A coalition of activist groups is set to stage a protest on Tuesday in Rosebank, Johannesburg, targeting Standard Bank and TotalEnergies offices for their alleged exploitation activities in Africa.

The demonstration, part of a continent-wide Week of Action (August 18-24), calls on the bank to sever ties with the oil giant over alleged plundering and ecological destruction across Africa.

Organisers have said the protest will begin at Standard Bank HQ and proceed to TotalEnergies’ local offices. It is timed to highlight what they describe as the financiers’ complicity in fossil-fuel projects that harm communities and the environment.

Zaki Mamdoo, coordinator for the Stop East African Crude Oil Pipeline (StopEACOP) Coalition, issued a statement linking the action to a broader regional campaign. 

“As part of the continent-wide Week of Action, communities and movements from Uganda to Mozambique, from Benin to the Cape, Tanzania to Senegal, Nigeria to Zimbabwe, are rising to demand an end to TotalEnergies’ plunder and widespread destruction.”

“We will march from Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest funder of fossil fuels and one of Total’s most arrogant supporters, to the headquarters of TotalEnergies, whose operations have been linked to land grabs, displacement, and ecological devastation,” said Mamdoo.

Among others, the StopEACOP Coalition said it will condemn fossil colonialism and the financiers behind it. 

“Our March will demand reparations and restorative justice for the damage caused, as well as call for governments to cancel licences, contracts, and partnerships with Total and Advance working class ownership and control of a green developmental pathway,” Mamdoo stated.

The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa Mametlwe Sebei confirmed to IOL that his organisation will also participate in the protest.

thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za

IOL Politics

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