By Safeeyah Kharsany and Chris Stein
JOHANNESBURG, Sep 21 2010 (IPS)

A new solution to power and fuel problems worldwide may be developed by using a resource long characterised as dirty and non-renewable: coal.

One of Africa's largest rubbish dumps, the Dandora Municipal Dumping Site in Nairobi, Kenya, could be used as a source of fuel. Credit: Julius Mwelu/IRIN

Professor Diane Hildebrandt is the co-director of the Centre of Materials and Process Synthesis (COMPS) at the University of the Witswatersrand, which developed the new technique, called Any Carbon Source to Liquids (XTL).

“We can take almost any carbon source and turn it into liquid fuel,” Hildebrandt said. She was speaking at a two-day science and skills-training conference titled From Evolution to Revolution being held at the University of the Witswatersrand from Sep. 21 to 22.

One of the possibilities, Hildebrandt said, is converting solid coal into liquid fuel using the Fischer-Tropsch process, where coal is converted into hydrogen and carbon monoxide before being exposed to a catalyst such as iron or cobalt, then finally condensed into diesel, synthetic lubricants and gasoline.

The downside of this process is the amount of carbon dioxide that is released during the coal’s transformation, Hildebrandt said. To solve this problem, Hildebrandt said the refiners can harvest the emissions and use it to grow algae.

Professor David Glasser, who directs COMPS along with Hildebrandt, said the technique was developed specifically to address Africa’s power needs while using the resources available.

“A rubbish dump in South Africa is a source, not a problem,” Glasser said.

Organic materials, from coal to compost, are stores of energy for conversion into liquid fuel, Glasser said. And by harvesting the carbon dioxide and using it to grow algae, jobs can be created and fisheries developed, thus increasing the local food supply.

“While other researchers around the world are doing similar research with super algae, in that they try to genetically modify them,” Hilderbrandt says, “we believe that whatever local algae exists in the site area is the algae that should be used.” This would aim to maintain the balance of the ecosystem in the area.

Finally, by increasing the amount of fish available, Glasser said another source of protein will be introduced into the African diet. Currently, most Africans get their dietary protein from chicken, Glasser said, which could be threatened by an outbreak of bird flu.

“It’s no good use building plants the same way as in the developing world when people in here don’t have money. We have to find a better way,” Glasser said. “The African equation is a better life equals access to energy.”

Roll Out

Two small pilot plants in China were used to refine fuel using gases from making coking coal, Hildebrandt said. The venture is so far a private enterprise, developed in partnership with the South Africa-owned construction firm Golden Nest, she said.

To avoid creating large concentrations of carbon dioxide, Hildebrandt said COMPS was focusing on small-scale refineries, which she characterised as producing 1,000 barrels of fuel a day as opposed to the 50,000 barrels a day at larger plants.

South Africans count on coal for 93 percent of their electricity, which is not only polluting but inefficient, according to Glasser.

“Burning coal to make electricity is very inefficient,” Glasser said. “Less than half of coal’s chemical potential is used when you burn it.”

Glasser said he hopes to establish a number of small XTL refineries around South Africa, each taking advantage of the local resources, be they coal, biological waste or some other type of matter.

“Our vision is to use our technological skills and vision to benefit South Africa,” Glasser said.

The next step is for the technology to receive support from governments in order to build more refineries, Hildebrandt said.

“We would love to work with governments to get access to their resources,” she said.

Excerpt:

With five years left till the Millennium Development Goals’ 2015 deadline, civil society groups say South Africa has made progress on some goals but regressed on others.

Pal Mfunzana is one of millions of South Africans with reasons to be sceptical of the govt's claims it will meet all 8 MDGs on schedule Credit: Chris Stein/IPS

Pal Mfunzana’s sole source of income is a couple of corrugated tin shacks, indistinguishable from many others in Diepsloot, a deeply impoverished slum on the northern edge of Johannesburg.

She rents the dwellings to two tenants, bringing in enough money each month to put some food on the table but not enough to get her to the local clinic for diabetes medicine. Her swollen ankles are testament to her untreated condition, though Mfunzana said she sometimes self-medicates using sugar water.

