells, silk, adhesives, and components. Their commitment to becoming fully vegan is a step towards creating a better future and providing customers with accessible, animal-friendly options without sacrificing style.

Call It Spring is committed to sustainability, social responsibility, and environmental protection. They are Certified Climate Neutral, PETA-Approved Vegan, and a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) as well as use sustainable packaging, renewable energy, and the Higg Index to measure their environmental impact in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.

Source: Facebook Page

Nu-Eco

Nu-Eco's offerings are a testament to their commitment to the environment, with a range of 100% natural and eco-friendly cleaning products that are gentle on the planet. Each product is made using 100% vegan ingredients and is crafted with care, utilizing natural ingredients that are both safe and effective. And, with its watercourse-friendly formula, Nu-Eco's products are not only gentle on the Earth, but also won't pollute waterways, making it a safe choice for cleaning drains.

The products are guaranteed to be 100% natural, free of parabens, SLS, and sulphates, with some utilizing "good" bacteria to break down toxins and waste into harmless molecules. This not only makes the products effective, but it also helps promote a healthy, clean environment.

In line with its commitment to preserving the environment, Nu-Eco products are animal and wildlife-friendly, with no animal testing involved in their creation. Beauty Without Cruelty has approved the line for its cruelty-free status, making it a choice for those who prioritise their health and the health of the planet. The Nu-Eco line is the perfect choice for those looking for 100% vegan, natural, and environmentally responsible cleaning products.

Source: Facebook Page

Baocare Skincare

BaoCare Skincare offers a collection of 100% natural baobab oil serums, designed to address a range of skin conditions. With six unique products, each formula is carefully crafted with organic and wild-harvested baobab oil, known for its skin-healing properties, and blended with other natural ingredients to create a synergistic effect for different skin types. The products are free of synthetic chemicals, parabens, and mineral oils, and feature delicate fragrances made with pure essential oils, with the option for fragrance-free baobab oil for those with sensitive skin. BaoCare offers a natural and multi-tasking skincare solution for all.

BaoCare is driven by a passion for care and sustainability. Their certified organic baobab oil is sourced from Limpopo, the heart of baobab country, through EcoProducts, South Africa's leading baobab producer. Only 10% of fallen fruit is harvested, ensuring sustainable practices that do not harm the trees. The local Venda women from rural communities, who are mostly the sole breadwinners of their families, are employed by EcoProducts. 

The Baobab Foundation, also run by EcoProducts, provides funding for preschool creches, recognizing the importance of early childhood development in breaking the poverty cycle. To further protect the baobab trees, EcoProducts has launched the Baobab Guardians Program, which aims to counter the damage caused by livestock to young baobab seedlings and promote new growth.

Source: Facebook Page

Happy Kingdom Vegan Foods

Happy Kingdom Vegan Foods is a food delivery service that offers a sumptuous spread of vegan comfort foods, prepared with the utmost freshness and care. The menu boasts high protein, low carb, and keto options that cater to the health-conscious food lovers of Durban. Every dish is 100% plant-based, gluten-free, and created with love and respect for mind, body, and soul, as well as the planet.

Caryn Swart, the founder, owner, and head chef of Happy Kingdom Vegan Foods, is a fanatic and passionate advocate of healthy, conscious, and kind eating. With her expertise in the culinary arts and a deep-seated love for all things green, she handcrafts every meal with the intention of nourishing both the body and the soul.

Source: Google

Stellar Winery

Stellar Winery, nestled in Kys Halte, Western Cape, is renowned for its exceptional wines, all of which are organic, vegan-friendly, and fair trade certified. As South Africa's largest producer of fine organic fair trade wines and the largest global producer of no-added-sulphur wines, Stellar embodies innovation in winemaking and social development. With a commitment to integrity, the winery continues to explore new ways of working and living, constantly striving to build something greater than itself.

Stellar Winery sources organic grapes from independent, Fair Trade-certified farms that are part of the Stellar Multi-Estate and is dedicated to producing sustainable, environmentally responsible wine. The winery, along with its certified organic cellar, operates in harmony with nature and values its farmworkers, continuously striving to improve their living and working conditions. To achieve this, Stellar has established various initiatives, including the Stellar Empowerment Trust, Stellar Agri and the registered non-profit and public benefit organisation, The Stellar Foundation. The foundation is committed to enhancing the lives of all workers on the estate and driving their developmental initiatives.

Source: Google

Wild Dreams

Wild Dreams Hospitality is a renowned player in the industry, with its team boasting over a hundred years of combined experience. They offer professional and expert services in consulting and recruitment, serving clients across Southern Africa, including countries like Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia, Tanzania, and Malawi. Their extensive hospitality background in various establishments and environments, both globally and locally, enables them to swiftly develop customised plans for clients seeking to enhance their service through consulting or recruitment of top-notch staff.

As the only company in Africa that specialises in vegan jobs, Wild Dreams Hospitality is proud to have Hayley, Africa's only certified vegan hospitality consultant, and the creator of the world's first online vegan hospitality training, on its team. Their mission is to make their clients' wildest dreams a reality, whether it's a job seeker searching for their dream job or a client looking to advance in the ever-evolving industry.

Source: Facebook Page

The Nest Space

The Nest Space is an inclusive wellness oasis that embraces holistic health services for everyone. This tranquil space is founded on values of inclusivity, simplicity, fairness, self-expression, connection, community, harmony, self-celebration, and self-expression. The Nest features a yoga studio, an alternative therapy room, a vegan café, and a zero-waste grocer, fostering a nurturing environment for healing, growth, transformation, self-discovery, inspiration, and collaboration.

The team at The Nest Space is made up of a diverse group of instructors, including founder and co-owners Anesu Mbizvo and Banesa Tseki, both of whom have extensive knowledge and experience in the field. They believe in the power of holistic well-being and strive to create a space that can help individuals escape and heal from the inside out.

Regardless of age or experience level, The Nest Space offers classes for everyone. They invite you to come and experience the power of holistic well-being, and embark on a unique self-transformation journey guided by The Nest Space team. All are welcome just as they are, perfect and complete in their own unique way.

Source: Google

My Bliss Co

Born from the passion and love of Samantha Reynolds, My Bliss Co has evolved into a thriving creative agency and plant-based consulting firm. Focused on empowering women and partnering with brands that celebrate them, My Bliss Co's mission is to support women, particularly those in their 40s, as they navigate life's challenges and discover joy, health, beauty, and balance.

With Samantha at the helm, My Bliss Co is a safe haven for those seeking respite. As a certified plant-based nutritionist, yoga teacher, massage therapist, stress consultant, and luxury spa director, Samantha brings a wealth of expertise and compassion to the table. Her background as a designer, writer, photographer, and Art Director, combined with her highly sensitive and intuitive nature, make her the perfect guide on your journey to finding bliss. My Bliss Co is the embodiment of Samantha's own happy place – a warm and welcoming company that exists to help you find yours.

Rhino-Foodz

Rhino-Foodz embodies a passion for 100% natural and premium plant-based and vegan products. All products are hand-crafted using locally sourced ingredients and infused with love. Free from synthetic preservatives, flavours, texturizers, and other unhealthy fillers, these products offer not only a delicious but mindful experience. Additionally, a portion of every sale goes towards supporting Rhino-Foundations to protect rhinos. These products are certified organic, healthy, and convenient, offering a plant-based and vegan option for a cleaner, healthier diet.

Dr. Stef, a plant-based food lover and nutrition scientist from Germany, realized the scarcity of healthy plant-based food options in South Africa. This, combined with the lack of organic certified and pesticide-free food, led to her creating her own vegetable spreads for personal consumption. After receiving positive feedback from friends, she decided to share her creations with the world. As a nutrition expert, she feels a responsibility to help people eat healthier and embrace a more natural and plant-based diet. Her first product, the Slow Food veggie spreads, are carefully crafted by hand, preserving the natural flavours and nutrients for maximum benefits.

Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary

The Greyton Farm Animal Sanctuary is a haven for rescued, neglected, sick, disabled, and retired farm animals. Officially founded in 2014 by British ex-pat Nicky Vernon and her friend Rohan Millson, the sanctuary is located on 40 hectares of land just outside Greyton in the Western Cape, South Africa. Built using sustainable materials like straw bale and clay, the farm runs off the grid using solar power.

Nicky and Rohan's journey as animal rescuers began when they discovered struggling lambs in the fields surrounding their home. Over time, they developed a relationship with local farmers and took in more and more abandoned animals. The sanctuary officially began when Bella the pig arrived, followed by more "mini" pigs from owners who could no longer care for them. The defining moment came when Nicky found a newly-born calf lying in the field, who she named Heaven and cared for until his passing. This experience inspired her to dedicate her life to preventing animal suffering, and the sanctuary was officially born.

Today, the sanctuary is home to nearly 200 rescued animals, including pigs, sheep, goats, geese, roosters, a duck, and senior dogs and cats. The sanctuary team is committed to providing a peaceful, comfortable home for all the residents, with ample space to roam during the day and large paddocks to return to at night. The sanctuary also has a strict no-breeding policy, and provides resources for the Humane Education Programme, aimed at educating children in the Greyton and neighbouring communities about animal welfare.

Shop Zero

Shop Zero™ is a small business with a big heart, offering green options for eco-conscious customers. They specialise in delivering healthy foods, toiletries, lifestyle, and cleaning products in recyclable and reusable packaging, curated to promote the health and well-being of both people and the planet. 

With a wide range of single-use plastic alternatives and a commitment to using only ethical suppliers, Shop Zero™ is on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic and create awareness around pollution. They are vegan-owned and operated, with a low carbon footprint and an emphasis on offsetting their impact through initiatives such as supporting reforestation projects and donating to ocean conservation. Together, Shop Zero™ and their customers can eliminate single-use plastic and help save the environment.

Outcast Foods

Outcast Foods is a company that has emerged from a conscious and experimental lifestyle with real, clean food. Their mission is to provide delicious plant-based food that is not only easy to prepare but also contributes to a happier and healthier world. The company believes that every plant-based meal counts, and they are dedicated to inspiring people to create nutrient-rich and healthy food with ease in their own homes.

Passionate about making their lifestyle accessible to others, Outcast Foods was founded with the goal of sharing their love for plant-based eating. Their products are now stocked in a variety of popular stores, including Pick n Pay, Spar, The Refillery, and the Wellness Warehouse. With a commitment to providing high-quality and easy-to-prepare plant-based food, Outcast Foods is the perfect choice for those who want to make healthier choices without sacrificing taste.

The Vegan Chef

The Vegan Chef is a proudly South African, vertically integrated plant-based food business that creates delectable gourmet and artisanal vegan food. With a commitment to customer health and environmental sustainability, they push culinary boundaries to continuously deliver exceptional plant-based food experiences. From their mouth-watering menu at their TVC food outlets to their frozen convenience range available in stores and online, The Vegan Chef offers delicious and accessible options for all. 

They believe in promoting plant-based consumption to remove animal cruelty from the food industry, improve customer well-being, and elevate environmental and ethical standards. Their commitment to social responsibility extends to sourcing raw materials from local suppliers to foster sustainable business models and creating employment opportunities for people with disadvantaged backgrounds. Through in-house training and chef schools, they upskill their staff to become marketable across the hospitality industry, ultimately contributing to a better society for all beings in South Africa.

Nature Vyvotion

Sean, a devoted snack enthusiast and lover, recognized a dire need for delectable and nutritious snacks in South Africa. With a burning passion to discover snacks that could provide both taste and health benefits, he embarked on a mission to uncover low-calorie yet scrumptious options. Despite years of trying every snack imaginable, he still couldn't find the perfect fit, leading him to become the trailblazer he knew he had to be. Hence, Nature Vyvotion was born - a company that aims to benefit both humankind and the planet, while also remaining vegan-friendly.

Nature Vyvotion is dedicated to providing South African consumers with the best low-calorie and tasty confectionery products in the world. The company strives to continuously innovate and prioritise environmental sustainability, ensuring that quality is never sacrificed. With an unwavering commitment to excellence, Sean and his team at Nature Vyvotion will stop at nothing until they bring you the very best.

HSI-Africa

As a prominent champion for animal rights throughout the African continent, Humane Society International/Africa has established itself as a leading force in the field of animal protection. Through its dynamic campaigns, this organisation has been instrumental in improving the welfare of farmed animals, safeguarding wildlife, reducing the use of animals in testing, and enhancing the safety of companion animals.

Proudly affiliated with Humane Society International, one of the most prominent animal protection groups on the global stage, HSI/Africa has access to an unparalleled network of resources and expertise. With an unwavering commitment to promoting compassion and respect for all living beings, this organisation continues to blaze a trail for animal welfare across Africa and beyond.

Okja

Okja believes that the future is not just about being sustainable, ethical, or nutritious - it's also about being delicious. As a company, their mission is to help guide good people towards an easy, smooth, and delicious journey towards a more plant-based diet, which will not only benefit themselves but also others and the planet we call home. While plant-based milk is nothing new, Okja takes a different approach to its creation. They believe in using only the best ingredients, without any additives or gums that you can't pronounce. Their oat milk is rich, creamy, and perfect for adding to cereal, blending with superfoods in smoothies, or even dunking cookies into.

Okja's philosophy is simple - what you put in is what you get out. This is reflected in their approach to making their drinks - they use only the best ingredients and techniques to ensure that every sip is packed with flavour and nutrition. In fact, they are so proud of their product that they list all the ingredients on the front of the pack, for everyone to see. With Okja, you can enjoy a delicious plant-based milk that not only tastes great but is also kind to your body and the planet.

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The choice of which plant-based organisations in South Africa to support and the way in which you choose to do so lies entirely in your hands. But, there is one thing that cannot be ignored or left up to individual interpretation, and that is our shared responsibility to recognise and tackle the pressing issue of the environmental crisis.

A plant-based lifestyle offers us a powerful tool in our fight against climate change. By supporting plant-based organisations, we have the opportunity to play a pivotal role in reducing our carbon footprint, conserving vital resources, and protecting the diversity of life on our planet.

Is anyone missing from our list? Pop us an email to let us know, so that we can continue celebrating South Africa’s top plant-based organisations.

40 Plant-Based South African Storymakers

Join us as we celebrate 40 South Africans who have used their creativity to help grow the plant-based eating movement in South Africa. These 40 people have changed policy, started businesses, grown communities, and helped make plant-based eating more accessible and inspiring.

What we eat doesn’t only affect our health, but also the health of our planet. Research shows that a plant-based diet is a good way to help protect the environment, lower your carbon footprint, slow down climate change, support animal welfare, fight environmental degradation, improve public health, and help the economy change.

Between 1998 and 2018, the amount of meat eaten around the world went up by 58%. Animal farming is responsible for 57% of the greenhouse gases that come from the food system, even though it only makes up 18% of the calories we eat. Climate change, deforestation, lack of water, soil degradation, antibiotic resistance, and the loss of biodiversity are all made worse by the production of beef.

When people eat more plants, the demand for meat, dairy, and eggs goes down. This reduces the suffering of animals and the harsh conditions they have to live in on factory farms. Also, plant-based diets have been linked to lower blood pressure, better heart health, a lower risk of diabetes and cancer, and better well-being and mental health, while eating meat has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, pneumonia, and other serious illnesses.

““Veganism is just a result of your own compassion towards all beings, and compassion is simply a realisation of your connection to nature. When you connect with your nature, with all the beings or all of existence, you will spontaneously become compassionate with everyone.” ”

— Ashutosh Nirvadyaachaari

As more people pay attention to what they eat and want to eat more plant-based foods, more grocery stores, hotels, and restaurants will have these options. As plant-based alternatives become as much a part of South African culture as braaivleis and bobotie, it makes sense that more people will be against putting rules on plant-based alternatives.

Here is a list of the 35 South Africans to follow who only eat plant-based foods. In honour of Veganuary 2023, Treeshake put together this list. These are the people whose voices have changed policy and who inspire others to cook healthy, nutritious, and tasty plant-based food. These people decide every day what food is best for them, their families, and the planet. They also help South Africa's plant-based economy grow. Follow them, support them, and add your own voice to theirs. Together, we can support an economy that makes life easier for vegans and vegetarians by making plant-based alternatives easy to find.

THIRTY FIVE STORYMAKERS ADVANCING PLANT-BASED ECONOMY IN SA

The Caulivores (Nate Duarte and Tayla Davis) (Instagram)

“The power of fueling your body on plants will blow your mind.”

