Where use has been made of the work of others, this has been duly acknowledged and referenced in the text. There was a further increase in population in the 1960s with the establishment of Mondi, the paper mill. The purpose of this study was to examine the learning process among residents of the MerebanklWentworth area during their struggle against the effects of pollution.
Research Focus
What were the effects of involvement in the fight for cleaner air in terms of potential engagement with public issues. The answers to these questions should show the effects of involving residents in the fight to reduce pollution in the area. Literature on the challenge social movements present in providing truly useful knowledge to people so that they can collectively engage in social action to achieve environmental change has also been a focal point.
Introduction
There was a need to establish rapport with the inhabitants of the environment and to maintain some kind of relationship with the subjects. The main purpose of this case study was to provide a holistic description and interpretation of the learning process in social action. One of the essential properties of a qualitative case study is that it is 'heuristic' in nature.
Data Collecting Techniaues .1 Triangulation
In the interview I had the opportunity to investigate and go deeper into the motivations of the respondents and their reasons for reacting as they did. Since the interview was mainly conducted in the working class community, I had to dress in a way similar to that of the people. At meetings I had to ask questions and make suggestions about the struggle of being 'part of the gang'.
Population and Sampling
Social movements as sites of learning will then be explored, followed by a brief explanation of social learning theory. In the present study, 'leaders' such as Desmond D'Sa (SDCEA) and Lawrence Vartharajulu (SPEC) a staff member at Settler Primary School, made representations on behalf of residents to hold industries responsible for environmental pollution. He organized public meetings and wrote to the concerned authorities regarding the grievances of the people.
Relationships with other participants, activities, the environment, and the social organization of the community are important in the creation of meaning (Lave & Wenger, 1991). The content is intrinsic to the performance of the task and is not separated from the noise, confusion and group interactions that dominate the environment. The context in which people learn and how they interact in a group are important aspects of the learning process.
The struggle in the southern Durban Basin arose out of residents' concerns about the impact of pollution on their health and daily lives.). People involved in social action recognized their interests, understood the conflicts and contradictions of the wider society and connected them to wider social and political struggles. A similar study she undertook is a study of the pollution problem in the Kagiso district near Johannesburg, where people from a lower socio-economic background reside.
In the words of the radical movement's early protagonists, the struggle for truly useful knowledge is designed to set you free because it enables ordinary people to understand the world as they experience it in order to change it for the better.
CHAPTER!!
THE HISTORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRUGGLES
It is home to some of the worst industrial pollution caused by multinational corporations and environmental damage around the world. Residents are constantly plagued by respiratory and skin-related illnesses due to the toxins emitted into the atmosphere (Louisiana Bucket Brigade, n.d.). It was at this stage, in 1950, that residents formed the Merebank Coordination Council (MCC), which protested against these relocations and the increasing industrialization of the area.
This was one of the first battles the community of Merebank fought against the government and industry. When Mondi was founded in the 1960s, they also provided housing for the locals who worked there. Residents believed that these environmental injustices had violated their fundamental rights and the lives and health of the people.
Although these developments are great steps in the people's struggle for a fairer society, Wentworth, being in close proximity to oil refineries has a high incidence of respiratory and skin diseases, which may be a contributing cause of the rate high unemployment. are too sick to work. Various groups, which will be discussed below, believe that this is not true and claim that the companies that conduct these environmental pollution audits are actually commissioned by the industries and as such produce reports that favor the industries. . In the 1950s, Shell and BP were given permission by the then apartheid government to set up an oil refinery adjacent to black communities in southern Durban.
Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), which coordinates the efforts of various community-based organizations in environmental justice efforts in the South Durban Basin.
COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS
- THE WENTWORTH DEVELOPMENT FORUM (WDF)
- SETTLER'S PRIMARY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE (SPEC)
- THE SOUTH DURBAN COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ALLIANCE (SDCEA)
It was this incident that was the turning point in the lives of the residents in the Wentworth area. It is believed that due to the high levels of pollution effective teaching and learning does not take place. Hence the establishment of the Settler's Primary Air Quality Committee whose task was to monitor the pollutants to which the staff and learners were exposed.