Diepsloot was established in 1995 when government resettled people here from elsewhere in the city. Subsequent relocations as well as an influx of people desperate for housing has transformed it into a sprawling shantytown.

Its presence in the country’s – the continent’s – richest city serves as an unhappy indicator of continuing poverty in South Africa and the distance yet to be covered to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

These eight ambitious MDGs, adopted by all U.N. member states in 2000, aim to curb poverty, disease and gender inequality.

With five years to go till the deadline, heads of state are meeting at the United Nations on Sep. 20-22 to review progress towards the goals.

In an opinion piece that appeared in national newspapers on Sep. 17, South African president Jacob Zuma said the country has made headway on the goals and expects to meet all of them by 2015.

Zuma also said the government has halved the number of people living on less than a dollar a day, and has greatly improved access to healthcare. (The president will not attend the New York MDG review; his presence is required at a ruling party conference that may determine his political future.)

In general, the government has greatly expanded access to all sorts of services since 2000, said Jay Naidoo, Chairperson of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and a former minister in charge of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, South Africa’s initial strategy to overcome the unequal legacy of apartheid.

“In terms of access to education and health services and meeting the needs of people for water and electricity, we’ve done exceedingly well,” Naidoo said.

Quantity versus quality

But while access to public services has widely been increased, Naidoo said these services are typically underfunded or underperforming.

“A focus on access to health and education versus on quality of health and education is causing dramatic amount of conflict, anger and resentment,” Naidoo said. “We’ve made tremendous progress in access to education but most of our schools in rural areas are dysfunctional.”

Naidoo said this disparity is still evident in the difference in the quality of education in public schools in poor townships compared to those in areas previously reserved for whites.

“It’s not about access, it’s about the quality of education,” Naidoo said.

In Diepsloot, illiteracy is rampant among students who attend local public schools, said Amanda Blankfield, marketing manager for MaAfrika Tikkun, a local non-governmental organisation that manages Wings of Hope Community Centre. In addition to providing free lunches, food parcels and other services to the local community, the centre runs after-school programmes to help students with schoolwork.

“Schools are there, but they’re not built very well, teachers are not qualified and these poor kids are not getting an education,” Blankfield said, adding that she had seen students as old as twelve unable to read or do simple math.

Further obstacles

Besides education, health and unemployment remained concerns for civil society members towards meeting the MDGs.

One of the major issues holding the country back from reaching its goals is the unemployment rate, which currently hovers around 25 percent, said Elroy Paulus, an advocacy programme manager for human rights organisation the Black Sash.

“There is a huge hole in the economically viable population of South Africa,” Paulus said. “Among people older than 16 and under 65, [a large number of] those are chronically unemployed, or leave [the work force] to look after someone.”

Paulus said the country’s infant mortality rate has doubled since the goals were agreed upon, while total life expectancy has gone down.

“In terms of [child health] and [maternal health] we’ve actually regressed,” Paulus said.

The rising child and infant mortality rate may be the most difficult MDG to tackle, due to a lack of resources for mothers, said Watson Hamunakwadi, South Africa Coordinator for the Global Call to Action against Poverty.

“Mothers need to have the capacity to take care of themselves,” Hamunakwadi said. “Mothers need to have education to take care of themselves.”

Additionally, the first millennium goal, reducing extreme poverty by half, is an overarching challenge for achieving all the other MDGs, according to Hamunakwadi, and will make or break efforts to meet the other goals.

In working towards MDG One, the government has tended to overemphasise free access to social services and temporary employment, such as construction projects, as a way to alleviate poverty, Hamunakwadi said. But temporary jobs offer no trade skill that is marketable, offering little long-term economic impact.

Paulus said he disagrees with the government’s current progress report on reducing poverty.

“Certainly the government made progress on a few [goals],” Paulus said. “But to claim that they achieved halving poverty we find a bit disingenuous.”