Tayla, Nate, and River Grace are The Caulivores, a whole-food, plant-based family. Nate works in logistics, and Tayla is a model and mother. Nate was able to get rid of his chronic sinusitis after he switched to a plant-based diet and saw firsthand how eating more plants helped him. Based on his observations, the more he leaned toward plants as his primary source of nutrition, the healthier his body became.

"It's like upgrading your body's fuel to a cleaner-burning fuel with a slew of vitality-boosting effects on your health and well-being."

For Nate and Tayla, once you switch to a plant-based diet, your taste buds will start to change, and foods you used to think were just okay will start to taste great. What a treat! Their only regret is not going plant-based sooner. 

"It's an exciting journey of discovering a whole new way of eating food that has so many positive downstream effects. It is good for your health, good for the planet's health, and a kinder way to coexist with other sentient beings on this planet. You will never look back once you feel the incredible shift in your own body!" 

 Jason McNamara (Instagram)

“We don’t have a Planet B to call home! This one is all we have, and we have the power to change the way we treat mother earth through the foods we choose to eat.”

Jason (Jay Mac) is the creator of The Kind Kitchen, a vegan comfort food café in Woodstock, Cape Town.  “Being vegan does not have to mean a lifetime of lentils and lettuce leaves.” 

Jay’s innovative and vibrant recipes reimagine all your favourite dishes, and we can confirm that he has mastered the art of turning mushrooms into chicken! His truly delicious The Kind Kitchen vegan cookbook can be purchased here.

Dr Anesu Mbizvo (Instagram)

“If you are not vegan, please consider going vegan. It’s a matter of nonviolence. Being vegan is your statement that you reject violence to other sentient beings, to yourself, and to the environment, on which all sentient beings depend.” - Gary L. Francione

Johannesburg-based Dr. Anesu Mbizvo is a medical doctor, yoga teacher, business owner, and former "Survivor South Africa" contestant. Her interests include holistic health, sustainability, and mental health and well-being.

She advises making a gradual transition to a plant-based lifestyle. Instead of trying to give up all meat and dairy at once, she suggests starting with having one plant-based day a week and then building up to one plant-based meal a day.

For Anesu, the goal is to strive to be a better version of yourself and to give yourself grace in the process. Changing habits takes time, and it's normal to make mistakes and slip up now and then. Rather than punishing yourself, forgive yourself with compassion and remind yourself that you are acting in the best interests of yourself and our planet.

Alexandra Dodd (Instagram)

“Veganism is a daily commitment to bringing about a kinder, less violent world“.

Alexandra is a Cape Town-based writer and editor. Her commitment to veganism, animal welfare, and the environment is truly inspiring.

Going vegan for Alexandra has been the one of the most energising, and life-changing decisions she has ever made and continues to make on a daily basis. She suggests that before you begin changing your current lifestyle and choices, you be clear about why you're making the choice, and everything else will flow naturally from there. “Being vegan has changed my orientation in relation to history. I feel much more strongly aligned to the future than I used to, because my connection to life and other living beings of all kinds has deepened vastly”.  

For Alexandra, there are so many delicious plant-based options and substitutes for everything these days. “The more difficult part is allowing your numbed conscience to awaken. It hurts to realise how chaotic, violent, and destructive the global animal industrial system is. Take solace in the fact that you're doing something about it rather than just pretending it's not happening’. 

Veganism, she believes, is much more political and spiritual than just a way of life or a diet. She explains, “Veganism is entangled with other political struggles. Like all forms of oppression, violent speciesism runs deeper than we know. Now is the time to bring forth a more symbiotic, respectful, and regenerative world! Life on Earth depends on it. Start anywhere, anytime, and take it from there. Every choice counts in large amounts.”

Tammy Fry (Instagram)

“Our food selections not only impact our own health but also the health of Mother Earth and all who call her home.”

Tammy Fry is the daughter of Wally Fry, the founder of The Fry Family Food Company, a South African company known internationally for its plant-based food products. Tammy Fry is an avid crossfitter, a 5th Dan in Karateka, a multiple-time South African national champion, a self-defense coach, a surfer, a businesswoman, a public speaker, a plant-based nutritionist, and the mother of two young boys.

She is a plant-based expert and change advocate who believes that, as a collective, we all have the power to make and leave the world a better place. She was named one of the top eight women changing the world through food by Female First in the UK. She has an undeniable drive to inspire and influence change.

In 2021, Tammy published her vegan-based cookbook offering 75 wholefood, plant-based recipes. “Made with Love and Plants," can be purchased here. 

Garth Tavares (Instagram | Twitter)

“All you need is an open mind, a willingness to expand your experience of tastes and textures, the bravery to cook things you can’t pronounce, and most importantly, the patience to understand that all you need to succeed is to take things one day at a time.”

Garth is best known as "Cape Town Vegan." He advises newcomers to the lifestyle to take as long as they need to commit to becoming fully vegan. You know people who say, "I could become vegan if it wasn't for cheese! Well, become "as vegan as possible" until you can give up cheese. Of course, again, one would argue that you can't call yourself vegan if you are not fully vegan. "Do whatever YOU need to do to permanently eliminate animal products from your life." 

A few tips and tricks he advises people to try include becoming inspired - watch YouTube videos on easy vegan recipes, becoming informed  - read up on other people's tips and tricks for transitioning, substituting GRADUALLY - start with milk replacements finding the one you like, and then gradually omitting cheese, butter, yoghurt, and mayo.

Check out his website www.capetownvegan.com where you will find a complete list of eateries that have vegan options: there are hundreds! There are loads of restaurants with vegan AND omnivore options if you have family members who refuse to eat at 100% vegan restaurants. 

Kerishnie Naiker (Instagram | Twitter | Facebook)

“Do not underestimate the positive impact one person can make to benefit Mother Earth, Our Planet and all forms of life.”

Health Activist, international speaker & TV Anchor, Kerishnie has been a vegetarian since birth, but has spent decades as the only vegan in her extended family. Her plant-based diet has given her many mental, emotional, and physical benefits including a full-term, symptom-free pregnancy and a healthy child.

Kerishnie believes it is important not to impose her preferences on others. Seek clarity first, she says, and then make your own informed choices, without being swayed by others.

Michele Mistry (Instagram | Facebook)

“When your body is in balance, your tastes change naturally, and things you thought you couldn't live without become irrelevant.”

Michele is a Cape Town-based certified Ayurvedic nutrition consultant and creative strategist. Her advice for a sustainable and gradual change to better health is to substitute plant-based ingredients for your current top five favourite recipes.

She advocates joining the vegan community and making friends with other plant-based people who can provide the support, wealth of knowledge, and experience you might need when it gets tough or lonely. 

Savannah Hodgkinson (Instagram)

“It takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal.”

Savannah is currently pursuing a master's degree in Geography with a focus on food geography. and is passionate about sharing vegan recipes and products on social media. Savannah believes that gradually transitioning to a plant-based diet is more sustainable. Her tips for becoming a vegan begin with diet. Continue to eat what you want, but gently prepare your favourite dishes with plant-based ingredients. Allow yourself and your body time to adjust to this new way of life. Change happens gradually. “It also takes a while for your body to get used to all that added fibre. When I first went vegan six years ago I could not stand tofu! Nearly five years later I am obsessed with tofu and tempeh. Try new things often and revert back to the ones you did not like at first because your taste buds might just change their mind”. 

She thinks that the best ways to get people to live plant-based lives is through kindness and patience. With compassion and empathy, assist people in transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle. A single meal or wise purchase can make a significant difference.

Sue Gajathar (Instagram)

“Eat the rainbow!”

Sue is the founder of The Vegan Chef restaurant group and a vegan chef. She lives in Johannesburg and owns several vegan restaurants in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, as well as an online store where you can buy her delectable vegan meals.

Sue's Instagram feed is a visual feast. She illustrates, via the use of spices and the right cooking techniques, how a plant-based diet can be healthy, environmentally friendly and delicious. She supports Veganuary and follows the international Veganuary Instagram account @weareveganuary.

Brett Thompson (LinkedIn)

“The cost of compassion is too high. We shop on price, taste, convenience, and culture. Our job is to meet consumers where they are at and provide a more compassionate, sustainable, ethically conscious choice.”

Brett is the co-founder of the Credence Institute and the founder of Mzanzi Meat Co, focused on reimagining the way we make meat through lab grown cultivation. When explaining why he created Mzanzi Meat Co, Brett offers this perspective, "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, create a new model that renders the old model obsolete."

He is also the South African spokesperson for Meat-Free Mondays and played a role in bringing Veganuary to South Africa in 2020. 

When it comes to converting to a plant-based lifestyle, Brett takes a "one bite at a time" approach.  

Read more about the amazing work Mzansi Meat Co is doing.

Megan Bell (Instagram)

“As a vegan and a conservationist at heart, I believe that we should live in harmony with nature and others. To me, this means that I refuse to partake in the suffering of others, whether human or animal. Showing love has never made me feel bad.”

Megan is a help desk support engineer living in Cape Town, and her Instagram feed reflects her passion for food and living a more sustainable lifestyle.

Megan says that people who want to switch to a plant-based diet should start small and take it easy on themselves. Begin by eliminating animal products, but keep in mind that you can still make your favourite dishes plant-based. She reminds us that we live in a time when plant-based options are much more readily available than they were a few years ago.

The people around you will be the most difficult part of going plant-based. She warns vegans not to let other people force their beliefs on them or make them second-guess their choice to become vegan. Research is your friend. 

Michaela Alexandre (Instagram)

“This is the start of a new life that is still full of flavour, health and kindness!”

Michaela is an entrepreneur, food photographer and recipe developer. She lives in Cape Town and creates fun vegan recipes that inspire the vegan community and those looking for lifestyle changes in food. 

If you want to live a vegan lifestyle, Michaela advises that you start with one meal at a time and do a lot of thorough research. Knowledge can be used as motivation when choosing what to put on your plate. She emphasises the importance of having fun creating plant-based versions of your favourite dishes.

“I want people to know that there is no ‘perfect vegan’ out there. It’s a process. Just start and improve where you can.”

Cayley Mogg (Instagram)

"We do not need 100 people to do this perfectly; we need 1,000 people to do it imperfectly. Together, we can make the biggest difference."

Cayley is a social media manager from Edenvale, Johannesburg, and she has been vegan for six years.

She advises that there is no need to drastically change your life overnight or to purge your cupboards and get rid of everything that does not support a plant-based lifestyle in one day when beginning a plant-based lifestyle. Instead, be patient and keep in mind that a lifestyle change takes time. Everyone has their own timeline, whether it's one meat-free meal a day or one new cruelty-free cleaning product. Every small change has a big impact!

Mira Weiner (Instagram | Website)

"I truly believe we can change the world through our kitchens, our little kitchens, and our big kitchens."

Mira Weiner is a plant-based advocate, marketing consultant, entrepreneur, and creative cook. Mira is passionate about conscious living, sustainability, and holistic healing. 

She hopes to motivate people to consume more plants, which are better for the environment, animals, and their bodies. She has been a vegetarian since birth and is grateful to have grown up in a vegetarian-friendly household.

Her food philosophy is simple: food should be delicious, nutritious, and nourishing, while also fueling and healing your body, mind, and spirit.

Dominique Westphal (Instagram | TikTok)

"There’s no rush. Do what you can 🌱"

Dominique is a social media manager and lives in Cape Town. She enjoys being a vegan, engaging in athletics, and calling South Africa home. 

She finds it simple, and she advises new vegans not to be too strict with themselves. Vegetables and fruits should make up the bulk of your diet. She also wants you to know that you should take your time and do what you can. Get through it one day at a time.

Gabrielle Meyer (Instagram | TikTok)

“You don’t have to be vegan every day. BUT every single day you are, you save on average one animal, 40 pound of grain, 1100 gallons of water and 30 square feet of forest. Together, our ‘one day’ can add up to a massive change.” – Jack Monroe

Gabrielle is known as “Gabby Goes Green” on social media. It was difficult for her at first to transition to a plant-based diet because it required her to change her mindset not only about meat but also about cooking. She is an avid cookbook collector and believes she has far too many…

Her advice is to remember how this minor change in your life can benefit your health, the environment, and the reduction of animal cruelty. The most important message she wants to convey is to slow down. "When I first started my plant-based journey, I wanted to know and learn everything at once. This was not realistic; I had put myself in a situation where I would have no idea what to cook or buy. I also wish I had discovered Abillion and vegan food review apps sooner.”

Tyra-Leigh Findlay (Instagram)

“Just try it!”

Tyra-Leigh is a Cape Town student. She has met and bonded with so many like-minded people since adopting a plant-based lifestyle, and she finds the plant-based community to be supportive and inspiring.

Tyra suggests that you begin by making small changes in your life rather than attempting to make large changes all at once. She claims that this will just add pressure, and that if you make mistakes or order your coffee with milk instead of almond milk, you should be gentle with yourself. She recommends making conscious decisions when purchasing food and other household products and making sure you buy earth friendly products.

“Moving over to a completely plant based lifestyle taught me so much about myself and the planet. Let’s inspire others to make the change towards a plant-based lifestyle.”

Nikki Botha (Instagram | Facebook)

“You won't ever stop evolving as an activist and a vegan. So don't ever assume you know more than those who preceded you. They fought, bled, cried, and sacrificed a lot so that you can walk the path you're walking. Walk the path with pride, grace, dignity and humility - always, always, always.”

Nikki works as a vegan chef and activist in Cape Town. She wants to remind people who are new to a plant-based lifestyle that it is a unique journey - eliminating animal products will be easier for some and more difficult for others. However, it's also a way to help the next generation and stand up for our planet.

Nikki advises people who are just starting their plant-based journeys to connect with other plant-based people and get involved in the South African plant-based community. "There are experts out there that have been on this journey for a very long time who have practical advice to assist you. Don't be afraid to ask!".  Most importantly for Nikki, “Don't wait for someone to follow. Lead by example and let others follow YOU”.

Eugene Volkov (Instagram)

“Veganism is not only about food.”

Eugene has followed a plant-based diet since 2016 and now has a treasure chest of nutritious and mouth-watering recipes to choose and cook from. He is the owner and head chef of We Café, a vegetarian and vegan restaurant in Cape Town where his optimistic outlook and vegan-based approach sit at the heart of their culinary creations. 

We Café's guiding principles are firmly rooted in the conviction that a plant based cuisine is diverse, unique and creates far less harm for the environment and living beings. For chef Eugene, nature has provided the choicest products, and it is up to us to figure out how to best prepare each one to bring out their own distinctive flavours.

Eugene’s advice (that he says he wishes he had followed from the beginning) to those starting on a healthy plant-based journey is to eat less junk food, more whole foods and try to avoid gluten, sugar and seed oils.

Lexi Monzeglio (Instagram)

“Don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough!”

Lexi is a Cape Town-based restaurateur and entrepreneur who founded the Lexi's Eatery restaurants.

At first, her goal to "eat more plants" meant that she ate less meat and fish until she stopped eating animals completely.  "You will find a balance and rhythm that works for you, and giving yourself the space and forgiveness to figure out what that means will ensure a sustainable, long-term change that you can build on," Lexi explains.

The one thing she reminds other plant-based enthusiasts of is that other people's feelings shouldn't matter as much and that your decisions—especially those about what you eat—don't affect anyone else. "Your values and health matter." Not every aspect of life requires a label. You don't have to be a complete vegan to make a difference in the world. Every week, every day, or even a single meal makes a difference, both for your own health and for the rest of the world. So, do what you can today to help bring about change.

Dr. Nanine Wyma (LinkedIn)

“Eating a whole-food plant-based diet significantly improved my relationship with food. Plant-based eating is not about restriction; it is truly about abundance. There are sooo many fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts you can learn how to prepare and eat in a delicious way.”

Dr. Nanine is a medical doctor who also serves as the Programmes Manager at Proveg South Africa and the Managing Director of the  Physicians Association for Nutrition South Africa. 

First and foremost, she advises against going completely vegan overnight. While it is possible to be healthy while eating only plant-based foods, everybody is unique due to environmental and genetic factors. So go at your own pace based on your resources. If you want to improve your health, work with a dietitian and a doctor to make the necessary changes. Second, she always advises people (even those who are not primarily plant-based) to start by learning how to incorporate more lentils and beans into their diet.

Khensani Mothomogolo (Instagram)

“Find out what works for you, your body, and our planet!”

Khensani is a Johannesburg-based graduate sales representative. It was difficult for her to make the switch to a plant-based diet five years ago, but once she discovered what worked for her through research, she knew it was the right choice for her and our planet.

