The Dennis Brutus Institutional Public Lecture saw more than 100 people gather at the South End Museum on Tuesday to hone in on the topic, “Environmental degradation and its socioeconomic impact: Causes and solutions.”
South African human rights and climate justice activist Dr Kumi Naidoo delivered the main address, with Technology Innovation Agency general manager Tandokazi Nquma-Moyo as the respondent.
The event was hosted by Nelson Mandela University.
The two were in agreement that while fossil fuels could not be removed immediately, measures could be put in place to combat climate change with SA being in an ideal position to champion green energy.
Naidoo focused on the root cause of the climate crisis and the need to get away from dependency on fossil fuels.
The second aspect focused on the need for arts and culture to also come on board to address the climate communication deficit.
Nquma-Moyo said she was one of the first project leaders of the first wind farm in SA that produced electricity for 2,000 homes in Wells Estate and Kamvelihle in 2010 when it was not fashionable to do alternative energy.
She said efforts towards green energy in SA were being made.
Both speakers agreed that the government and corporate companies needed to play their part in the fight against environmental degradation.
The lecture pays tribute to renowned anti-apartheid activist Brutus who died on December 26 2009 at his home in Cape Town at the age of 85.
Prof Andre Keet, NMU research chair for critical studies in higher education transformation and deputy vice-chancellor for engagement and transformation, said the Dennis Brutus Lecture was an important event in the university’s institutional public lecture series.
“This lecture is one of the ways in which we seek to deepen our academic identity, advance our strategic commitments and build enduring partnerships with our communities.
“The titan we honour this evening, Brutus, was a son of the Eastern Cape.
“There is a deep resonance between his life and the values we seek to embody as an institution — an African university in the service of society.
“[It is] located in a region and a world grappling with intersecting crises of inequality, ecological breakdown and democratic erosion,” Keet said.
Paterson High School principal Rose de Doncker, who brought a few pupils to attend the lecture, said she felt it was time to channel that Patersonian “stubbornness” to find solutions that were sustainable and revolutionary.
“Long before he was an international icon of the anti-apartheid movement and a world renowned poet, Brutus was a teacher at Paterson High School.
“Hence, I am so proud of standing here, to us he is not just a figure in the history books, he is a permanent part of the school’s DNA.
“As we gather to honour a man who transformed stubborn hope into a global movement with his globally renowned poem, Stubborn Hope, it serves today as a powerful metaphor for resilience in the face of systemic decay,” De Doncker said.
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