Striking health workers have continued their work stoppage despite accusations that it endangers patients’ lives. They are part of a nationwide strike by public sector workers that has some observers concerned that rising wage demands could harm South Africa’s economy.

Health workers say their wages disqualify them for social assistance, but are too low to make ends meet. Credit: Chris Stein/IPS

Beneath the grey monolithic exterior of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, a throng of red-shirted protesters kept up their vigil, dancing and singing to demand what they feel is a fair wage from the government.

Before negotiations deadlocked and striking began on Aug. 18, the government offered these workers a seven percent raise and $95 housing allowance as part of a three-year contract negotiation. But unions reject the offer, and nurses have since been criticised for neglecting patients and demanding too much.

Protesting outside Charlotte Maxeke, Charlotte Ndamaso and fellow members of the Gauteng provincial chapter of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU), vowed to stick by their demands for a 8.6 percent raise and $136 housing allowance.

Ndamaso said the government’s offer would not be enough to alleviate what she characterises as a financially tenuous existence, where nurses are dependent on loans and part-time jobs to make ends meet.

“The government says we are essential when it pleases them,” said Ndamaso a nurse unit manager. “Can you really treat essential personnel like this?”

On average, nurses currently receive approximately $8,160 a year salary and a $68 housing allowance, according to NEHAWU spokesperson Sizwe Pamla, though this can vary based on their experience.

“When you’ve got a leadership preaching prudence, you can’t be spending [billions of] rand on a soccer tournament,” Pamla said.

According to Ndamaso, nurses’ wages put them in a sort of limbo: salaries are too low to make ends meet, she said, but too high to qualify for subsidized housing or other forms of government assistance.

Ndamaso said unfilled posts in her ward forced her to work up to 60 hours a week. As a result, staff morale in the hospital is low, and Ndamaso said the patients suffer.

“The long hours affect us,” Ndamaso said. “When you’re satisfied, the quality of service improves. You can’t work in a place where you’re not satisfied.”

Work stoppage woes

Though the number of health workers on strike varies from day to day, it has disrupted medical care nationwide.

Many sick people have been forced to travel further and wait longer for care from public hospitals due to the strike, said Fidel Hadebe, spokesperson at the Department of Health.

In Gauteng province, some hospitals have discharged patients; elsewhere, volunteers have been brought in to make up for the staffing shortages, according to Simon Zwane, head of communication for the province’s Department of Health and Social Development. Army medical units have also been deployed to hospitals throughout the country to help.

“We’ve had to transfer patients out of Natalspruit Hospital,” Zwane said. “Those who are stable and recovering have gone home.”

The effect of the strike on those seeking care did not escape protesters at Charlotte Maxeke.

Nobuhle Tshayingca, a clerk and NEHAWU member, said she worried about the health of the patients inside the hospital, but also knew of no other way to fight for a salary.

“The people who are suffering most are the patients,” Tshayingca said. “We are not fighting against people that are sick.”

Deeper causes

Strikes over wages are not uncommon in South Africa, but this one is unusual in its size and scope, according to Lucien van der Walt, a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand.

“It’s not just nationwide but also industry-wide,” van der Walt said. “This is the biggest in quite a few years.”

In some ways, van der Walt said, the strike was inevitable, due to pay discrepancies between public and private health workers that are large even by African standards. Patient to staff ratios are also three times worse in public hospitals than in private, according to van der Walt.

Van der Walt, who has worked closely with NEHAWU in the past, said the government’s macroeconomic policy was also to blame for its inability to meet the striker’s wages, along with bureaucrats and ministers that failed to use their resource to address systemic problems.

“While the government says it doesn’t have the resources to meet the striker’s demands, its been giving out tax cuts and rebates over the years,” van der Walt said.

According to Hadebe, the government is aware of the vacancies and poor patient-to-doctor ratio within the public health service and is working to address them through pay raises, infrastructure improvement and efforts at career advancement.

“Individual departments are working on these issues, but we can’t solve them overnight,” Hadebe said.

International media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks South Africa’s press as among the freest on the continent. Two proposed new measures are drawing unfavourable comparisons to repressive laws in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.

