Liz McDaid Of The Nuclear Victory

Triumphant anti-nuclear campaigner believes courage works wonders.

- Sue Segar

BATTLE-WEARY SOUTH AFRICANS had cause for a rare moment of national jubilation when on 26 April the Western Cape High Court made its momentous ruling, effectively halting the country’s ridiculous nuclear power expansion programme.

The ruling, on the eve of Freedom Day in South Africa, also coincided with the anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. To top it all, it rained in drought-stressed Cape Town, and jubilant activists danced outside the court until they were drenched.

If upheld, the ruling will save the country trillions of rands. It represents arguably the biggest achievement by NGOs in decades. Two small NGOs, Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (*SAFCEI), following two years of court preparation, finally managed to block the deal.

Among those dancing for joy was a fifty-something woman in jeans and a SAFCEI T-shirt. Liz McDaid, the leader of the anti-nuclear campaign by SAFCEI, played a key advisory role in the legal proceedings. She’s now known in NGO circles as “Liz McDaid of the nuclear victory”.

Speaking outside court on the day of the ruling, an ecstatic McDaid told the crowd the court case meant that the people of South Africa have to be consulted. “It is now time to stand up and demand to be counted. The thunder and rain are a signal from the heavens that justice has been done.”