It was found that out of a total of 859 pupils in the school, 40% of the children were reported to have chest related problems which ranged from wheezing,. chest pains, nausea, increased use of inhalers, etc. Due to the high rate of wheezing, locals have dubbed the area 'the asthma belt'. At most times, none of the authorities responded to calls and when they did, it was many hours after the event.
Below is a description of the development of the community's struggle for environmental justice since 1994. The Engen did not agree to the demands of this agreement, and in retaliation the residents demonstrated at the gates of the refinery. They were angry and responded to this by forming a blockade of the entrance to the refinery.
The community seemed despondent at this stage as negotiations stalled because Engen would not give in to the community's requests.
True Life Experiences
This is the story of Meena, a woman who was interviewed on August 12, 2002. For the last four years, we have no electricity and even if we get sick, we don't go to the doctor. And you know, according to our custom, we have to bring the dead into the house..we can't even do that because the coffin won't go up the narrow stairs.
It's so blatant that they're trying to make a point, as if to say, "That's how it is on this side of the world." The pollution problem must therefore be seen in the context of the general living conditions of the community. However, it is important to note that residents are aware of the link between poor housing, poverty and poor health due to pollution.
There seems to be no doubt in people's minds that there is a direct link between human-borne diseases and pollution. 34; Every month I take Brandon to Addington Hospital (a public hospital) where he is treated for bronchial pneumonia. The doctors said I have to move out of here because it's only going to get worse.
I tell him 'If you get better then you can go play football.' But he is always sick.
HOW DID THEY ACQUIRE USEFUL KNOWLEDGE?
This chapter looks at how action relates to social learning with reference to previously elicited literature and how people acquire 'Really Useful Knowledge' in the struggle for social justice. Many residents had come to the meetings out of curiosity and were surprised at how many people shared similar or worse experiences than theirs. But they were happy to hear that there are people and organizations willing to take up their cause along with their participation in the struggle.
To facilitate learning, people knowledgeable about the effects of pollution on health were invited to speak at meetings. Several medical and research centers have been called upon to conduct studies regarding the effects of the refinery's pollution on members of the community, the results of which will be discussed under the heading "learned about statistics." It is in and through the residents' action and participation in mass protests that they have gained new and useful knowledge about industries, how to take samples of pollution, scientific knowledge about pollution and its effects, about organization and strategizing for collective action, etc.
The following is a description of some of the different types of things that the people in the South Durban Basin learned.
WHAT DID THEY LEARN?
The community felt that this was a deliberate attempt by the industry and department to keep them in the dark. The residents learned that the benzene concentration in this area is the highest in the world. The residents in the MerebankJWentworth area have pledged not to tolerate the high levels of pollution any longer.
In the audience, people's fear and concern could be heard about the separation distance between the houses and the pipes (mass meeting March 10, 2001). Even in the early part of the century, the refinery was flooded with calls from residents. For the residents of the South Durban Basin, their learning process has developed based on their experiences and their social interactions within the group.
Thus the community in the South Durban Basin had independent surveys carried out in the area. Residents of the South Durban catchment joined forces with GeM to promote change in the area. The learning of the residents of the South Durban area was significant because they gained new skills and knowledge which they continue to use.
The people of the South Durban Basin share their experiences of social and environmental injustices and as such recognize their interdependence (Thompson, 1997). Many residents, especially in the Settler's Primary School area, are concerned about their impoverished condition. But Des D'Sa, the spokesperson for the SDCEA, believes that much has been achieved in the past fifteen years of fighting.
FAIRVALE SECONDARY SCHOOL, TARA RD
Consider that the community should live next to the pipeline and not Sasol and·.
Residents
Pollution
INTERVIEWS
The names of respondents living in Dinapur Road flats and the Wentworth area have been changed to respect confidentiality. Seetharam - Doctor at Merebank Medical Center who conducted a study on the relationship between pollution and respiratory-related diseases in children at Settler Primary School in 2000.
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION AT MASS MEETINGS
