Extinction Rebellion Cape Town along with partner organisations from the Climate Justice Charter Coalition staged a Climate Crime Scene outside the local offices of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) on Wednesday.
‘Dead bodies’ were scattered in front of the Cape Town offices as part of the demonstration for employees and people passing by to gaze upon. These measures were put in place to alert the public of the nation-wide #UprootTheDMRE protest taking place at Parliament on Friday.
These ‘dead bodies’ were activists who took on the pretend role to represent the damage the DMRE had caused such as organ failure (dehydration due to water shortages), smoke inhalation (wildfires) and poisoning (water contamination) amongst others. A death certificate was placed alongside their bodies, describing the cause of death and ‘signed’ by the government – a bold statement to make.
The motive of this movement was to raise awareness about the department’s continued support for fossil fuels in the face of climate change, as well as to hand over a letter of demand to Western Cape DMRE representatives, Extinction Rebellion Cape Town spokesperson, Michael Wolf explained, as per IOL.
In the same vein, IOL cites 350.org South African team leader Glen Tyler-Davies saying, “We need to remove DMRE Minister Gwede Mantashe, he has been blocking renewable energy by trying to push fossil fuels when they have already shown to be socially, economically and environmentally unjust.”
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Picture: Pixabay