The Peoples Power Energy Plan

On Wednesday, 20 and Thursday, 21 March, the Climate Justice Coalition marched with communities and workers across the Free State, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Western Cape, Kwazulu Natal, and Gauteng to assert the right to clean, affordable, and reliable electricity. These actions were prompted by countrywide blackouts which condemned the most vulnerable in our society to untenable conditions where simple aspects of life, such as cooking and commuting, are impossible. We demanded the government’s urgent response to the country’s energy and climate crisis.

The actions were also in protest of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023 – the government’s draft energy plan. The plan would drastically cut investment in renewable energy and instead lock the country into heavy dependence on more expensive, polluting, and unreliable energy sources, such as coal and fossil gas. The protests demanded a People’s Energy Plan to deliver a rapid and just transition to a more socially-owned, renewable energy-powered future, providing clean, safe, and affordable energy for all.

Renewable energy is proven to be a significantly cleaner, affordable and sustainable alternative. However, due to its upfront costs, only a select few in South Africa can acquire a private supply of renewable alternatives, leaving millions of people in low-income households to experience the hardship of energy apartheid. The People’s Power Human Rights Day actions sought to urge the government to fulfil its constitutional obligation to deliver basic services such as electricity, which must be clean, reliable, and affordable to be accessible to all people and not detrimental to people’s health or the environment.