Public meeting on the Port Expansion & Trucking Protest

Earthlife Africa invites you to 

A public meeting on the Port Expansion & Trucking

Manning Rd Methodist Church, 450 Moore Rd, Glenwood

Monday 25th April 2016

18h00 – 20h00

Many residents in South Durban, including Glenwood and Umbilo, are concerned about the increase in trucking in their areas. The back of port development involves plans for rezoning areas for logistics to cater for the Dug-out Port. Already trucking has a massive impact in terms of pollution, noise, congestion, accidents and general crime and grime. Unless communities rise up to stop such plans, these problems are bound to escalate as the port expansion into the Old Airport Site and Bayhead will result in a 10 fold increase in the numbers of containers coming through the port. Clairwood, a residential area, has already deteriorated greatly due to industry using its roads for the transportation of heavy goods. A number of fatalities have also resulted and homes have been destroyed due to accidents.

In addition to addressing the health and social problems caused by trucking and industrial development, we need to urgently reduce greenhouse gases emissions from road freight in order to transition to a low carbon city and prevent catastrophic climate change. This will not happen unless residents unite and demand that people and planet come before profit! The Dig-out port alone will cost R250 billion, which the country cannot afford, and the potential for corruption is huge.

Civil society organizations are joining together for a mass protest on the 27th of April. The purpose of this meeting is to inform people about recent developments in preparation for the protest. Don’t miss the opportunity to gain a better understanding of these important issues. Des D’Sa from the South Durban Community Environment Alliance (SDCEA) and Vanessa Black from Earthlife Africa Durban will be speaking.