By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Using the knowledge gained in the anti-apartheid struggle, two South African women challenged a secret, multibillion-dollar nuclear deal that would have dotted South Africa with nuclear power plants from Russia.
The women, Makoma Lekalakala and Liziwe McDaid, waged a five-year court battle against the plants. Against all odds, including a secret agreement between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and former President Jacob Zuma, the High Court ruled on April 26, 2017 that the $76 billion nuclear power project was unconstitutional – a landmark legal victory that protected South Africa from an unprecedented expansion of the nuclear industry and production of radioactive waste.