More than 500 people marched to the South African Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday, April 22, Earth Day 2026, demanding the government abandon nuclear energy, oil and gas expansion, and other approaches they described as false solutions to the climate crisis, and commit instead to a just and inclusive transition toward renewable energy.
The march, held under the banner “No Faith in False Solutions,” was convened by a broad coalition that included the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI), Fossil Free South Africa, Africa Climate Alliance, The Green Connection, Natural Justice, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, Project 90 by 2030, and Extinction Rebellion Cape Town, with Greenpeace Africa, Green Anglicans, Beauty Without Cruelty, and others joining the action. At Parliament, organisers handed over a joint memorandum calling for people-centred and accountable climate governance.
The memorandum calls for the rejection of new nuclear energy procurement, oil and gas development, so-called clean coal, and carbon capture and storage. It also raises concerns about industrial agriculture and factory farming. In their place, the groups are demanding accelerated and decentralised renewable energy, a genuinely inclusive Just Transition Framework, and stronger transparency in climate decision-making.
Ntombizodidi Mapapu, SAFCEI’s Senior Energy Coordinator, said the march was a collective declaration against energy policies that would make electricity more expensive for ordinary South Africans. Several speakers at the march highlighted how low-income and vulnerable communities already bear a disproportionate burden of rising energy costs, food insecurity, and environmental harm, even as government and business push ahead with costly and contested energy projects.
Lisa Makuala, Advocacy Officer at The Green Connection, drew attention to the economic dimension, noting that 37 percent of South Africans live below the poverty line and that volatile global energy markets, compounded by geopolitical conflicts, make dependence on fossil fuels particularly damaging for those least able to absorb price shocks.
Francesca de Gasparis, SAFCEI’s Executive Director, invoked the ninth anniversary of a landmark 2017 High Court ruling that exposed what she described as a corrupt and secret nuclear deal valued at approximately one trillion rand, saying the country was now facing a renewed push for unaffordable nuclear energy that the coalition considered both unnecessary and constitutionally problematic.
Judy Scott-Goldman, spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion Cape Town, noted that a first international Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels is scheduled to convene on April 24 and expressed regret that South Africa would not be represented, calling on the government to listen to the scientific consensus on fossil fuel expansion rather than industry interests.
The march also featured calls to protect food systems from harmful agricultural chemicals and to ensure that any energy transition respects the rights of coastal and rural communities whose livelihoods depend on healthy land and oceans.
