South Africa Coal Climate Women USAGM
Metadata
- South Africa Coal Climate Women USAGM
- March 9, 2023
- Climate Change Hits Women in South Africa’s Coal Region
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script English USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: SAFRICA COAL CLIMATE WOMEN (TV/R) HEADLINE: Climate Change Hits Women in South Africa’s Coal Region TEASER: PUBLISHED: 03/09/2023 at BYLINE: Jan Bornman CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Carolina, South Africa VIDEOGRAPHER: Zaheer Cassim PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: Schearf, MAS VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB__ TV X RADIO X TRT: VID APPROVED BY: TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: Radio intros in script below for Production to version for radio. )) ((INTRO)) A report by Southern Africa Resource Watch says women are more impacted than men by climate change in the coal-producing region of South Africa, one of the world’s biggest coal exporters. Mpumalanga province sees heavy pollution from coal mining and power stations as well as severe flooding that experts blame on climate change caused by the pollution. Jan Bornman reports from Carolina, South Africa. ((VIDEO-VOA: DRONE - FLOODING IN SILOBELA TOWNSHIP, SKOSANA AT CHURCH, WITH HER DAUGHTER)) ((NARRATOR)) Single mother of two Zanele Skosana woke in the middle of one night in February after the banks of the nearby dam broke and flooded her shack. She and the kids have since been living at her local church in Carolina’s Silobela township, where the flood destroyed 20 shacks like hers. ((Zanele Skosana, Flood Victim, (English: 15 secs / 4 secs)) “It was too much stress, I don’t know what can I do. I was shaking, then my neighbor helped me take out other furniture, other damaged wardrobe, carpet, anything I don’t have now… I was very worried, crying. I didn’t know what to do.” ((VIDEO-VOA: COAL MINES, MTSHWENI AT HOME)) ((NARRATOR)) Carolina is in South Africa’s coal-producing Mpumalanga province, which has some of the worst pollution and air quality in the world. Experts blame burning fossil fuels like coal for climate change linked to severe weather, like the flood that destroyed Skosana’s home. Activist group Southern Africa Resource Watch in a February report says women in coal mining communities like Carolina suffer the most from climate change and pollution. ((RADIO INTRO: Ronesa Mtshweni is a researcher for the group.)) ((Ronesa Mtshweni, Southern Africa Resource Watch (English, 13 secs /7 secs)) “Most of these homes are headed by women, our daily job is to wake up in the morning is to clean, is to cook, clothe the kids, get them to school. It's our normal routine… We have been having this experience for the past seven years, where water is totally polluted. You'd open your tap and you get brown water.” ((VIDEO-VOA: COAL MINES, MIDDELBURG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY)) ((NARRATOR)) International partners last year pledged $8.5 billion to help South Africa wean itself off coal and introduce greener and renewable energy. But officials say the so-called Just Energy Transition won’t happen any time soon. ((RADIO INTRO: Anna-Marth Ott is CEO of the Middleburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry.)) ((Anna-Marth Ott, Middelburg Chamber of Commerce & Industry (English, 17 secs)) “None of the old coal mines has been rehabilitated properly. So, it is a complex issue. You can't just say, ‘okay, stop coal mining. We're going to have a green utopia.’ It's not going to happen.” ((VIDEO-VOA: ARCHIVE OF POWER CUTS, GENERATOR, FLOODING IN SILOBELA TOWNSHIP, SKOSANA WITH HER DAUGHTER)) ((NARRATOR)) South Africa’s record power cuts are only adding to demands for fossil fuels. Meanwhile, mothers like Skosana suffer the consequences. ((Jan Bornman, for VOA News, Carolina, South Africa.))
- Transcript/Script USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: SAFRICA COAL CLIMATE WOMEN (TV/R) HEADLINE: Climate Change Hits Women in South Africa’s Coal Region TEASER: PUBLISHED: 03/09/2023 at BYLINE: Jan Bornman CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Carolina, South Africa VIDEOGRAPHER: Zaheer Cassim PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: Schearf, MAS VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB__ TV X RADIO X TRT: VID APPROVED BY: TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES: Radio intros in script below for Production to version for radio. )) ((INTRO)) A report by Southern Africa Resource Watch says women are more impacted than men by climate change in the coal-producing region of South Africa, one of the world’s biggest coal exporters. Mpumalanga province sees heavy pollution from coal mining and power stations as well as severe flooding that experts blame on climate change caused by the pollution. Jan Bornman reports from Carolina, South Africa. ((VIDEO-VOA: DRONE - FLOODING IN SILOBELA TOWNSHIP, SKOSANA AT CHURCH, WITH HER DAUGHTER)) ((NARRATOR)) Single mother of two Zanele Skosana woke in the middle of one night in February after the banks of the nearby dam broke and flooded her shack. She and the kids have since been living at her local church in Carolina’s Silobela township, where the flood destroyed 20 shacks like hers. ((Zanele Skosana, Flood Victim, (English: 15 secs / 4 secs)) “It was too much stress, I don’t know what can I do. I was shaking, then my neighbor helped me take out other furniture, other damaged wardrobe, carpet, anything I don’t have now… I was very worried, crying. I didn’t know what to do.” ((VIDEO-VOA: COAL MINES, MTSHWENI AT HOME)) ((NARRATOR)) Carolina is in South Africa’s coal-producing Mpumalanga province, which has some of the worst pollution and air quality in the world. Experts blame burning fossil fuels like coal for climate change linked to severe weather, like the flood that destroyed Skosana’s home. Activist group Southern Africa Resource Watch in a February report says women in coal mining communities like Carolina suffer the most from climate change and pollution. ((RADIO INTRO: Ronesa Mtshweni is a researcher for the group.)) ((Ronesa Mtshweni, Southern Africa Resource Watch (English, 13 secs /7 secs)) “Most of these homes are headed by women, our daily job is to wake up in the morning is to clean, is to cook, clothe the kids, get them to school. It's our normal routine… We have been having this experience for the past seven years, where water is totally polluted. You'd open your tap and you get brown water.” ((VIDEO-VOA: COAL MINES, MIDDELBURG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY)) ((NARRATOR)) International partners last year pledged $8.5 billion to help South Africa wean itself off coal and introduce greener and renewable energy. But officials say the so-called Just Energy Transition won’t happen any time soon. ((RADIO INTRO: Anna-Marth Ott is CEO of the Middleburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry.)) ((Anna-Marth Ott, Middelburg Chamber of Commerce & Industry (English, 17 secs)) “None of the old coal mines has been rehabilitated properly. So, it is a complex issue. You can't just say, ‘okay, stop coal mining. We're going to have a green utopia.’ It's not going to happen.” ((VIDEO-VOA: ARCHIVE OF POWER CUTS, GENERATOR, FLOODING IN SILOBELA TOWNSHIP, SKOSANA WITH HER DAUGHTER)) ((NARRATOR)) South Africa’s record power cuts are only adding to demands for fossil fuels. Meanwhile, mothers like Skosana suffer the consequences. ((Jan Bornman, for VOA News, Carolina, South Africa.))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date March 9, 2023 13:38 EST
- Byline Jan Bornman
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America