Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, visited South Africa recently. She spoke to the Mail & Guardian about her views on South Africa’s environment and what African leaders are doing wrong.
What do you think South Africa is doing right in regard to the environment and conservation?
South Africa is very aware of the conservation of its natural resources and very keen on protecting catchment areas, which I can appreciate because I know the value of water. I have also heard that you are very concerned about foreign plant species.
Something that I also think the country is very good at is your mining rehabilitation. So often people just open up the ground, they remove whatever they want, and they leave gaping holes.
What do you feel are the biggest environmental challenges facing South Africa?
Pollution seems to be a big challenge. How do you dispose of this effluence? Unfortunately, the trend has been to release the pollution into poor communities, because those communities don’t know what is being dumped on them. They only realise the consequences when people start complaining about illnesses, and problems with the water and soil emerge.
Another challenge I think South Africa faces is that of development.
At the G8 summit you made the comment that African leaders should also take responsibility for Africa’s troubles. How would you like to see that happen?
Africa is a very rich continent resource-wise. It does not make sense that Africans are so poor. We have to ask ourselves what are the reasons.
I believe one of the reasons is that African leaders have not facilitated the exploitation of the resources in the continent for the majority of the African people. The resources have tended to be extracted at very low prices, and they have tended to benefit very few people.
This is a governance problem. African leaders must continue to emphasise more democratic [and inclusive] governance, and encourage equitable distribution of resources.
They must equip their people with skills, knowledge and experience so that they can add value to the resources and — regenerate wealth for the African people.
What ignited the passion in you that made you one of the world’s leading environmentalists?
I was assisted by the fact that I had higher education in biological sciences, but I was also born in the countryside. I am really a child of the forests and — love the smell of the countryside.
Because of this love the destruction of the countryside was really horrifying to me — deforestation was taking place, and a lot of soil was being lost in the river.
When I started planting trees, one thing led to another and I realised that the environment was connected to the way we govern ourselves. Thus after working in the environment I started [campaigning] for better governance in my country and I also got involved in efforts to resolve conflicts.
That is how I eventually saw that quite often people are fighting over resources. I realised that if we managed the resources properly, and if we share them more equitably, we are more likely to live in peace with each other.
You have been quoted as saying that Aids is a biological weapon manufactured by the developed world to wipe out the black race. Do you really believe that?
This was a complete misquotation of what I said. I am a MP and charged with the responsibility of helping people take care of themselves and to protect themselves.
The confusion with the disease is that it is so new and no one can accurately point to its origin. When you are a Nobel laureate I guess everybody wants you to make a comment about an issue as contentious as Aids.