“It was difficult when I first transitioned five years ago because plant-based wasn't really popular.  All I could eat at a restaurant was a bowl of fries, while all my friends got to eat full, hearty meals. Things have gotten better, and now I am genuinely having the greatest time in and out of the kitchen."

Donovan Will (Instagram)

“I thought that ditching animal products would limit my diet to boring food, but I can say without a doubt that the opposite was true; I eat a significantly more varied and interesting diet now than before making the switch.”

Donovan is an avid Ironman athlete and loves cooking vegan food. He is the director of Proveg South Africa and the Physicians Association for Nutrition South Africa. 

Donovan challenges you to start small and participate in challenges such as Veganuary or the ProVeg Veggie Challenge, and to prioritise adding plant-based foods you enjoy (or are learning to enjoy) over focusing on what you're not eating. If you enjoy the taste of meat and dairy, experiment with as many meat and dairy alternatives as you can; many are delicious. Don't try to be perfect; instead, consider what changes you can make that will last. And make friends with people who are already thriving on the journey; there are a lot of us out there. Doing this on your own is usually much more difficult.

He wishes he had told himself to go online and look up all the different ways to cook tofu. It took him far too long to realise that tofu has a bad reputation because people don't know how to cook it properly!

Jane Nshuti (Instagram)

”Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates

Jane is a chef and plant-based recipe developer living in Cape Town.

She recommends that anyone considering a plant-based lifestyle learn how to prepare flavourful, whole-food plant-based meals. It is cheaper and healthier than processed foods; let everything else be an add-on. Learn to cook as well. Food is a fuel, but it should also taste good. Learn different techniques for making healthy food taste delicious.

Jessica Kotlowitz (Instagram)

“You can meet all of your nutrient needs and achieve long-term health on a plant-based diet.”

Jessica, dubbed "The Green Dietitian," believes that perfection is the enemy of progress. Every step you take toward a more plant-based lifestyle helps to improve the lives of farm animals and the future of our planet. She frequently tells her clients that they don't have to be perfect vegans. Instead, she advocates for making small, long-term, incremental changes.

Jessica tells people who are thinking of switching to a plant-based diet that she loves it and has never looked back. At first, changing her diet was hard and uncomfortable, but she has never missed eating animal products. After nine years, she still chooses to eat this way every day. You can follow her on Instagram at 

Wethu Ngubo (Instagram)

“Plants are Power.”

Wetho is a plant-based triathlete and business development director based in Johannesburg. He now understands the mental strength and mindset required to follow a vegan diet. He suggests beginning with no meat once a week, then a meat-free week, and finally going completely plant-based.

He follows vegan thought leaders like the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, led by Dr. Neal Barnard. 

Shinnai Visser (Instagram | TikTok)

“I stopped dairy first and then stopped eating meat thereafter. So, I went vegan in reverse!”

Shinnai, who goes by the name "Mindful Mama," owns Mindful Baba and works as a freelance social media and account manager. She promotes veganism, cruelty-free living, and conscious living.

She believes that it is critical to identify one’s motivation for going plant-based and then to stick to it. Is it for health reasons? Is it for the planet? Is it for the sake of the animals? Is it all of the above? She offers encouragement for those embarking on this journey: Know that you are doing an amazing thing and that you should be very proud of yourself. Mindful Mamma gave up dairy after watching a documentary 8 years ago and has never touched dairy products again; she then gave up meat.

She constantly reminds herself to be gentle with herself, and as a result, she says she sees the world changing around her! Being a vegan is becoming increasingly simple!

Megan Wessels (Instagram)

“Make one change a week, then one change a day. This way you won’t feel overwhelmed.”

Megan is a high-impact vegan hospitality consultant, and self-taught head baker and pastry chef of The Gypsy Kitchen vegan bakery. She believes in listening to your body and your gut. 

To Megan and her family, veganism isn't just about what we consume; it's an everyday contribution. She supports making one change a week, then one change a day. That way, you won’t feel overwhelmed. 

Talya Goldberg (Instagram | Twitter)

“Just do it - it's easier and much cheaper to follow and maintain this way of eating than you can even imagine.”

Talya Goldberg runs the VegfriendlyCapeTown Instagram account, where she documents her vegan and vegetarian travels. She also serves as the head of social media at King James.

She suggests that eating a plant-based diet is much simpler than you might think. Instead of focusing on what you're 'giving up,' think about all the amazing food you can eat.

Rosanne Howarth (Instagram | LinkedIn)

“Be kind, optimistic and active.”

Rosanne is a CFA Charterholder who believes in a vegan future and responsible investing.

She believes that once you understand the origins of food, you can only be vegan. She reminds people that they don't have to be perfect; they just have to do their best.

HealthyThandi (Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Website)

“Have fun with your plant-based journey; don't try to be perfect; take it at your own pace, and most importantly, tailor-make it to your budget and lifestyle. Being plant-based is a mindset.”

Thandi is a plant-based content creator who believes that eating plants is the healthiest choice you can make. It encourages you to try new vegetables and recipes and demonstrates that you may have always been a low-key plant-based eater, but you just didn't realise it.

She is the owner of the website www.healthyThandi.com, where she shares recipes, blogs, and sells e-books. In February 2023, she will release her 7-Day Vegan eBook.

She suggests following vegan-related hashtags to get recipe ideas and stay up to date on what's going on in the vegan community.

Mamaputle Boikanyo (Instagram)

“At the end of it all, plant-based foods and cooking will be an amazing experience for you. It's strange to explain it, but your love of food is likely to change, you'll experience textures and tastes differently, and most of all, your skin and your body are likely to thank you for it.”

Mamaputle is a freelance writer who gave up eating animals 14 years ago and has been following a plant-based diet for the last ten years. Her stand against animal cruelty is a powerful reason for her commitment to being plant-based. She believes that people who go plant-based and stick to it must have a pure and meaningful reason for doing so; only then can you overcome any obstacles along the way.

Everything in the world, according to Mamaputle, is connected: our beliefs, our behaviours, our actions, and their impact on the spaces around us and the world at large. “Going plant-based or vegan reflects not only your understanding of the world and its interconnectedness, but also how much you truly value life. It is the ultimate manifestation of your empathy and recognition that life, no matter how big or small, matters”.

Banesa Tseki (Instagram | Twitter | Facebook)

“This journey is going to feel like a powerful step in both surrender and humility, but ultimately it will be about making your inner and outer world a more peaceful place.”

Banesa is a brand strategist and yoga & wellness entrepreneur. She believes that making mistakes is perfectly acceptable. "It's okay if this journey isn't easy, and it's okay if people around you think you're strange or different... What matters is that you are attempting to do the right thing, whether for yourself, Mother Earth, or the animals".

She reminds people that being a vegan can be challenging, but once you see how good it makes you feel and look, you will always strive to live this way. It's a difficult pill to swallow, but the world needs more imperfect vegans doing their best.

Zoe Twala (Instagram | TikTok)

“Going plant-based in 2023 is more affordable than you think - instead of chicken and rice try chickpeas and rice. Making a change as simple as eating beans instead of meat can cut your grocery bills in half.”

Zoe is a customer service representative from Springs. She believes that converting your favourite foods to plant-based alternatives is the best way to begin your journey toward making plant-based eating a lifestyle rather than a crash diet. If you enjoy baking, concentrate on learning how to make plant-based cakes. After you've mastered that, move on to other dishes. She promotes planning and meal preparation as a means of achieving success.

Whether you're a vegan for health, animals, or the environment, the best thing you can do is transition in a way that works for you.

Emma-Claire Peter (Instagram)

“Have fun with your food; often the simplest, least complicated food is the tastiest and healthiest for you.”

Meet Emma-Claire Peter, a culinary innovator and curator for The Plant Powered Show, Africa's ultimate celebration of plant-based food, drink, and conscious living. She encourages everyone to have fun with their food and reminds us that the simplest, least complicated foods often nourish the body and soul the best.

Having realised the benefits of plant-based living, Emma-Claire has not regrets transitioning to this lifestyle, except for not starting earlier. She encourages others to create a weekly routine as she does with making her own nut milk, to ensure you always have delicious and conscious food and drink options on hand.

Emma-Claire also understands that being vegan doesn't automatically equate to being healthy, and advises everyone to be mindful of their approach to plant-based eating. She recognises that South Africa still has a long way to go in being inclusive of vegans/plant-based eaters, particularly on restaurant menus, but remains optimistic about the change that's hopefully on the horizon.

Johke Steenkamp (Instagram)

“By making plant-based eating accessible it is possible to make a difference in the world. Making even the smallest difference still means making a difference.”

Johke Steenkamp is the owner and chef behind Grumpty & Runt, a vegan bakery in Cape Town known for their mouth-watering hand-crafted donuts. With a passion for sharing her knowledge, Johke encourages others to explore the world of plant-based cooking through recipes, blogs, and social media. 

“Switching to a plant-based lifestyle can feel intimidating but once you set the fears aside and start learning, it’s easy and delicious.” She encourages everyone to start simple and cook as much as possible, not putting pressure on yourself to learn everything at once. 

Johke reminds us that the best ingredients and techniques don't have to be expensive or complicated, and wishes she had educated herself on this principle earlier in her journey.

Robyn Horwitz (Instagram)

“A simple place to start is to look at the food you like to eat and the meals you like to make and think of how to veganise them, rather than stressing about about new recipes and meals you have never seen before.”

Robyn Horwitz is an entrepreneur and consultant, passionate about promoting a plant-based lifestyle. She shares delicious recipes, reviews, and recommendations on her main page, Vegan Things, and extensive directory of all things plant-based for those seeking vegan options in South Africa. She also organises a monthly Vegan Things Night Market in Jozi, and hosts secret dinner parties for SecretEATS and Eat More Greens in Jozi and Cape Town - all plant-based of course! 

Robyn’s journey to plant-based living began gradually, but as she delved deeper, she realised the greater impact it had on the world. Robyn is always happy to share her expertise on veganism with her followers and friends, from restaurant suggestions to recipe ideas, and anything in between!

Caz Karssing (Instagram | TikTok)

“Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money” - Cree Indian Proverb

Meet Caz Karssing, a believer in progress over perfection when it comes to living a vegan lifestyle. Caz is the Editor and Social Media Manager for Vegan SA, the ultimate online vegan guide in South Africa, offering a comprehensive directory of vegan-friendly restaurants, shops, products, and accommodation.

For her, the most important thing is taking that first step towards a more conscious way of living, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. She knows that starting can be daunting, but she encourages everyone to take it one day at a time, and to not be discouraged by naysayers. Caz firmly believes that being a vegan doesn't have to be complicated, and that every effort counts towards making a positive impact on our planet and its inhabitants.

Lee & Braidy Connolly (Instagram)

“Do what makes you feel good and follow your own path to YOUR most ideal plant-based lifestyle. A balanced plant-based lifestyle is what we're all about!”

Lee and Braidy Connolly are the directors and creative minds behind Vegan Streetfood, a bespoke eatery that captures the spirit of plant-based fusion food. Their 100% vegan cuisine is rooted in heart, body, and soul.

For Lee and Braidy, education is key. They encourage everyone to learn about the truths of animal agriculture, egg and dairy industries through documentaries, immersion in the vegan community, and visits to vegan establishments. They believe that once you do this, “you will find that you not only CAN adopt a plant-based lifestyle, but that you will WANT to."

The duo also promotes a balanced approach to plant-based living, encouraging everyone to not “let others dictate what your version of your vegan lifestyle may look like." Follow what feels right for you, whether that be whole foods or plant-based burgers and pies.

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These are just some of the incredible people who make a difference to the plant-based community.

If their work inspires you, you can connect with them by clicking on the links. The more you support them, the more people will help them with their work. You can share this article by using the #PBSA link on social media. If you believe that anyone has been left off the list, that is someone we should include. Please contact us.

South African eco-organisations to watch — and actively support

Trying to decide which environmental organisation to support in 2020? Here are the ones who are tangibly making a difference - and could use as much support as possible to continue effecting change.

By Bridget McNulty

There’s a strange disparity in South Africa at the moment. Or should I say, another strange disparity. There appears to be an almost visible line between those who are facing up to the environmental crisis that we are in the middle of, and those who are not willing to sense the enormity of the problem.

As journalists get more and more frank, and scientists get more blunt (11,258 scientists from around the world have called for drastic climate action to “avoid untold suffering”), there are still those who are unable - or unwilling - to accept that now is the time to take action. Not just to watch from the sidelines, but to step up and do something.

Of course, for many of us, taking action sounds like exhausting work. Humanity is in an end-of-life crisis, writes Leonie Joubert - and she should know, she’s uncovering all the latest news about it on a daily basis. The world is en route to ending not with a bang but a yawn. In the face of the truly astounding environmental changes coming our way, it seems easier to ostrich ourselves in the world of entertainment, daily work, and small daily struggles rather than own up to our part in the climate crisis.

But here is an easy and effective way to be better than that. The organisations and teams on this list have devoted themselves to fighting this environmental battle, and all we need to do is support them. I challenge you - as a 2020 resolution that you actually keep - to choose one organisation from this list and actively boost their work. Sign up, volunteer, donate, attend or work with these organisations.

Choose to be on the right side of the South African environmental disparity: the side with knowledge, and influence.

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Sign up

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350Africa.org

350Africa.org is building a grassroots climate justice movement across the African continent. 350 Africa runs their own campaigns and supports grassroots groups all over the continent, many of whom can be seen on Afrika Vuka.

In South Africa, 350Africa.org recently ran a campaign to put pressure on banks (like Nedbank and the Development Bank of South Africa) to stop funding new polluting coal power plants. Their next campaign demands that no taxpayer money is used to fund fossil fuels, and that instead South Africa invests in a just transition to a 100% renewable energy future.

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Project 90 By 2030

Project 90 by 2030 was conceived when the impacts of climate change were first becoming evident in South Africa. George Monbiot’s book Heat calls for a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030 to avoid “catastrophic effects on both humans and ecosystems”. Hence the name: Project 90 by 2030.

One of their primary areas of focus in SA is on a just energy transition. A Just Energy Transition (JET) is a transition towards a sustainable, low carbon and equitable energy system which is better for people and the planet.  

At the moment we generate 90% of our electricity from coal - we need to switch to renewable energy as a matter of urgency. But it must be a just transition: with the right legislation and policy in place to protect workers in legacy energy systems where jobs are at risk.

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Peace Parks Foundation

Founded by Dr Anton Rupert, President Mandela and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Peace Parks Foundation was created to show that man and nature can coexist in harmony. The Peace Parks Foundation works to re-establish, renew and conserve large ecosystems that transcend man-made boundaries, by creating a regionally integrated and sustainably managed network of Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs).

Courtesy of Peace Parks Foundation

Rewilding Africa is one of their most ambitious projects. By reintroducing wildlife to ecosystems where the species once thrived, biodiversity is once again restored, whilst the potential for securing the future of the protected areas through nature-based tourism is increased exponentially. Working with Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas, they are currently implementing the largest rewilding projects in southern Africa: to revitalise the depleted ecosystems in the Mozambican components of the Lubombo and Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Areas.

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SANBI

SANBI, the South African National Biodiversity Institute, monitors the status of South Africa’s biodiversity. The National Biodiversity Assessment (NBA) is the primary tool for reporting on the state of biodiversity in South Africa, and is used to inform policies, strategies and activities for managing and conserving biodiversity more effectively.

Over 470 individuals representing about 90 organisations collaborated on the NBA over 4 years, and the result is a synthesis report, seven technical reports, datasets, maps,
supplementary materials and popular products. This short film features four young scientists from SANBI who share their role in developing the NBA.

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CER: Centre for Environmental Rights

The Centre for Environmental Rights defends the right of communities and civil society organisations to an environment not harmful to health or wellbeing for present and future generations. By advocating and litigating for environmental justice, they seek to advance their vision of a just, equitable, compassionate society. A society which is resilient, celebrates diversity, and respects the inter-dependence between people and the environment.

Two of their recent campaigns involved opposition to a proposed coal mine in a protected environment and strategic water source area, and constitutional litigation brought against government (in relation to the violation of section 24 of the Constitution) due to air pollution in Mpumalanga.

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Donate

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SANCCOB

SANCCOB is the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds. Their work includes rescue, rehabilitation, chick rearing, oiled wildlife preparedness and response. They also offer education, training, research and employ conservation staff to be penguin and seabird rangers in the Western Cape, in colonies that are under the protection of conservation authorities.

The Chick Bolstering Project is a multi-partner project working to save the endangered African penguin, through hand-rearing abandoned and weak chicks, and rearing chicks from eggs. SANCCOB has successfully released more than 7,000 chicks back into the wild since 2006. Independent research confirms that the survival rates for these hand-reared African penguins are similar to that of naturally-reared birds. There are several fundable components to the project, including costs to rescue and rear chicks during periods of mass abandonment.

