Mpumalanga Communities to March for Climate and Social Justice
MEDIA ADVISORY: 3 November 2025
People’s Power in Action: Communities demand clean water, air, and accountability
[Mbombela, Mpumalanga] Communities from across Mpumalanga will gather at the Mpumalanga Legislature and march to the Premier’s Office in Mbombela Central to demand urgent action on water contamination, air pollution, and mining injustice in the province.
Organised under the Climate Justice Coalition’s People’s Power campaign, the march brings together grassroots community organisations, unemployed movements, and climate justice groups calling for government accountability and people-centred solutions to the province’s escalating environmental and social crises. This mobilisation comes ahead of the G20 summit happening 22-23 November 2025, in hopes that our leaders hear the call from frontline communities.
Participants will call attention to polluted water, air pollution from mines, and the lack of rehabilitation and community consultation in mining operations. They will also demand inclusive skills development, gender justice, and climate-resilient livelihoods — asserting that communities must have a voice in decisions that affect their land, health, and future.
Sharon Mbonani, MS Environmental Projects:
We’re standing with communities to demand real accountability and justice. For too long, people in Mpumalanga have lived with polluted air, unsafe water, and broken promises. Our aim is to restore dignity through clean environments, sustainable jobs, and genuine service delivery. This action is about people taking back their power, because a just, healthy future starts with us.
Mandisa Maseko, Voices of Breyten:
We are taking part in this action because we share the same frustrations as many communities across Mpumalanga. Our people are not properly consulted when mines are established, and there is no transparency or accountability in how these projects affect us. When mining companies leave, they abandon gaping holes in our land without rehabilitation, pollute our air, and contaminate our water – water we are forced to drink because we can’t afford alternatives.
There are no real opportunities for skills development or women’s empowerment, even though the law demands it. Every day, people live with chest pain and illness from the pollution around us. This march is about making our voices heard and demanding urgent action. We want accountability, clean water, safe air, jobs with dignity, and respect for our land. If nothing changes, our communities will be left as ghost towns: unlivable and forgotten. We are marching to save our future.
Mbuso Sithole, Hendrina Climate Change Movement (HCCM):
We will take to the streets to call for adequate governance and access to resources and opportunities. We want to see real people’s power, where community members take the lead in addressing their everyday struggles, especially in relation to creating jobs for youth and women. Our communities demand good service delivery and accountability for corruption and mismanagement.
Aaron Mahlangu, Middleburg Environmental Justice Network (MEJN):
We are a community that is affected by mining. We experience air pollution, water pollution and a lot of crime as a result of this mine. That’s the reason we are participating in this march.
Thabo Mashiyane, Middleburg Social and Environmental Justice Alliance (MSEJA):
We are in solidarity with communities pushing for justice and equity. We believe in amplifying community voices and pushing for systemic change. Our aim of this action is to highlight the need for mines, DMRE and government to take concrete steps toward change. This action is important because people’s lives are at stake.
WHAT: People’s Power March for Climate and Environmental Justice
WHEN: Wednesday, 5 November 2025 | 10:00AM
WHERE: From Mpumalanga Legislature to the Premier’s Office, Mbombela Central
Photo opportunity: The action will provide a powerful photo and video opportunity for journalists covering stories on climate and social justice, mining, and grassroots activism in South Africa.
For media enquiries, contact:
Shaazia Ebrahim
comms@climatejusticecoalition.org
+27 83 320 2255
About the Climate Justice Coalition: The Climate Justice Coalition is a coalition of South African trade unions, civil society, grassroots and community-based organisations working together on advancing a transformative climate justice agenda, which tackles the inequality, poverty and unemployment that pervades South Africa.