Two South African activists who took on the president and energy minister and succeeded in blocking the controversial multibillion-rand nuclear deal have been singled out globally and rewarded for their courage, compassion and vision in the name of environmental justice.
When environmental activist Makoma Lekalakala heard that she and her colleague Liz McDaid had won their 2017 court case that effectively stopped South Africa's controversial nuclear programme in its tracks, she bent her head and wept.
"It was tears of joy. We took on that case in the public interest against the government and against the president, and it was a hard route and long, but we won," said Lekalakala.
On Monday she and McDaid were winners again when they were named the joint recipients of the prestigious international Goldman Environmental Prize for "outstanding environmental achievements in Africa" at an awards ceremony in San Francisco.
The award, the world's largest award honouring grassroots activists, was an acknowledgement of their commitment to holding the South African government to account in a battle that they say sometimes they felt they could not win.
Said McDaid: "In my book, Parliament failed the people of South Africa when they let that secret nuclear deal...