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Black Mambas

The Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit is an all-female ranger unit focused on protecting South African wildlife. Each day, they perform crucial duties that prevent poaching and poachers coming into the reserve. One of these is an intensive snare sweeping, where they search for the snares that poachers set up in the bush for animals to get trapped and eventually die.

Image courtesy of Black Mambas

One of their biggest challenges is that they are driving very old Land Rovers that are largely unreliable given the roads the Mambas have to drive every day. They are currently engaged in a fundraising drive for repairs to the vehicles or even a new vehicle that would help them in their valuable anti-poaching work.

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WILDLANDS

WILDLANDS has networks in 60 communities across South Africa, with a focus on improving livelihoods through innovative sustainable programs. Their WILDLANDS programme is structured around three integrated pillars: Wildlife Economy, Ecological Restoration and Sustainable Communities’.

Image courtesy of WILDLANDS

The WILDLANDS Ecological Restoration project works with the Department of Environmental Affairs: Natural Resource Management (NRM). They restore degraded forest (using the trees grown by WILDLANDS Tree-preneurs), grasslands, savanna and fynbos landscapes. This combats land degradation and assists South Africa’s landscape to be better prepared for climate change.

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Volunteer

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Greenpeace SA

Greenpeace Africa has a focus on South Africa as the largest emitter in all of Africa, amounting to 40% of emissions. They work closely with affected communities to highlight how dirty coal impacts on water access and air quality. Passionate volunteers for Greenpeace lead their own campaigns to ask local businesses to phase out of single-use plastics, and work closely with other environmental groups to keep the environmental movement vibrant.

Luke Rudman, a performance artist from Port Elizabeth, worked with Greenpeace Africa to raise awareness about plastic pollution. He created sculptural headpieces and pieces of ‘worn-art’ paired with surreal make-up and body paints to form a fully realised, conceptual piece of living artwork. This anti-plastic-pollution campaign illustrated that plastic pollution is as much of a socio-economic issue as an environmental one.

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Greenpop

Greenpop is an award-winning registered NPO working to restore ecosystems and empower environmental stewards. They do this through reforestation, urban greening, sustainable development and environmental art projects across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Since 2010, Greenpop have planted over 115,000 trees and inspired over 132,000 active citizens across South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania. They believe planting trees can help save the world. But context is key: they plant trees in existing, degraded forest ecosystems across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Photo: Juliette Bisset

Their Arbor Month campaign (in September 2019) resulted in 6813 trees being raised: spurred on and inspired by international research that highlights global tree restoration as our most effective climate change solution to date. You can follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You can also Donate here and sign up to Volunteer here.

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Thrive

Thrive is an organisation that strives to unite communities in Hout Bay through environmental awareness projects. They encourage every individual to make a difference that will benefit their community, enhance their lives and provide sustainable solutions to the issues threatening the environment. Thrive believes that together, we can impact the destiny of our nation by working to preserve our unique heritage. Our diversity is what makes us strong.

Sustainable Communities empowers Hout Bay communities through:

• growing their own food using unutilised land and open spaces, while composting all organic refuse to enrich their compost and worm farms

• fighting alien vegetation and restoring the natural environment to its pristine condition

• recycling and upcycling waste and goods

• water efficiency

• energy intelligence

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Cape Town Environmental Education Trust (CTEET)

CTEET is committed to increasing the environmental consciousness of local communities and support conservation initiatives by:

• Conducting environmental education programmes for school children to encourage a passion for the natural world and support their knowledge and personal growth.

• Running training and development programmes for youth in nature-based career paths.

• Facilitating and managing the direction of funds towards conservation activities, largely in the Cape Floristic Region.

Through applying their Crèche to Career model, CTEET aims to expose as many Cape Town residents as possible to the wonders of nature, and create the platforms and structures for youth to pursue a career in the Green Economy. 

CTEET strives to galvanise local communities, corporate companies, friends groups, developers and private individuals to take responsibility for the environment and care for Cape Town’s Biodiversity Network through their Nature Care Fund. 

Find out how you can support CTEET here.

Attend

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Sea Change Project

Sea Change Project is a community of scientists, storytellers, journalists and filmmakers dedicated to raising awareness of the beauty and ecological importance of South Africa’s kelp forest. They use media advocacy to protect the South African marine environment. Inspired by daily contact with The Great African Sea Forest, their goal is to have it declared a UNESCO Natural and Cultural World Heritage Site.

Craig Foster and Ross Frylinck founded the Sea Change Trust in 2012, a South African NPO. They support the call to sustainably increase South Africa’s marine protected areas (MPAs). My Octopus Teacher is a feature documentary that captures the story of Craig Foster’s year with a wild octopus. He followed this individual animal for most of her life – something that has seldom been achieved in the wild, let alone underwater. The film is due for release in 2020.

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Well Worn Theatre Company

Well Worn Theatre is an established touring theatre company, creating award-winning work for young South African audiences around ecological themes. For over a decade, the company has been at the coal-face of Theatre for Sustainability.

With elements of hip hop, spoken word, movement and song, Burning Rebellion is an ecological protest poem that gives voice to a profound sense of injustice, a rightful rage, and a fear of what is to
come.

The play is aimed at Grade 11 and 12 learners and premiered at The National
School of The Arts Festival in March 2019, before starting a nationwide school’s tour.

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SAFCEI

SAFCEI (Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute) is a multi-faith organisation that supports faith leaders and their communities in Southern Africa. The goal? To increase awareness, understanding and action on eco-justice, sustainable living and climate change.

SAFCEI holds many events - most recently a Seed Swap to claim back practices of sharing diverse seed varieties and discuss some of the injustices within the seed system. The event was part of the Green Action Week campaign to promote sustainable consumption. It was held at the Phillippi Horticultural Area (PHA)’s campaign centre, and brought together farmers and home growers from around Cape Town.

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Green Anglicans

Green Anglicans is an association of Anglicans concerned with environmental issues. The Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s Environmental Network (ACSA-EN) aims to support churches and dioceses to fulfil God’s call to be earthkeepers and to care for creation.

Image courtesy Green Anglicans

As part of the Love Cape Town City Fest, Green Anglicans joined A Rocha (Christians in conservation) and African Enterprise to ‘Sweep the City’, a clean up campaign linked with the Christian Festival in Cape Town. Clean ups took place in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha.

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Work with

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WESSA

WESSA (the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa) is a South African environmental organisation that supports high impact environmental and conservation projects. They implement effective environmental, sustainable tourism, education and youth development programmes throughout South Africa, and activate a wide range of local initiatives for the environment.

EEESAY (Entrepreneurial and Environmental Empowerment for South African Youth) is a WESSA partnership with Teach A Man To Fish. This intensely practical project provides 6,000 learners from 40 schools in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape with an opportunity to gain practical business skills. The learners set up and run an educational and environmentally sustainable enterprise at their school.

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Cullinan & Associates

Cullinan & Associates are environmental and green business attorneys. Their lawyers and professionals not only guide their clients through the environmental law landscape, they play a leading role in shaping it. They specialise in high-impact, precedent-setting cases that protect our constitutional rights, our people and the environment. Highlights include:

• Winning the Maccsand case in the Cape High Court, in the Supreme Court of Appeal and in the Constitutional Court to set a precedent that enables municipalities to protect communities from mining in residential and other areas not zoned for mining.

• Litigating on behalf of amaMpondo communities along the Wild Coast to prevent a toll road through their ancestral land that will divide their communities and degrade unique ecosystems without their consent.

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Natural Justice

Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment is a young and fast-paced NPO specialising in environmental and human rights law in Africa. They offer direct support to communities impacted by the ever-increasing demand for land and resources, conduct comprehensive research on environmental and human rights laws and engage in key national and international processes.

They recently celebrated one of the world’s first industry-wide benefit-sharing agreements, which not only provides a form of restitution to the Khoikhoi and San indigenous peoples of South Africa, but also acknowledges them as traditional knowledge holders to Rooibos.

The Khoikhoi and San indigenous communities will now receive benefits for the use of this knowledge via a benefit-sharing agreement. This sets a precedent for indigenous communities across the globe.

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The Heinrich Böll Foundation

The Heinrich Böll Foundation (HBF) is a Green Political Foundation who understand that ecology, democracy and equity are inseparable parts of a whole. The HBF Cape Town office has become a reliable partner for a range of organisations and networks in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. They act as providers of international contacts, observers and analysts in the region. Among the many campaigns that HBF has supported in close cooperation with partners are:

• The first industry-wide Benefit Sharing Agreement between the Khoikhoi and San communities and the South African Rooibos industry,

• The Silicosis Class Action Settlement for thousands of former mineworkers who contracted pulmonary tuberculosis or silicosis on South Africa’s gold mines, and

• The Philippi Horticulture Area Food and Farming Campaign that seeks to protect the Philippi Horticultural Area from developers and sand mining and declare it as the country's first protected agriculture area.

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It’s up to you to which environmental initiatives in South Africa to support, and how. What is not optional - for any of us - is to join together in acknowledging and addressing the climate crisis.

Is anyone missing from our list? Pop us an email at hello@treeshake.com to let us know, so that we can continue celebrating South Africa’s top environmental organisations.

One environmental message all South Africans need to hear

If there’s one thing our list of South African voices speaking up for the environment taught us, it’s that there is so much inspiring work being done in our country. So we asked these champions of the environment to share one message each - as long or as short as they liked. One message that they wished all South Africans could hear. Here are their answers: please share your favourites, add your own messages below and help us continue this discussion.

By Bridget McNulty

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The power of the environment

It’s so easy for us to believe that as humans we’re the ones in charge around here. But actually Nature (with a capital N) is our kind host. We are visitors on this earth. It’s a stark but necessary reminder that we need to do better for our environment.

Francis Tapon

Gina Ziervogel, Researcher and Author

The environment underpins our livelihoods and lives. If we treat it well, we will continue to benefit. If we don’t, we will feel the impact - both socially, economically and environmentally. 

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Lazola Solani, Environmental Activist

To live in an environment that is clean and green allows mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing. Bringing clarity to make sound decisions in everyday life. 

The concept of cleaning the environment we physically live in and cleansing our bodies where our soul and creativity resides through meditation are both the same from a health perspective but also different and equally important. 

This has been so critical and important for me to understand, especially growing up in a township. My mission is to share this feeling with each and every young person from the township with the hope they will respond with a call to action.

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Ray Jansen, Pangolin Champion

We have the privilege and honor of being the custodians of our environment and all the plants and animals within. We must not be fooled that we are the owners of this environment to do with what we will.

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Raj Lalloo, Scientist

People, wellbeing and the environment are inextricably linked. An ailing planet cannot support healthy people. Make the change to an alternative future now. Greener together.

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Happy Khambule, Policy Influencer

The environment does not need us: we need the environment to be what and who we are. If we don’t take care of it, it will cease to take care of us.

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Bob Scholes, Systems Ecologist

All the noise and smoke of the marketplace and politics will pass on, but the land continues. Remember to focus on what really matters in the long term: how we live on a productive and beautiful planet.

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Skye Meaker, Photographer

As a photographer and a storyteller, my job is to show people the beauty of nature and why we should be protecting it. What I aim to do with my photography is to give people the opportunity to fall in love with nature and understand what we are trying to protect and why it is worth protecting. 

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Don Pinnock, Writer

What is wilderness? The 1964 US Wilderness Act defined it as ‘an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor and does not remain.’

But is that still relevant … or possible? Wilderness is under siege from climate change, poaching and human encroachment. The latest UN Biodiversity report warns that more than a million species are at risk of extinction. We are influencing and unraveling the fabric of all life.

So what does it mean to be wild? A starting point is the comment by the Buddhist thinker Gary Snyder, that ‘wilderness is not just the “preservation of the world,” it is the world’. The obvious corollary is that wildness is everywhere. You just have to know where and how to look (did you ever think the spider on your wall was tame?).

Central to the idea of wilderness is conservation. Some conservationists say our goal should be to place 10% of the globe under protection from us. The eminent biologist EO Wilson says we need to give 50%. Could we do that? And what of communities within the conserved areas?

Another thought: when we step into a wild place, are we not actually in a liminal space between our reality and an imagined place, a constructed island in the midst of human busyness? Or is wildness all around us, not seen for want of seeing?

Writer Helen Moffett calls Cape Town, ‘that rare thing: a hot urban mess that has not yet smothered the wild.’ Do people ever see the Verreaux eagles, jackal buzzards and peregrine falcons that hover over the city, or guinea fowl pecking along urban roadsides? London has foxes, Mumbai leopards. These are wildlings who have learned to live among us, but remain free and wild.

Wild creatures do what they do to survive. It’s we who have the ethical dilemma. Should we shoot them for pleasure, eat their meat, keep them in zoos, farm them, restrict their migrations? These are much-contested questions. Henry Thoreau’s view in Walden Pond is that ‘we need to live more gently on the earth.’ And we need to interfere less.

I’ve just written a book on elephants and what struck me most is that they don’t need to be conserved. They just need to be left alone. They know how to be elephants. In a way, elephants doing elephant things is a measure of how much good there remains in the world. The degree to which we make that possible is a gauge of our value as a species within earth’s living fabric.

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Climate change affects everyone

For so long, it seemed as if climate change was something ‘out there’ - something we didn’t have to worry about because the people in charge, the ones who could actually make a difference, would do the right thing. Clearly, this was a very mistaken approach, and it has now reached a point where it is painfully obvious that every single one of us needs to step up and take responsibility for our actions - and our impact.

Kelvin Trautman

Debra Roberts, Policy Influencer

The environmental choices we make here in Africa will affect the future of the world – so choose wisely in how you live, work and play.

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Ruby Sampson, Climate Activist 

The most important thing to understand about the Climate Crisis is that it affects everyone: no matter their race, gender, class, ethnicity or nationality. 

However, the poor suffer the most: those who contribute the least in the form of fossil fuels and carbon emission are the ones feeling the consequences. Here in South Africa, it is difficult to comprehend the fact that climate change is more important than anything else right now, but it is. 

There will be nothing left to fight for if we don't fight for this now - if we don't demand Climate Action. We the youth understand that our generation is facing extinction, something that scares us to our very core, and unites us above all else.

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Leonie Joubert, Author

Climate collapse is real, and the extent of it is much more severe than many of us realise. 

Extreme weather events and changes in the global economic system in response to carbon pollution will begin to touch on all of our lives in the coming years. We need to understand the extent of the systems-level changes necessary in our local communities, in our country at large, and globally, in order to slow carbon pollution and brace ourselves for the fallout. 

This will touch every one of us, not just the poorest and most vulnerable. 

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Alex Lenferna, Climate Justice Campaigner

The UN Human Development Report (2007) stated: 

“Climate change is the defining human development challenge of the 21st Century. Failure to respond to that challenge… will stall and then reverse progress built-up over generations not just in cutting extreme poverty, but in health, nutrition, education and other areas.”

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Ian Michler, Photo-journalist and Safari Guide

Let there be no doubt: taking care of the environment has become humanity’s greatest ever challenge.

For so long, being an environmentalist or a conservationist was seen as an undertaking by those involved in the natural sciences, or for the fortunate few and the adventurous types that roamed wild places.

But we now know, through decades of vigorous research and sound science, that our planetary boundaries are unravelling, being pushed to the very edge by indiscriminate and unsustainable consumption and waste production levels. And this behaviour is being aided and abetted by rotten leadership and criminal disregard, including in some of the most prominent countries around the world. In addition, these stresses are firing divisions within the social and cultural fabric of communities and nations in a way that stokes human disharmony and all manner of conflict.

Every single citizen of the world, to a greater or lesser degree, is part of the problem, and as the destruction and tensions mount, every single one of us will increasingly be impacted in some way.

Because of this, we are obligated to get involved, not to tinker or meekly adjust current paradigms in ways that suit our convenience, but to get out there and seek courageous ways that completely transform our living patterns and societies. I urge everyone to do so in whatever way they can. Doing nothing is simply not an option.

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We can all make a difference

The one over-riding message from all of the inspiring voices on our list was that it is possible for one individual to have a significant impact. While it may be easier to pretend that one person can’t make change, these voices - and so many others - are evidence that we can. Greta Thunberg is sixteen years old, and look what she’s done already.

National Ocean Service

Nonhlanhla Joye, Social Entrepreneur

We cannot recover the natural  resources we have lost through greed, nor undo the pollution  accumulated over the years. However we can stop irresponsible behaviors that contribute to further damage to our environment and the planet. I know being the change I want to see starts with me.

