Makoma Lekalakala – 50/50 story

6 min Alle Wereld story produced for the SABC environmental show 50/50, profiling Makoma Lekalakala of Earthlife Africa in celebration of Women’s Month, Aug 2020.

Makoma Lekalakala is an environmental activist and force for nature, descended from a long line of women looking out for their people. With her friend and fellow anti-apartheid activist, Liz McDaid, she was recognised with the Goldman Environmental Prize for leading a campaign to stop a R76 billion rand nuclear deal with Russia, whose environmental, economic and social costs they believed were too high for South Africans to pay. As Director of Earthlife Africa, a big part of Makoma’s work is challenging new coal-fired power stations and mining operations whose true cost to the environment and people living around them does not balance with the short-term benefit to only some people.

Watch the episode here.

Director: Jemima Spring
Co-producers: Jemima Spring & Jacqueline van Meygaarden
Presenter: Kia Johnson