Nigeria and Zimbabwe have their Official Secrets Acts. In Kenya, it’s called the Communications Bill.

And in South Africa, it would be called the Protection of Information Act (POI).

Across Africa – and beyond – governments have sought to control the media, be it through stiff penalties for disclosing or possessing leaked documents or the imposition of tribunals to oversee the press.

The POI gives broad powers to the government to classify almost any information involving an organ of state in the interests of national security. It prescribes penalties of up to 25 years in jail for those disclosing protected information, refusing to reveal their sources, or even attempting to uncover protected information.

The ruling African National Congress is also proposing the establishment of a Media Appeals Tribunal which would have the power to sanction journalists for misconduct.

“The media has put itself on the pedestal of being the guardian. We therefore have the right to ask, who is guarding the guardian?” South African president Jacob Zuma writes in a letter published on the ANC website. “All institutions, even parliament, have mechanisms in place to keep them in check.”

Media backlash

Both the tribunal and the proposed bill have come under fierce criticism from journalists and advocacy groups in South Africa and elsewhere.

“The broad language of the POI Bill would criminalise information-gathering methods essential to investigative journalism,” Ayesha Kajee, executive director of the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), told IPS. “It would chill the practice of this field of journalism essential to keeping the government accountable to the public.”

Both the POI Bill and the tribunal could also be considered unconstitutional, and would likely elicit an immediate legal challenge if passed, Kajee said.

In his letter, Zuma defended the proposal for the tribunals, and said that the ANC would respect the constitution’s guarantee of a free press.

“Let me reiterate that the ANC will never do anything that undermines the spirit of the Constitution of the Republic, and which erodes the dignity and rights of other people, regardless of their standing in society.”

In bad company

In opposing the twin proposals, press rights advocates have pointed out that laws and institutions such as those proposed in South Africa tend to be tools of repressive regimes.

“All the repressive countries have [media tribunals],” said Joe Thloloe. Thloloe is South Africa’s Press Ombudsman, responsible for settling complaints over violations of the press code adhered to by members of the country’s independent self-regulatory media body, the Press Council.

The ombudsman pointed to the press tribunal in neighbouring Zimbabwe, which has been used to jail journalists and restrict publications.

FXI’s Kajee said Zimbabwe’s Protection of Secrets Act resembles the draft POI Bill, and has been used to censor government officials as well as journalists.

“The ANC’s Media tribunal proposal is the latest in a series of attempts by various African governments to force the media under statutory regulation,” said Mohamed Keita, advocacy director for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

He said the ANC’s proposed tribunal was comparable to a 2008 effort in Botswana, which has not gone into effect due to resistance from hat country’s press.

In Ethiopia, the government closed down 13 publications in 2005, then passed the Proclamation Governing the Media in 2008, which Kajee said has since been used to threaten fines and defamation cases against media outlets.

A dozen journalists fled Ethiopia in 2009 after being intimidated, harassed or censored, according to a report from the CPJ, and there are currently five journalist imprisoned in the country, making it the second biggest jailer of reporters on the continent, after Eritrea.

Future effects

In South Africa, two systems are already in place for handling complaints about the media, Thloloe said. Complainants can pursue a court case, or take up a dispute with the ombudsman.

“The ANC argues that very few go to the courts because they can’t afford to, but it’s the government’s responsibility to reform the courts, and to make them cost less,” Thloloe said. “Two systems are in place. We don’t need a third.”

Besides the two methods of resolution, Tholoe said media organisations already practice a measure of self-regulation.

“Once a code is imposed outside the newsroom, it takes away the editors right to decide what to publish,” Tholoe said. “[Many] editors have already adopted codes of conduct.”

Despite ANC claims that it will not undermine the constitution if the POI Bill is passed, Kajee said the bill could have effects beyond the current government.

“It must be remembered that laws stay on the statute books long beyond the administration that passes them,” Kajee said. “There are no guarantees that [in the] future a more conservative, less liberal regime will not use the POI Bill in repressive ways.”