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Ian McCallum, Writer

Bound by a common language of DNA, you and I are living museums of the entire history of life on earth. If this is so, then think about it … there’s no such thing as human nature. There is only Nature and the uniquely human way of expressing it. What a privilege. What a responsibility.

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Hayley McLellan, Environmental Campaigner

Everyone needs to be a voice for the environment. It can no longer be expected of a select few to fly this flag, take action and create positive results for the masses. Nothing will ever change in this manner. Keeping quiet about environmental issues is tantamount to condoning the status quo. Activism is the price we pay for living on this planet and it’s a very satisfying and empowering price to pay!

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Kelvin Trautman, Photographer

There are many ways to help the environment. Yet not many people do anything. Why? The problem is often the overwhelming feeling we get when constantly bombarded with doom and gloom stories of the state of our natural world. We come away thinking, “what difference is little old me going to make?”. 

Arguably, we have been taught to adopt this mindset. But evil always wins when we do nothing. I have found it really hard not to be pessimistic and thus apathetic about what I can do to help the environment, but we need to take more action, because action is contagious. You can start at home, at work, in your neighbourhood, with friends and family. Then, it’s about putting pressure on business and government to take action. 

We live in a time when each of us has wild amounts of leverage, and we should use it more to make positive change, especially for the natural world. 

Kelvin Trautman

What does action look like in my world as a storyteller and artist? The more time I spend behind a camera, the more I appreciate what a powerful medium we as photographers and filmmakers have to connect, educate, and inspire people. I feel fortunate to have this tool for change at my fingertips, but I think we all have the gift and means to affect positive change.  

For a long time I have documented extreme sport athletes and explorers who use their athletic feats to showcase what it means to not only push physical boundaries and conquer world firsts, but also to use their voices to campaign for the environment. During this time I have come to appreciate what drives this willingness to inspire change, and it’s courage. Courage in this sense is not confined to battlefields and extreme sporting feats, but more to what it takes to stand against the status quo, squash biases and to take responsibility.

It takes courage to act. Let’s all be more courageous.

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Chad Robertson, Recycling Evangelist

A mentor of mine once said, “I’m going to slap the next person who says they want to save the planet.” His reasoning was that we need to save ourselves, not the planet, as the planet will take care of itself and eventually wipe us off the face of the planet if we keep on destroying it.

The good news is that it’s not difficult to make a sustainable change: in fact we simply have to re-educate ourselves and be disciplined to get into the habit.

It all starts with refusing all single-use items such as straws, plastic cutlery, plastic shopping bags, plastic bottles or coffee cups. Ensure you have your reusable items with you at all times. When you’re not in a position to refuse and reuse, ensure that the packaging of the product you purchase is recyclable, in South Africa. No access to a recycling service? Or a nearby drop off? Don’t stress, most communities are fortunate to have Waste Pickers or Reclaimers (not vagrants) who are responsible for collecting up to 90% of the paper and packaging waste we recycle as a country. Simply put your recyclables aside for them and the chances are high that they’ll get it recycled.

You don’t have to be a zero-waste expert to make a change. Start small, but start.

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Kia Johnson, WWFSA Ambassador

There are days when I'm just overwhelmed by it all: the warnings, the messages, the fight. I keep coming back to these few words: “how did we get here?”

 This is my driving force each day. I feel that we have allowed ourselves to believe we are “smaller than”, “inferior to” and oh those famous words, “but what can I do?” So much. If each person on this planet opens up their eyes and changes the way they eat and live, we who are the “smaller than” can have the biggest impact on creating positive change. If we were all to stand together, we would be able to change what has happened and really care for our earth.

The rules that have been put in place many years ago are not working. The way we are living is not working. The way we consume is not working. This is a crisis.

 We do not have to be greedy, we do not have to consume on this level, and we will not have an earth if we continue to do so. Your little bit that you can do as one person or as a family can do so much to ensure that we all live and thrive on this beautiful planet for many eons to come. But it’s up to us!

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The time is now

We may have had some time to deliberate and think about our impact on the environment a few years ago (in retrospect, we did not). But there is absolutely no time to waste now. Our children have told us to stand up and fight for their future: too much time has already passed without enough environmental action.

GroundUp

Lewis Pugh, Ocean Advocate

Protecting the environment is the defining issue of our generation.

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Jackie King, Aquatic Ecologist

Our planet is in trouble. The natural systems that support everything we have and do are degrading to an ever increasing rate. We have to put the brakes on. We have to move from a mindset of entitlement and exploitation to one of respect and caring management. Our future depends on it.

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Andrew Muir, Conservationist

We need to realise as humans that we are part of all life on earth: the million species that are at risk of extinction are on our watch and part of our support system. We need to speak and act as a collective to address this crisis.

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Ndivile Mokoena, Policy Influencer

Climate change is a big threat and danger to our environment. It is also a hindrance to development globally, especially in Africa. Therefore I urge and plead with everyone in South Africa in every sector to join and add to the voices of the world to step up for climate action: global warming is a ticking bomb. 

Climate change is not only an environmental issue, but a social, justice, economic, political, governance, equality, developmental, sustainability and religious challenge too!

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Michele Pickover, Animal Rights Campaigner

We are facing an extinction crisis. If humans do not urgently recognise the commonalities and interrelatedness of oppression and if we do not move towards inclusive justice, compassion and ethical conservation, we face a bleak future as a species. So: never give up, speak up and change the world.

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Ian Little, Conservationist

Whether we like it or not, humans are going to be more closely associated with natural systems over the next decade, and exponentially more so in future generations. 

Up until now, people have developed the earth and plundered its resources without any real consequence, but this is no longer the case. A small proportion of society appreciates nature, natural systems, wildlife and wild places for their intrinsic value. Going forward, all people are going to need to learn to appreciate intact natural systems and the species they support because we are going to increasingly realise that it is the basic resources that these systems provide that support us humans as well. 

We are seeing a gradual but marked shift in people’s mindset towards consumption, but governments are still driving and enabling the plundering of our natural resources and wilderness areas. As civil society, we need to stand together to not only stop using plastic straws and eating less red meat, but to be aware of the development agenda of our government and what is happening outside of our cities to the land that is our life-blood and our heritage. 

We need to think about the decisions being made about land tenure and landscape planning looking into the long-term future (hundreds of years) and lobby to stop the incredibly selfish decisions being made by government officials who think only in political terms of five year cycles. 

We are a nation defined by the beauty and splendour of our natural heritage and we should take pride in not only being quintessentially African but also being one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. It is ours to cherish and ours to keep, if indeed we can all stand together to keep it in one piece.

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Meeting the challenges head on

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the scope of the environmental problems we are facing. The rate of extinction, the rapidly dwindling forests and water supplies. But it is only by facing these challenges head on - by actively searching for just, sustainable solutions that we can move forward.

Zarina Patel, Researcher

Environmental challenges are real and complex. Finding solutions that are just requires more than science: they require new lines of questioning, and different knowledge configurations. Action is the responsibility of everyone in society.

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Justin Bonello, Urban Farmer

We can no longer talk about creating a sustainable environment. Sustainable implies maintaining the status quo, and it’s far too late for us to maintain our current trajectory. 

We now need to start acting on creating regenerative environments for all, regardless of socio-economic backgrounds, with a special focus on that human created biome: the cities of the world.

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Alia Kajee, Climate Activist

Power lies with people, and restorative justice for the environment cannot forgo centering the dignity and agency of those burdened with environmental injustices. 

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Ferrial Adam, Environmental Justice Activist

It is important not to look at the environment as a separate issue from the challenges facing society. We cannot have environmental justice without social justice! 

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Neoka Naidoo, Policy Influencer

Solutions that are devoid of people and our behaviour will only exacerbate the global environmental crisis. We need creative, systemic and systematic thinking to address the complex issues we are facing. This requires empathy, partnerships and introspection.

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Courtney Morgan, Eco-feminist

The environment is not just trees and rivers. We are part of the environment, it is the interconnectedness that allows for life to be sustained. To truly fight for the environment, means to fight against all forms of exploitation and to fight for the survival of all life, human and non human. We must call for justice, for people and for nature. We must fight to put people and the planet above profit. 

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Practical tips to help the environment

So what can you do? How can you start making a difference? Here are some practical suggestions that are simple enough to begin today, profound enough to have an impact.

Karoline Hanks, Social Entrepreneur

Become more conscious as a consumer and adopt the 5 Rs in all areas of life: Refuse, Reduce, Rot, Reuse – and as a last resort, Recycle. Think carefully about all your choices as you move through the day (from what you eat and drink to how you shop, etc).

Know that every choice you make has a consequence down the line… Your convenience is most probably inconveniencing a wild creature or habitat down the line. Start connecting the dots and be curious about your choices: try to live lightly.

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Ian Dommisse, Social Entrepreneur

In order to have sustaining impact in a developing nation such as ours, it's crucial to empower individuals to have valuable 'green skills' so that they may find income opportunities whilst maintaining the eco-friendly lifestyle habits within their communities.

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Rhian Berning, Environmental Activist

We are nature. Everything is interconnected on our living planet: what we do to nature, what we do to our neighbour, we ultimately do to ourselves. 

Each one of us can make a positive difference every single day and together we can create a world where the wellbeing of people and planet is prioritised. We just need to make conscious and informed choices about where we shop, how we run our home, who we support and how we connect and interact. 

All our small acts added together create a groundswell of change for a regenerative, healthy and thriving world. Here are some ways to take action, starting today.

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Audrey Delsink, Wildlife Protector

I believe that each one of us is capable of tremendous change and positive impact to the environment around us. We often become overwhelmed by the seemingly insurmountable environmental challenges that we are living in, and think there is no way that we can do anything to turn the tide. But we can. 

Each one of us can make and inspire change and protect the environment by the choices that we make as consumers and within our homes. Strive to live more sustainably and responsibly by reducing, reusing and recycling, planting indigenous trees and butterfly and bee-friendly gardens, avoiding single use plastics, being water-wise and saying no to activities and interactions that exploit animals such as lion cub petting or elephant back safaris.

Only support initiatives that have a direct and measurable in-situ conservation benefit. In the words of John Wooden: “Little things make big things happen”. It starts with each one of us.

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Aaniyah Omardien, Conservationist

Every second breath we take is possible because of a healthy ocean. We depend on a healthy marine environment for so many things, as do all the creatures, plant life and organisms that live in them. It is in our interests to protect this environment, particularly in the face of the climate crisis. 

The Beach Co-op’s dream is for South Africa to have a highly efficient solid waste management system that collects, sorts, reuses where possible, and recycles or composts all waste. Nothing should go to landfill. We want a full circular economy model for all manufactured products.  

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Catherine Morris, Eco-entrepreneur

We want to create a waste-free and sustainable world. Nature shows us that the best way to do this is with renewable materials that can break down after use. That's why all GREEN HOME’s packaging is plant-based, renewable and biodegradable. We believe short term products should only last a short time, and be able to re-enter the natural cycle. We're proud to be South Africa's first fully compostable food packaging company.

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Michelle Henley, Conservationist

We have recently seen the second upsurge of elephant poaching sweep across Africa. A comprehensive scientific assessment of the situation estimated 144 000 elephants killed for their tusks in the space of seven years. The southern African states now bear the bulk of the continental population due to excessive killings in Central and East Africa which is now moving to the Southern States. Sadly, while elephants bear tusks, they will remain vulnerable and in need of protection from human greed.  

Elephants are keystone species so some ecological processes are dependent on their presence. They are also umbrella species so if you protect elephants, you automatically protect a whole lot of smaller animals and plants that share their landscape space. Elephants are constant gardeners. They change the vegetation structure and prune trees, thereby lowering the canopy so other browsers can access the food and even changing the chemical composition of the browse leading to a more rich nutrient diet depending on the species and level of elephant impact. 

Elephants are pathfinders and makers, carving routes across the landscape which they dot with their 150kg of dung per day, ensuring that nutrients are spread against the gradient and seeds are deposited in a rich organic mulch for enhanced germination. Elephants make their landscape and should be viewed as integral parts of the last great wilderness areas left on this planet. 

These giants in our midst are scared of bees and this has been used to keep them out of crops and to protect Marula trees to foster peaceful co-existence between elephants and people. Despite their size, they have proved themselves to be sentient and empathetic beings. They mourn their dead and have passed the self-recognition mirror test. Elephants adore their young and revere their old male mentors and matriarchs. At so many levels we can view elephants as moral compasses.

What can you do to help elephants?

If you’re a tourist to elephant country, delight in the grandeur and splendour which is elephants. As observers, we can respectfully enter their world by turning our own volume down and tuning into theirs. It remains inspiring to hear the 'let's go rumble' of a matriarch or the playful trumpet of a calf. We can slow our vehicles in their presence so as not to cause additional stress and we can give them their space to live out their lives. 

We can begin to realise the value of elephants at a deeper level. They ask us to share our resources in exchange for their ecological services to the benefit of the places they occupy. They show us how to link conservation areas across international borders. They call us to action to protect them beyond the sad and lifeless value of their tusks or hides. 

Elephants, with their close-knit social ties are our moral leaders in a world where we leave more and more people to die of loneliness and isolation. They teach us how to work with other species with more tolerance for the benefit of all that are connected in the web of life. If we fail to succeed in the protection of elephants, there is very little hope left for any other less charismatic species. 

Elephants are wilderness agents and are the very symbols of what we strive to protect and crave as life moves at a faster pace. Their existence calls for the preservation of the few remaining wilderness sanatoriums which transcend space and time.

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Please share any of these statements that resonate with you, and help raise the ecological intelligence of your social media community. If you have a message to share, please write it in the comments below. Let’s all learn together!

- BM

76 South African voices speaking up for the environment

Looking for the most influential voices in all aspects of the environment in South Africa? Here they are: the policy influencers, the entrepreneurs, the champions, the researchers and the media.

By Bridget McNulty

The environment: one word, so many different facets. So much overwhelm. From climate change to conservation, air pollution to recycling, policy change to research, activism and sustainable energy. Where do you start? How can you do something about the greatest issue of our time? How does one voice make a difference when the problem is so vast?

Here are 50 ways that one voice can make a difference. Each of these South African voices on the environment have focused on one aspect that they care about deeply, and they are doing all they can to fight for it. We focused on the people behind the issues so that you can know who is driving change, and how to connect to them. We encourage you to actively support and follow the people on this list: that’s why we’ve included their social media handles.

A uniquely South African perspective

Why should you care? Because this is your problem. My problem. Our problem. Environmental issues have historically been seen as an elite concern in SA, but that is no longer the case. The urgency and scale of the problem has pushed it to centre stage. South Africa has warmed at twice the global average. The people who have the least are going to be affected the most. It’s happening already: the impoverished residents of the town of Makhanda (in the Eastern Cape) hit Day Zero on the 12th July 2019. It just didn’t make front page news.

There are other stats that should be making front page news, and aren’t. SA’s annual carbon emissions are 70 million tons higher than the UK. The Moody’s report on climate collapse singled out Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (in that order) as the countries whose economies will suffer the most if climate change isn’t curbed. Around the world, climate disasters are now occurring once a week, according to a special representative of the UN secretary-general.

We’re at a tipping point

Now is the time for change. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit its highest level in human history in June 2019 (414.8 parts per million): a three million year peak. “The world is at a tipping point,” writes Lois Young, the chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, in the Financial Times. “We are at a moment in history where we can and will go one of two ways: towards climate disaster or a safer planet for all.” 

There is hope, of course. Hope that has been backed by science. The IPCC special report on climate change outlines exactly what we need to do. The two targets are: global carbon emissions reduced by 45% by 2030 (11 years’ from now) and to net zero by 2050. The scary part? South Africa has picked neither target.

The social and environmental impacts of climate change

Cape Town’s drought last year was a stark illustration of climate change for many. The warning that many parts of Africa are hotspots for climate change became not just a concept, but a reality. Clean water flowing out of a tap was seen as the miracle it is - when we feared it would be taken away, we suddenly realised what a precious resource it had always been. Once we can see the social and environmental impacts of climate change, we can work to make the necessary changes. But the first step in protecting the environment - as with anything in life - is understanding. Deep, personal understanding. That’s what the voices on this list have, and what we all need to attain.

Our constitutional right

South Africa has one of the only constitutions in the world that guarantees citizens the right to a clean environment. Here it is, direct from our constitution:

Everyone has the right –

(a) To an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; and

(b) To have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that –

(i) prevent pollution and ecological degradation;

(ii) promote conservation; and

(iii) secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.

We need to ensure our constitutional right is fulfilled. By highlighting those who are speaking up for the environment in South Africa, we hope to inspire other South Africans, ordinary South Africans like you and me, to join them in their efforts.

Follow them, support their work, add your voice to their voice. This is a rallying cry for the environment: an invitation to set aside the overwhelm and focus on what you really care about. The air you breathe. The ground you stand on. The future.

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50 76 South African voices speaking up for the environment

The Policy Influencers

Debra Roberts

Debra Roberts is currently head of the Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit in eThekwini Municipality (Durban). She established the Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department of the same municipality and she is Co-Chair in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment cycle: the first time in the history of the IPCC that there has been an SA Co-Chair and the first woman from Africa to hold such a position. She is currently an advisor to the Global Commission on Adaptation, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and the United Nations Secretary General’s 2019 Climate Summit. She is on Apolitical’s inaugural list of the World’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy.

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Mark New (@marknewacdi)

Mark New is the director of the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI) at UCT, and has been listed among the World’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy. His research career spans over 20 years, with a focus on detecting climate trends, climate modelling and assessing the impact of failed climate mitigation policy. He won the Piers Sellers Prize for his world-leading contribution to solution-focused climate research.

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Tanya Abrahamse

Tanya Abrahamse is currently Chair of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Governing Board, a panel member of the UN Environment’s International Resources Panel (UN IRP), Deputy Chair of the Board of South African Tourism, a member of SA National Parks board, a trustee of the Women’s Development Bank (WDBT), and a founding member of the board of the Mapungubwe Institute (MISTRA) — a South African think tank. She previously was on the task team to form Future Earth — a global platform of science for society and sustainability — and was a member of the inaugural Science Advisory Board of the UN Secretary General (UNSAB).

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Kerry Sink (@KerrySkink)

Kerry Sink is a marine biodiversity scientist and science to policy practitioner. She is the SANBI Marine Programme Manager and initiated SASSI (the WWF Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative). She was awarded the WWF South Africa Living Planet Award in 2017 for her contribution to decisive government planning, policy and management in the marine environment.

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Alex Lenferna (@AlexLenferna)

Alex Lenferna works as South African Climate Justice Campaigner for 350Africa.org. He is a Fulbright and Mandela Rhodes Scholar who has written and researched widely on climate justice, and recently completed a PhD on climate justice at the University of Washington. Alex has served in climate justice advocacy roles within organised labor, student, and grassroots climate justice.

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Bobby Peek (@bobby_peek)

Bobby Peek is the director of groundWork, a non-profit environmental justice service and developmental organisation. Environmental justice is about power relations and ensuring that there is equity amongst all people. From Bobby's first experience of corporate power (used against his community of Wentworth, South Durban), he has been driven to seek ways of creating true democracy as the basis of environmental justice in SA.

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Jane Cherry (@janecherry_tree)

Jane Cherry is a climate justice and food sovereignty activist. She is the Executive Manager of COPAC (Co-operative and Policy Alternative Centre) and has worked on activist tools (seed saving, water sovereignty, a People’s Food Sovereignty Act and sustainable land use). She has organised national events for food sovereignty and climate justice. COPAC is currently undertaking a process with civil society to develop a People's Climate Justice Charter for South Africa.

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Happy Khambule (@hkhambule)

Happy Khambule is a senior political advisor to Greenpeace Africa. He is an official party delegate to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and negotiates Response Measures for South Africa at the international climate change negotiations. Happy is a former board member of Fossil Free South Africa, and holds an EESI (Environmental Entrepreneurs Support Initiative) fellowship that built his capacity as a policy drafter.

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Noëlle Garcin (LinkedIn)

Noëlle Garcin is the African Climate Reality Leader Coordinator at Food & Trees for Africa and the Action24 Project Manager. She works with the African Climate Reality Project to coordinate a network of 25 coalitions of over 550 civil society organizations across 25 countries. Action24 is a 30-month action co-funded by the European Union, aimed at strengthening environmental governance and civic participation, in order to advance decarbonised sustainable and inclusive development in South Africa.

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Lebo Molefe (LinkedIn)

Lebo Molefe is the Director Air Quality and Climate Change in the Environment and Infrastructure Department in the City of Johannesburg. She’s responsible for the issuance of Air Quality Licensing and Permits to industry as prescribed by the National Environment Management: Air Quality Act. In her role in climate change, she is driving climate mainstreaming in the City of Johannesburg and is currently working towards completing a Climate Action Plan: a City of Johannesburg demonstrable commitment to the Paris Agreement that will ensure that the City of Johannesburg is positioned as a Global Mega City.

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Alia Kajee (@JustMissAlia)

Alia Kajee currently works as an advisor implementing projects in the South African National Climate Change Response Policy. She intends to mainstream climate justice through policy, participation and practice. With an emphasis on the disproportionate impacts of climate change divided along class, racial and gendered lines, viewing the climate crisis as a fundamental injustice is critical. As a Muslim, Alia draws from a faith based perspective in standing firm for justice as a duty on this earth for people and for the planet. An eco-socialist at heart she believes in people power as the anchor in bringing about a democratic and sustainable future for all.

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Ferrial Adam (@ferrial_adam)

Ferrial Adam is an environmental justice activist who has worked on energy and water issues for more than 15 years and serves as the Chairperson of the board of OUTA (Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse). She is presently working on her PhD looking at activist science and environmental justice.

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Neoka Naidoo (@neokanaidoo)

Neoka Naidoo is a technical advisor at GIZ working on Strategic Partnerships for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (SPIPA) in South Africa. She is interested in policy and development to shape future decisions in an integrated way. Neoka is engaged with her studies at the Sustainability Institute through Stellenbosch University for an MPhil. She published an essay in a book called Feminism Is: South Africans Speak Their Truth.

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Melita Steele (@Melita_Steele)

Melita Steele is Greenpeace Africa's Senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager, and she is responsible for managing the campaign team and leading the strategic development and implementation of the campaign. Melita completed her MSc in Environmental Science at Rhodes University in 2008, and in 2011 she was named as one of the Mail and Guardian's Top 200 young South Africans. Her main focus is on campaigning for the urgent Just Transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy in South Africa in response to the climate crisis, which she believes is an existential threat for humanity.

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Ndivile Mokoena (@MokoenaNdivile)

Ndivile Mokoena is a member of the Women & Gender Constituency (WGC) under the UNFCCC, and started following the process with COP17, representing Women in Energy and Climate Change Forum under the auspices of Earthlife Africa and GenderCC Southern Africa (WGC) of the UNFCCC. She has been taking part in the WGC since then and is currently the global south co-focal point of women and gender constituency in the UNFCCC processes. Ndivile is also very active as the coordinator of another international project called “Gender into Urban Climate Change Initiative” at the COP.

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The Entrepreneurs

Lauren Hermanus (@laurenhermanus)

Lauren Hermanus is the director of Adapt, a platform to convene the right team of thinkers and doers from a network of sustainable development professionals. She has 10 years of experience in sustainable development research and practice, working in the private and public sectors, academia, with NGOs, focused on sustainable energy innovation, urban resilience and green economic development.

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Chad Robertson (@CR_10)

Chad Robertson is a social entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Regenize, a recycling initiative he created with his partner and fellow recycling evangelist Nkazimlo Miti. Regenize is a residential recycling solution that’s on a mission to make recycling more accessible, inclusive and rewarding. They reward people for recycling, educate youth through their Regenize Education programmes, and researches new ways to reuse waste. They collect, educate and transform waste.

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Nonhlanhla Joye (@UmgibeCreator)

Nonhlanhla Joye is the founder of Umgibe Farming Organics & Training. This carbon-saving, ecological-organic, income generating vegetable programme provides a platform to market vegetables grown by grassroots farmers from the sub-economic townships of KwaZulu Natal. She is passionate about food security, the implementation of SDGs and creating a thriving economy.
Photo credit: Beautiful News

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Khululekani Nyobole (LinkedIn)

Khululekani Nyobole is an eco-friendly entrepreneur who started Nurturer, a range of personal care and cleaning products created for all South Africans. Nurturer develops premium natural products for family, home and businesses. Their products are affordable, local, earth-friendly, and 100% of their profits are donated to a youth development NPO, Salesian Life Choices.

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Mao Amis (@MaoAmis)

Mao Amis researches and consults on various sustainability issues globally. Recently, he has focused on building leaders for the green economy, and how green entrepreneurship can be used to alleviate poverty, and lead the transition to low carbon, resource efficient economies in Africa. He is the founder and Executive Director of the African Centre for a Green Economy (AfriCGE), a non-profit think tank.

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Ian Dommisse (@EcoBrickXchange)

Ian Dommisse is a social entrepreneur and architect curious about alternative, environmentally friendly construction methods. He founded The EcoBrick Exchange (EBE), a recycling non-profit, which promotes the building of pre-schools and structures of value using up-cycled plastic waste. Using EcoBricks as a catalyst to nurture environmental awareness and responsibility, the EBE improves the schooling environments of children.

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Robyn Smith (LinkedIn)

Robyn Smith is the owner of Faithful to Nature, South Africa’s largest green online shop with the vision of becoming ‘Africa’s Green Amazon’. They were one of the first companies worldwide to create and implement a very strict ingredient policy that determines which products they sell. This policy is their DNA, and is designed to empower their customers on their journey towards ethical consumption.

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Andrew Muir (LinkedIn)

Andrew Muir is CEO of both Wilderness Foundation Africa and Wilderness Foundation Global. He is one of South Africa’s most influential conservationists and social entrepreneurs. Andrew has regularly been nationally and internationally recognized for his success in integrating conservation programmes with social and development interventions, and is a Schwab Foundation Fellow of the World Economic Forum.

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Rhian Berning (@EcoAtlas)

Rhian Berning is an environmental activist and visionary. She is the founder of Eco Atlas in South Africa, an online platform which empowers active citizens with the information needed to vote with their daily choices for a better world. Rhian also initiated the Renew Able Plett campaign which looks at reducing waste to landfill and creating local circular economy opportunities. She was recently awarded the Eco-Angel Award in the prestigious South African Eco-Logic Awards.

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Karoline Hanks (Instagram)

Karoline Hanks is a passionate anti-SUP (Single Use Plastic) campaigner, and has been spear-heading a campaign against the use of plastic water sachets in road running in South Africa for over five years. She started a small business three years ago (called SUPA) making single-use plastic alternative products, which has grown from strength to strength, and which upskills a small sewing group in Masiphumelele.

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Dorah Marema (maremadorah)

Dorah Marema is the President of GenderCC's board and one of the founders of GenderCC Southern Africa. Previously, Dorah was the Executive Director of the GreenHouse Project, an environmental NGO based in Johannesburg that demonstrated how to live sustainably in poorer areas of Johannesburg. Other programme areas include green building and design, efficiency and renewable energy, waste management and recycling projects. She is currently implementing a range of projects in the region and is GenderCC’s Focal Point in Africa.

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Colin Bell (LinkedIn)

Colin Bell has worked in conservation since the early 1980s, when he co-founded Wilderness Safaris with Chris McIntyre. Over the decades, Wilderness grew to manage camps and lodges across seven countries and employed more than 2,500 people. Many of these lodges gained their “bush cred” through partnerships with local communities. During this time, he initiates the process that resulted in the successful reintroduction of both black and white rhino back into the wilds of the Okavango Delta. He then went on to co-found Great Plains Conservation and publish and co-author Africa’s Finest. This lays the foundations and principals for responsible, sustainable tourism – the Green Safari model.

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Catherine Morris (@GREENHOMESA)

Catherine Morris is the founder of GREEN HOME: South Africa’s first and to this day, only completely compostable food packaging company. GREEN HOME creates a range of plant-based, environmentally-friendly food packaging, and they are proudly carbon neutral. They offset their emissions by supporting a low-carbon housing development in Kuyasa, one of the most vulnerable corners of Khayelitsha. The project lowers greenhouse gases by providing low-carbon technologies for homes. These save locals money, improve air quality by reducing paraffin use and also create much needed jobs and skills training in the area.

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The Champions

Lewis Pugh (@LewisPugh)

Lewis Pugh is an ocean advocate, endurance swimmer and the UN Patron of the Oceans. He pioneers swims in the most vulnerable ecosystems on earth to campaign for their protection. Lewis has been instrumental in protecting over 2 million square km of vulnerable ocean – an area the size of Western Europe. He is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the Year.

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Hanli Prinsloo (@hanliprinsloo)

Hanli Prinsloo is a Freediver and Ocean Conservationist. She is the founder of the I AM WATER Foundation which focuses on ocean conservation through human experience. I AM WATER works with underserved / low income coastal communities to introduce young people to the ocean. She holds 11 national records in competitive freediving and is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.

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Aaniyah Omardien (@AaniyahOmardien)

Aaniyah Omardien is the founder of The Beach Co-op, an NPO which cleans beaches, and a Conservation Consultant. Aaniyah focuses on work that connects people and nature. She worked for WWF SA from 2001 to 2010, where she helped start and eventually managed WWF’s Marine Programme. Alongside her Beach Co-op work, she consults to WWF SA on single-use plastics.

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Tasneem Essop (@TasneemEssop)

Tasneem Essop is is the founding director of the Energy Democracy Initiative. Prior to this, she headed the climate work in WWF International. She is also a commissioner in the National Planning Commission of South Africa. Before joining WWF in 2008, she held the positions of provincial minister of the environment, planning and economic development in the Western Cape.

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Ray Jansen (LinkedIn)

Ray Jansen is the Chairman of the African Pangolin Working Group and a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Pangolin Specialist Group. He is a Full Professor in the Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences at the Tshwane University of Technology and supervises post-graduate students working on African pangolin ecology, their use in traditional medicine and their prevalence in the bushmeat markets of West and Southern Africa.

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Ruby Sampson (@AfrClimAlliance)

Ruby Sampson is an 18-year-old climate activist who helped create the African Climate Alliance in order to unite climate activists across the continent in the fight for climate action. Ruby has been holding presentations, educational days and poster-making sessions to raise awareness and prepare students for the future, while encouraging them to attend the termly strikes across South Africa.

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Ian Little (@TheEWT)

Ian Little began his career as the manager of the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Threatened Grassland Species Programme. His PhD in Conservation Biology at UCT focused on threatened species conservation and ecology, especially linked to agricultural management and restoration. He is now Senior Manager for Habitats at EWT and oversees strategic conservation planning for terrestrial landscapes across SA.

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Christine Colvin (@ColvinH2O)

Christine Colvin is the Freshwater Senior Manager for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) SA. Christine leads WWF-SA as they seek to provide water security throughout the region. Since working with the WWF, she has launched a number of successful initiatives that include Water Source Areas and Water Stewardship programmes, as well as the Journey of Water Campaign aimed at connecting people to where their water comes from.

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Sharon Pollard (LinkedIn)

Sharon Pollard is the Executive Director at the Association for Water and Rural Development (AWARD), conducting pioneering research and advocacy work around water supply in underprivileged areas in South Africa. She has managed many internationally recognised projects and focuses on planning for meeting water requirements for sustaining ecosystems.

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Jay Naidoo (@Jay_Naidoo)

Jay Naidoo was part of Nelson Mandela’s Cabinet and served as Communications Minister until 1999. He now serves as a trustee of the Earthrise Trust and works with communities of evicted farmworkers to build democratic practice of innovative development models for thriving, sustainable and peaceful communities. Their goal is to build resilience to climate change and tackle the challenges of livelihoods and hunger.

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Louise de Waal (@GreenGirlAfrica)

Louise de Waal works as an independent sustainable tourism consultant with specific interest in wildlife and conservation. She is the driving force behind the #HandsOffOurWildlife campaign, which aims to create greater awareness around issues of unethical and even cruel captive wildlife interactions by educating the public and the tourism industry at large.

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Lazola Solani (LinkedIn)

Lazola MaDuka Solani is a young proud Xhosa womxn who is making a difference in her community through creative environmental activism specially targeted at the youth of South Africa. Clean Our Hoods is an anti litter campaign in Mfuleni and Vrygrond (two townships in Cape Town), creating a series of events that engages townships in conversations on litter while encouraging to clean our public spaces in fun and interactive ways.

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Justin Bonello (@Justin_Bonello)

Filmmaker, father, cook, traveler, urban farmer and author Justin Bonello is the director and founder of Neighbourhood Farm, a social enterprise that is sowing seeds to change the Urban Living Philosophy by giving children and community members real edible education. “Social enterprise, underpinned by a mosaic of urban farms, can help all Capetonians, from school children to grandparents, to create a living legacy for our children’s children,” he says.

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Courtney Morgan (LinkedIn)

Courtney Morgan is an eco-feminist currently working in climate justice activism and food sovereignty with COPAC (Co-operative and Policy Alternative Centre). She is particularly interested in the gendered experiences of climate change and poverty and has a BSc Honours degree in Human Geography from Wits University.

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Kumi Naidoo (@kuminaidoo)

Kumi Naidoo is a South African-born human rights activist of Indian descent who is the current Secretary-General of Amnesty International. Kumi was the first African head of Greenpeace, an international environmentalist group, serving as its International Executive Director from 2009 to 2015.

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Makoma Lekalakala (makomaphil)

Makoma Lekalakala is a South African activist who is the director of the Johannesburg branch of Earthlife Africa, an NPO that seeks a better life for all people without exploiting other people or degrading their environment. They encourage and support individuals, businesses and industries to reduce pollution, minimise waste and protect our natural resources. Along with Liz McDaid, Makoma was awarded the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize for the African region for their work on using the courts to stop a Russian-South African nuclear deal in 2017.

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Hayley McLellan (hayleymclellan3)

Hayley McLellan is the Environmental Campaigner for the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town as well as a 5 Gyres Ambassador. As an animal behaviourist for most of her career she became unbearably aware of the degradation of the environment due to plastic pollution. She created the Rethink the Bag campaign – for a plastic shopping bag free South Africa. The campaign was officially launched as an environmental campaign of the Aquarium in 2011. Hayley is an experienced presenter engaging with all sectors of society to address behaviour change in order to become plastic shopping bag free zones.

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Xoli Fuyani (@XoliF)

Xoli Fuyani is an environmental education coordinator and eco role model who guides young people to a safe sustainable green future. She worked for Eco-schools as a coordinator for 11 primary schools in Gugulethu and volunteered with Pride of Table Mountain, leading youth on excursions on Table Mountain to grow their knowledge of their environment. She also facilitated a WESSA Adopt-a-beach programme, teaching learners from Gugulethu about conservation of the coastal environment. Xoli now works with Earthchild Project, coordinating the Environmental Education in their Schools’ Programmes. She also runs the Young Women’s Group, Hiking Clubs and Worm Farming Clubs.

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Morné du Plessis (plessis_morne)

Morné du Plessis is the chief executive officer of WWF South Africa. Throughout his tenure, Morné has served on a large number of committees and boards of conservation NGOs, government funding allocation committees and academic institutions, including the Green Trust, Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust, National Parks Trust, Table Mountain Fund, Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies and Mammal Research Institute (University of Pretoria). He has authored or co-authored over 50 scientific publications in the fields of conservation biology and behavioural ecology and published two books, earning the National Research Foundation’s President’s Award.

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Michele Pickover (LinkedIn)

Michele Pickover has been campaigning on behalf of animals for the past 20 years and is a campaigner for inclusive justice. Much of her contribution has been through lobbying, campaigning, research and investigative work as well as national and international networking and liaison. She is currently the Director of the EMS Foundation, an NGO which focuses on the commonalities of oppression working for the advancement and protection of the rights and general welfare of children, elderly persons, wild animals and other vulnerable groups. Michele wrote a pioneering book called Animal Rights in South Africa.

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Audrey Delsink (@back2wild)

Audrey Delsink Kettles is the Wildlife Director of Humane Society International/Africa. She oversees HSI’s wildlife campaigns in Africa, including work to champion the protection of wildlife. She is also responsible for HSI’s Back to the Wild program, which facilitates the release of compromised indigenous wildlife back to protected preserves. Audrey has acted as the Field Director for the world-renowned African Elephant Immunocontraception Program since 2000. She has been actively involved in both national, provincial and private elephant management, and together with the immunocontraception research team, has helped to shape policy and legislation regarding wild African elephants in South Africa.

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Michelle Henley (@elephantsalive)

Michelle Henley is the co-founder of Elephants Alive, whose mission is to ensure the survival of elephants and their habitats and to promote harmonious co-existence between elephants and people. She has published numerous articles in in peer-reviewed scientific journals, popular publications and has contributed towards various books. She has also written and illustrated children’s books on elephant conservation. Michelle is a registered Post-doctoral Fellow at the Applied Behavioural Ecology and Environmental Research Unit of the University of South Africa and a Trustee of the Elephant Specialist Advisory Group of South Africa. She has won numerous awards for her inspiring work.

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Candice Mostert (LinkedIn)

Candice Mostert is the founder of Waste-ED, an organisation implementing waste to resource systems that explore the journey to zero waste, while developing and applying environment based waste management solutions and education. She offers interactive zero waste set ups, consulting, research, workshops and presentations. Along the way, she collects Ecobricks and creates much needed, well insulated structures teaching the skill of natural clay building. Candice worked with Greyton Transition Town to build the first known South African Ecobrick outdoor classroom and revive the concept of value in our wasted resources.

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The Researchers

Raj Lalloo (LinkedIn)

Raj Lalloo is Chief Scientist at CSIR Biosciences and Chief Technical Officer at OptimusBio, a CSIR spin-out company specializing in biodegradable and biologically active products for the green economy. He is a recognized specialist in the field of bioprocess and product development and has written more than 300 research reports, 5 publications, 2 patents, 3 book chapters and has trained more than 100 students.

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Coleen Vogel

Coleen Vogel is a climatologist, adaptation and sustainability specialist at the Global Change Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand. She was one of the Chapter Lead Authors of the Africa Chapter for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC 4th Assessment Report and was also an author of the Synthesis Report for Policy Makers of the 4th IPCC Assessment Report. A Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the author team together with Al Gore for the 4th Assessment Report. Coleen was a Chapter Author on Human Security for the 5th IPCC assessment report. Coleen is also working with the DEFF and the City of Johannesburg on climate change adaptation and with young change agents on climate change.

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Francois Engelbrecht (LinkedIn)

Francois Engelbrecht is a principal researcher at the Global Change Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he leads the Climate Studies, Modelling and Environmental Health Research Group. He has published widely in the fields of climate modelling and the projection of future climate change over Africa.

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Gina Ziervogel (@GinaZiervogel)

Gina Ziervogel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at UCT. Her work has focused on climate change adaptation, resilience and development through the lens of water and governance. Gina has published widely and been involved in national and international initiatives related to climate change adaptation, including the recent IPCC Assessment Report 6. She is the co-author of Day Zero – One City’s Response to a Record-breaking Drought with Leonie Joubert.

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Bob Scholes (LinkedIn)

Bob Scholes is a systems ecologist at the Global Change Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, with a particular interest in the savannas of Africa. He is among the top 1% of environmental scientists worldwide based on citation. He has led several high-profile studies and large research campaigns and was an author of the IPCC 3rd , 4th and 5th assessments. He is an NRF A-rated scientist, and a winner of the National Science and Technology Forum Lifetime Contribution to Science Award.

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Philile Mbatha (LinkedIn)

Philile Mbatha is a lecturer at UCT who works within the fields of environmental sustainability and human geography. Her research has a specific focus on rural contexts along the coast. She also has vast experience in the research field working with rural/economically poor and marginalised communities. She is interested in human rights debates connected to marine and coastal governance processes impacting rural areas in South Africa.

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Harald Winkler (@HarryWinkler)

Harald Winkler is a Professor at the Energy Research Centre at UCT and an internationally acclaimed researcher, as rated by the National Research Foundation. His research has informed energy and climate policy at the national level and multi-lateral negotiations. Harald led the research work underpinning South Africa’s Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS), and developed the proposal of sustainable development policies and measures (SD-PAMs). He was an author on the IPCC 4th, 5th and 6th reports. 

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Zarina Patel

Zarina Patel is a senior lecturer at UCT whose research is concerned with the multiple dimensions of the meaning and practice of sustainable development at the city scale. This agenda is driven by evidence that the poor and the natural environment continue to be marginalised in decision making. Using an engaged and applied approach to research, her concern with the justice implications of the gap between policy and practice have focussed on the three themes of urban knowledge, urban governance and tools for decision making.

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Godwell Nhamo

Godwell Nhamo is a Full Professor and Exxaro Chair in Business and Climate Change at the University of South Africa (UNISA). He has published widely in the areas of Climate Change and Governance, Green Economy and Sustainable Development, including 6 books (5 edited) and over 70 journal articles. Godwell sits in a number of international and national boards and has received several awards and recognitions. He is one of the four-member African Union High Level Panel drafting the Green Innovation Framework for the continent.

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Guy Midgley (LinkedIn)

Guy Midgley is an internationally acknowledged expert in the field of biodiversity and global change science. He is an A-rated researcher and has been lead author on the 4th, 5th and 6th IPCC reports. He has led and contributed to several policy-related government reports and collaborated internationally on global change research themes in Chile, Australia, USA, UK, Germany, France, Botswana and Namibia. Guy has authored/co-authored more than 160 scientific and popular publications.

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Jackie King

Jackie King is an aquatic ecologist who was a researcher, lecturer and supervisor of postgraduates at the University of Cape Town for almost four decades. She now owns and runs Water Matters, a water-resource consultancy specialising in the science of integrated flow management of rivers, and is an internationally-recognised leader in the field. Jackie recently won the prestigious international 2019 Stockholm Water Prize: she is only the fourth woman in the world to be awarded this prize, considered the Nobel Prize for water. She presently serves on the Board of Directors of WWF-SA and the Research Advisory Panel of South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). She serves as a Senior Scientific Advisor to the International Crane Foundation and as a member of AAAS’s global project Water in our Future.

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The Media

Sipho Kings (@SiphoKings)

The Mail & Guardian’s Environment Reporter for six and a half years, Sipho Kings has been one of the loudest voices for the environment in SA. A 2018 Nieman fellow at Harvard University, he is now the News Editor at the Mail & Guardian, and has just written a book with Sarah Wild: South Africa’s Survival Guide to Climate Change, which breaks down the issue into digestible chunks.

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Leonie Joubert (@LeonieJoubert)

Leonie Joubert is a South African author who uses storytelling to grapple with tough issues: climate and environmental change, energy policy, cities as development hubs and more. She writes for the Daily Maverick, HBF Energy Transitions and Business Day, amongst others, and her journalism has been multiply awarded. She is the co-author of Day Zero – One City’s Response to a Record-breaking Drought with Gina Ziervogel.

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Kia Johnson (@KiaJohnson1)

Kia Johnson hosts the Smile90.4FM Sunday morning show, and is an Ambassador for WWFSA, the World Wide Fund for Nature. She is actively involved in environmental campaigns, and won the ‘Most Influential #PlasticFreeMzanzi Campaigner’ for 2019. Through the Mycelium Media Colab, she uses storytelling to create awareness around the environment and creating a healthier world.

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Sarah Wild (@sarahemilywild)

Sarah Wild is a “journalist, scribbler, ranter, tea-drinker, and (occasional) author.” Her work has appeared in AfricaCheck, Nature, Quartz, New Scientist, the Guardian, the Atlantic, Research Africa, Business Day, Undark Magazine, and the Mail & Guardian, amongst others. Her most recent book, South Africa’s Survival Guide to Climate Change, was written with Sipho Kings.

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Kelvin Trautman (@kelvintrautman)

Kelvin Trautman is a self-taught photographer and filmmaker. His work focuses on narrative driven content, where he uses travel, sport, and pioneering expeditions as a lens to look at human and environmental conditions. He has covered assignments on all 7 continents and his images have appeared in the New York Times, National Geographic, Red Bulletin, and Outside Magazine.

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Jackie May (@twygMAG)

Jackie May is the founder and editor of Twyg, a website with stories about fashion, food and places that don’t harm the planet and people. “We can no longer ignore climate change, nor can we pretend that we are not to blame. Twyg wants to play a part in the solution by telling stories about how to lighten our tread,” she says. Jackie’s focus is on exploring ways we can live well now while ensuring a better future.

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Kevin Bloom (@KevBloom)

Kevin Bloom is a writer and journalist who frequently writes about environmental issues as Senior Correspondent for the Daily Maverick. He is the co-author of Continental Shift: A Journey into Africa’s Changing Fortunes and author of Ways of Staying, shortlisted for the 2010 Alan Paton Award.

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Adrian Steirn (@AdrianSteirn)

Adrian Steirn is a photographer and filmmaker who believes that conservation and humanity are inextricably linked. In his capacity as photographer-in-residence for WWF South Africa, Steirn has worked to promote and engage with wildlife conservation, using visual images as a means to stimulate discussion and action around key issues such as poaching. Adrian is the creator of Beautiful News, which celebrates the extraordinary fabric of human nature that binds our nation and drives individuals towards active citizenry. Adrian was recently awarded the Commonwealth Points of Light award from the Queen of England for his voluntary efforts to campaign for wildlife conservation.

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Don Pinnock (@DonPinnock)

Don Pinnock is a writer, investigative journalist, and photographer. He has been an electronic engineer, lecturer in journalism and criminology, consultant to the Mandela government, a professional yachtsman, explorer, travel and environmental writer and photographer, and was the former editor of Getaway magazine in Cape Town. One of his passions is species conservation in Africa.

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Ian Michler

Ian Michler has spent the last 29 years working as a specialist guide, safari operator, photo-journalist and consultant across Africa. His writing focuses on the continents conservation and environmental challenges and he is the author and photographer of seven natural history and travel books. He is the Lead Character, Researcher and co-campaign leader for the feature documentary Blood Lions and a Director of Eden to Addo. He currently runs Invent Africa Safaris and is enrolled as a part-time student at the Sustainability Institute, Stellenbosch University.

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Elise Tempelhoff (@elisetempelhoff)

Elise Tempelhoff is an award-winning environmental journalist, with a focus on water, biodiversity and climate change. She writes for her own website ‘Wat op Aarde?’ as well as for Beeld and Netwerk24. She is considered an authority on poaching, endangered species and elephants.

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Ian McCallum (@Wild_Gifts)

Ian McCallum is a psychiatrist, analytical psychologist and writer. He is the author of two anthologies of wilderness poems and a novel Thorns to Kilimanjaro, as well as his award-winning book Ecological Intelligence. A former rugby Springbok, McCallum’s other interests include evolutionary biology and wildlife photography. A trustee of the Cape Leopard Trust and long-time associate of the Wilderness Foundation and Wilderness Leadership School, he is a 2016 recipient of the Wildlife and Environmental Association of South Africa (WESSA) Lifetime Conservation Achievement Award.

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Skye Meaker (Instagram)

Skye Meaker is a South African Photographer who specialises in wildlife photography for conservation and enjoyment. At just sixteen, Skye won the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018, the largest and one of the most prestigious wildlife photography competitions in the world. He was the only teenager invited to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, and spoke about the importance of youth voices in conservation.

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Elaine Mills (@mselainemills)

Elaine Mills is the Africa correspondent for major energy commodities pricing agency, and a former CO2 markets reporter. She is passionate about climate and social justice, and works as a Greenpeace Africa Volunteer in Cape Town. She is vocal about the danger of single-use plastics, and the role that the South African government has in ensuring we rid ourselves of them.

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Remember to follow these incredible South Africans and support them in driving environmental awareness and action throughout the country. Is anyone missing from our list? Pop us an email at hello@treeshake.com to let us know, so that we can continue celebrating South Africa’s top environmental changemakers.

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Which News Media Can You Trust To Tell The Truth?

Rudy Nadler-Nir is not the kind of person you’d expect to share a fake news story on Facebook. An anthro-geek, Nadler-Nir’s been in the digital sector since it was born, and his resume boasts names like Ogilvy. But late one night the social media reputation man saw a news item about actor Eli Wallach dying. A fan of the method actor who starred in ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Nadler-Nir clicked share.

“People started to respond emotionally. We shared memories of his movies, and of his place in our Cowboy-worshiping childhood,” he relates. But Wallach had been dead for quite some time. “Someone on my timeline chirped in: “he died in 2014”. It felt like being hit with a bucket of cold water.” 

“a fake news story wiped out $4billion of a company’s market value”

Fortunately the only harm done was to Nadler-Nir’s ego. But in the post-truth economy, there’s a lot more at play, like national elections or the safety of foreign nationals. If you shared the mendacious story ‘Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President’, as close on a million people did, you helped to get Trump elected. Closer to home, the sharing of fake news has caused outbreaks of xenophobic violence in South Africa. Why just a few days ago a fake news story wiped out $4 billion of a cryptocurrency company’s market value.
 

But, how did we get here? 

We have arrived in the post truth economy where the news media is facing a crisis of confidence. “Trust in media has been eroded by two main factors. Until the arrival of the internet, traditional media was the only way to reach large audiences. The only voice was a trusted voice. Now media users have other authoritative sources of information, such as experts who write their own blog pieces,” says Anim van Wyk, Editor of Africa Check, that rightly declares on its site: “For democracy to function, public figures need to be held to account for what they say. The claims they make need to be checked, openly and impartially.” Africa Check is an independent, non-partisan organisation that does just this.

“The second reason is also related to the internet,” van Wyk adds. “Newspapers suffered a huge income blow with the arrival of online advertising. The result is a huge cutback in newsrooms and an even greater focus on content that will sell/gain clicks. With fewer people doing more, mistakes are bound to slip in more often.”

“news is no longer perceived as the truth”

Azad Essa, co-founder of @thedailyvox and a journalist at Al Jazeera agrees. “The obsessive focus on profits has seen accuracy relegated to second place,” he says, adding that the way people perceive news brands has changed. News is no longer perceived as ‘the truth’. “Today people think of the news as just another product, like a cup of coffee or slice of cake. It is not delineated as something different that has a moral compass.”

What exactly do South Africans think of the local news media?

Twitter offers insight. Here are some of the less-than-favourable views:

South African media are the biggest spin doctors in this country.

— Modern Day Pantsula (@Thabiso_Dlamini) June 22, 2017

I dunno. South African media could be worse than govt. Xxx https://t.co/vo7wazypKE

— Dominique Smith (@flutterby107) June 28, 2017

South African media is corrupt, Period https://t.co/8NERQQIamJ

— PravinCatastrophe (@MogaleMaeko) June 24, 2017

What does the research say? 

But revelations of paid and fake Twitter accounts means accurate crowd insights from the social networking service proves tricky, so let’s turn to research. In 2014 FutureFact did research on whether journalists were trusted more than politicians. The results? “76% have confidence in our journalists,” the researchers wrote at futurefact.co.za “This is not unequivocal as only 23% have complete confidence and 53% some confidence.”

Compare this to the US, where trust in the news media is worryingly low. Gallup reports that Americans' trust and confidence in the mass media “to report the news fully, accurately and fairly” has dropped to its lowest level since the research company started polling. 32% of Americans say they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media, down eight percent from last year.

So which news media can you trust to tell the truth? That’s something you’re going to have to determine for yourself, using a healthy dose of skepticism, burgeoning curiosity and the will not to take anything at face value. To help you on your way, study Africa Check’s guide on how to stop falling for fake news. And read the advice from SA's media experts.

advice from some of SA’s best news minds & media pundits.

ALASTAIR OTTER (@alastairotter)

Alastair Otter, a partner in the Media Hack Collective : “When you see a story that sounds incredible, look for a second or third source to determine if it is true. Visit the sites of known reliable publishers and check if they are also covering the news. If they aren’t then be wary. Not finding a second source for a news story is not an absolute indicator that the story is false, but more of a caution.”

Azad Essa (@azadessa)

Azad Essa, Al Jazeera journalist and co-founder of The Daily Vox: “Fake news has always been with us. The world’s always been filled with con men. Stop pretending that people are going to spoon feed the truth to you. You have to take charge. The internet gives you the space, information and tools you need to really take charge. You have to wise up and follow the money.”

Charl Blignaut (@sa_poptart)
 

Charl Blignaut, writer, journalist and pop culture critic at City Press: “The antidote is a return to old school journalism, following and reading established journalists who operate under the press code, who refuse bribes, who are not friends of click baiting.”

Gayle Edmunds (@GayleMahala)

Gayle Edmunds, managing editor of City Press: “If everyone read everything with even just a pinch of skepticism it would be a giant leap in putting a stop to the rapid spread of lies on social media.”

Glenda Daniels

Glenda Daniels, Senior Lecturer Media Studies, Wits:  “Pause and take a moment before pressing the retweet or repost button if the news is sensational or sounds like it could be false. Don’t become part of the vicious cycle.”

Jane Duncan (@Duncanjane)

Jane Duncan, Professor of Journalism, University of Johannesburg: "Sweatshops don’t encourage ethical journalism. We must give journalism the space to practice ethical journalism, which relates to fair labour rights. So much is produced by freelancers who are badly paid, if they are paid at all. Fair labour rights create an environment where journalists can adhere to ethical standards.

A happy newsroom can lead to a newsroom where journalists invest more time, effort an energy into stories. Journalism then becomes a vocation, rather than just something they do to put food on the table. We need to create environments where journalists will stay longer and give more. We are not having a discussion about what media organisations need to do to create ethical environments for good journalism. We need to do this."

Kanthan Pillay (@KanthanPillay)

Kanthan Pillay, Group Head: Online for E Media Holdings and former CEO of Yfm: "Toss out the adjectives. Journalism is about fact, and adjectives are about opinion. So when you see the word “controversial”, read no further. It’s controversial only because the journalist is lazy. If you strip off the adjectives you see the facts, and you can start ascertaining what the truth is. Obviously ensure that the news stories you consume have a multiplicity of credible sources."

Mahlatse Gallens (@hlatseentle)

Mahlatse Gallens, political editor of News24: "Online many fake news peddlers often try brand themselves similarly to established news organisations. For instance they would use the colours of News24 but change the name a little. At News24 we advise people to double check the sites they go to. On big stories - like the recent fake story of Desmond Tutu passing - remember that if other media houses don't cover the story this should act as a warning bell. In general South Africans critique everything they read. This is very welcome. Use this attitude, but double check the sources of all information. Go and find the original documentation or sources of stories. For instance go and read the Gupta emails yourself. Don't make click baiters and fake news peddlers rich. Remember using social comes with responsibility and you don't want to run foul of the law when it comes to sharing information. Take responsibility for what you share."  

Rudy Nadler-Nir (@RudyN)

Rudy Nadler-Nir, MD at DIGIACS, Reputation Observation and Analysis Specialists: “As a rule of thumb, I differentiate between “reliable media providers” (BBC, Reuters, AP, Washington Post, The Guardian, Haaretz, Al Jazeera, News24, M&G [Mail & Guardian], Daily Maverick, Eyewitness News) and the rest. I use news aggregators (Flipboard and Feedly, as well as Google News) so I am able to corroborate news that seems not so kosher. Lately I am less trusting of friends and colleagues on Facebook and, to a lesser extent, Twitter. If news breaks on Twitter or Facebook (for example, the massacre at the Manchester Arena), I check through my “reliable media providers”, to see if anything came through.”

Siki Mgabadeli (@sikimgabadeli)

Siki Mgabadeli, financial journalist at Moneyweb: “The first thing is to check the source - is it an established publication? Is it one you’ve known for a long time and has journalists you have trusted? Are the people posting stories actual journalists? If not, then who do they represent? Are there vested interests at play? Before sharing an article, see if it’s something that’s been quoted elsewhere, by a reputable news organization. Who is sharing it is very important. Most times, you can work out a person or platform’s agenda by looking at what else they’ve shared and their political/ideological leanings. Check everything before you share.”

Thapelo Lekgowa (@Thapelolekgowa)

Thapelo Lekgowa, photographer, researcher and former journalist who helped to break the Marikana Story: "It is always best to be skeptical and to build your own view on issues. The people that I know phone other people to verify news, so if there is a story in Bloemfontein they'd phone someone in Bloemfontein. If you want to know something go directly to the source of the story where you can. If I want to know something about the ANC I'll go and have a drink with an ANC member in our local bar. People don't trust the national news media, but trust community journalism and reporting which happens through social media more. The traditional new media don't carry local news that are relevant to the people in most cases. The news media chooses what matters to the news media which is why people have lost trust in the media. The news media no longer carries stories that matter to the people."

William Bird (@Billbobbird)

William Bird, Director of Media Monitoring Africa:  “Don’t trust social media. Click through links, and ensure that stories link through to news headlines at a credible site. Make sure that you consume a diversity of news content. The reason for this is important. If a big story is going to break, it will be carried by a range of media. Diversity allows a better and different picture and encourages a greater level of skepticism of stories that appear, that don’t fit the dominant narrative.”

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Resources:

• A Fake News Primer via Wits Journalism & Media Studies

• Africa Check’s Guide on how to spot fake news

 Read more:

• Why We’re Post Fact by Peter Pomerantsev in Granta

• How fake news is driving SA's political agendas by BrandsEye on TimesLive

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Menell Media Exchange is a project of Duke University, one of the world’s premier academic institutions.  #MMX17 will bring together leaders in the media to discuss Truth and Trust in Media.

13 South African Change-Makers on Why We Need #Internet4all

South Africa is coming to terms with news that it has slipped into a recession, and faces record unemployment, but the roll out of Internet For All  could prove to be the boost this country needs. 52% of SAns use the internet. Getting those still unconnected online by 2020 would be just what SA needs, say economic, business and civic leaders. 

“I wouldn’t have the career I have, or the business that I run if it wasn’t for the internet,” confesses Zibusiso Mkhwanazi, CEO of AVATAR Investment Holdings and AVATAR360 Group. The thirty-something co-founder of South Africa’s biggest black-owned advertising agency, Mkhawanazi says that when he first got involved in business at the age of 17 he learned everything from the internet. “I was 15 when I first accessed the internet, and it changed my life,” he says, adding: "I failed grade one and was once perceived as stupid.”

“#Internet4All should be a human right because it will not only improve the economy, but uplift the lives of those who most need help”

“The internet is empowering whether or not you’re the product of a poor education system. Access to the internet bridges education gaps, but it does a lot more. The internet can connect you to the global economy, build entrepreneurs, get people upskilled for employment, create access to markets and teach people how to run a business. Because of the socio-economic advantage it offers, access to the internet should be a basic human right,” he says. Mkhawanazi’s success story is a testament to how bridging the digital divide delivers growth to individuals. Importantly, it shows why Internet For All will be a SA game changer.

During the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban in May 2017, the Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services, together with local and global multi-stakeholders announced a partnership to connect 22 million unconnected South Africans to the internet by 2020. Called Internet For All, the campaign promises to address barriers to connectivity by making the internet accessible, pervasive and affordable.

Economists, business leaders, academics, students, social and civic leaders say #Internet4All should be a human right because it will not only improve the economy, but uplift the lives of those who most need help. They urge South Africa’s youth to own #Internet4All, saying it would be a catalyst for economic growth, development and empowerment:

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Alan Knott-Craig - Founder & CEO, Project Isizwe. Chairman of HeroTel. Telecoms, media & IT entrepreneur

“If we don’t deal with inequality in our country we won’t have a country. The internet is the easiest way to deal with inequality which is why I support #Internet4All.”
 

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Arthur Goldstuck - SA internet guru, author, researcher and digital analyst at World Wide Worx

“The internet is the most empowering platform that the world has ever known for individuals to be enabled in almost every aspect of human endeavour from learning to job seeking, to opportunity creation. This before we even get to the internet’s social and communication benefits.”

“#Internet4All would help realise the building of skills to qualify people for new jobs, contribute greatly to job seeking and would help people creating businesses so that can potentially can become job creators themselves.”

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Ayanda Kota - Founding Chairperson, Unemployed Peoples' Movement

“The internet changed my life because when you build a movement like the Unemployed People’s Movement you must connect with your community, and connect with people who have similar struggles outside of your country. This is how you organise and learn. I’ve been able to do this because I have a smartphone and internet access.”

“The internet gives me access to resources, books and information that without the internet would be very expensive. Imagine if everyone had internet access?”

“Communication in South Africa is damn expensive. It is ridiculously expensive. Free #Internet4All would change this, and impact positively on people’s life. It would definitely help unemployed people.”

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Christine Ngwenya - 19 year old student at the Nelson Mandela University

“If it wasn’t for the internet and an online maths programme, I would never have gotten into university. My maths mark was really bad. If you want to do a B.Sc you need to have passed maths with a high mark. That’s the admission standard. I went to the maths programme in Diepsloot and the result was that I had a radical improvement in my maths mark. I improved my maths mark by close on 40%.”

“I think everyone should have access to the internet. The internet is important, particularly when you’re learning. If you’re given a task that you don’t understand, or a concept you don’t know, you can easily go and Google it. It is easy to find the information you need online. Without the internet you can’t find it.”

I have lots of dreams. I want to do my honours. I want to specialise in epidemiology - the sciences of diseases.

“I have always been a curious person and I use the internet for everything that I do. The internet is incredibly helpful to me in my studies. If I didn’t go to university I would be living with my Aunt in the Free State doing nothing. I would just laze around and would have eventually gone to look for a job.”

“I think of my peers who didn’t do the extra maths classes. They are all staying at home. There is only one person who didn’t do the extra maths who managed to get into university. But all the people who went to Olico are in university. Two are in UJ. One at UKZN. One at the university of the Free State.”

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Daniel Friedman aka  ‘Deep Fried Man’ - Musical Comedian

“Data is expensive and wifi usually comes at a price. And those in rural areas don't necessarily have internet access so it would be great if this initiative gets all South Africans connected. It could potentially be a game changer for those who see internet access as an unobtainable or unaffordable luxury.”

“Access to the internet means access to information, and that's something that all people should have equal access to!”

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Gus Silber - Journalist and Social Media trainer

“The Internet serves a far greater purpose than the connection of individuals and communities through the miracle of digital technology. Internet access should not be a luxury for the privileged few. It should be seen and implemented as a basic service, as vital to a functioning democracy as water, healthcare, housing, and education. It makes absolute sense to make the Internet accessible to all in South Africa, because the Internet is a weapon, mightier than the sword, in the fight against poverty, unemployment, and isolation from the possibilities of a brighter, more enlightened tomorrow.”

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Janet Hayward - Anthropologist at Rhodes University

“I support #Internet4All because it would allow people in rural areas to keep in contact with their kids, family, and community,  and enable social networking and access to employment and markets. People in rural areas can be isolated geographically and economically as well as technologically. Getting people access to devices and data could offer real opportunity, particularly to rural women.”

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Michael Jordaan - Investor, director and shareholder of Rain

 "Internet4All makes sense for South Africa because every ten percent increase in the amount of people connected to the Internet, grows the economy by 1,4% (according to the World Bank). In SA only 50% of our population enjoy broadband connectivity so we can still double access and then grow data consumption tenfold. The economy needs all the growth we can get to alleviate unemployment and poverty. I support Internet4All as being connected to the Internet has become a basic human right in the modern era."

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Mike Schussler - Economists.co.za chief economist

“The cheaper you make it for people to connect the better it is for commerce. People at the bottom of the pyramid have powerful ideas that can be realised through #Internet4All in SA.”

 “#Internet4All in SA will enable people to send CVs for a job, or to get information about jobs, to discover possibilities, as well as to learn.”

 “#Internet4All in SA will allow people to access markets, and to get information about how to enter and operate in markets.”

“People in the rural areas could read the news in real time if they had internet access. #Access4All will connect people and help rural people make better decisions as citizens.”

“There is a whole host of positives that would come from #Internet4All. The possibilities are massive - it may not make everyone rich overnight but people will have better tools, information, people will learn, children will become more literate. One must look at #Internet4all broadly. People want to be connected, to be informed, to grow and to better themselves.”

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Musa Kalenga - change agent in SA marketing. Author and entrepreneur

“I believe that access to information changes lives. Whether this is education, health or job security - the more information people have, the better they are able to make decisions and navigate life. Internet access accelerates the wellness condition of people in the most rural parts of the world and ultimately provides a window into the world that they would otherwise not have access to.”

 “I support this cause because I believe that information and knowledge are the great equalizers of our time. And whether we like it or not, the internet is the fat pipe through which equalisation  gets delivered. The internet can equalize opportunity, access and tear down artificial barriers to enter markets, jobs or industries.”

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Sam Paddock - Chief Executive Officer
GetSmarter

 “The internet is a fundamental enabler of human capability. It's like a super power for the people who have it. With it, we are empowered and we have choices. Without it, we are weaker and lack options. South Africa needs to rise together. And #Internet4All will contribute to our collective ascent.”

“I am passionate about education. And the biggest thing to happen to the education industry since the printing press was the invention of the internet. It puts our learning journey on steroids. It opens our minds. It connects us to others to inspire and be inspired. It gives us new tools to make change for ourselves and others. We should all have access to the internet.”

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Xhanti Payi - Economist and founder of Nascence Advisory 

"Access to internet means access to information. It means being connected in a world that thrives on being connected. There is talk of the fourth industrial revolution. Access to the internet will differentiate between those who participate and those who won't."

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Call to action:

Join the #internet4all conversation about Internet for All - South Africa on 16 June 2017. Put your issue on the change agenda, share how the internet has changed your life, or show your support for #internet4all by saying why it’s important for SA.