When lawyer Kirsten Youens first got involved in the fight against mining in northern KwaZulu-Natal, she did it to protect the Hluhluwe/iMfolozi Park, where an application for a coal mine just 250m away from the iconic reserve’s border was under way.
That was in 2014.
When she got on the ground, however, the realisation quickly struck that the anti-mining battle went beyond just the environment – it went to the very heart of people’s lives.
“I initially got involved because I was trying to help protect the wilderness area. But the more I got to know the community in the area, I realised, probably for the first time, that environmental rights and human rights are linked,” she said.
The community she met with – organised under the banner of Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation – then introduced her to another community on the other side of the river, which was also fighting against a mining rights application in their area.
She said she had since built “amazing relationships” with individuals in the affected communities and with those communities as a whole.
Youens has since gone on to litigate on behalf of those communities, with one application pending an appeal with the Constitutional Court. She’s spoken to residents of the area, heard their stories and witnessed first-hand how the mining on their doorsteps has affected their lives.
And it was these two cases – the Fuleni and Somkele mines – that triggered the formation of an all-woman, not-for-profit, environmental law firm, ALL RISE, which was launched on Wednesday.
Youens and another attorney, Janice Tooley, who have worked together for several years on various environmental and community matters, are the two directors and founders of the firm. Lihle Mbokazi is the liaison manager who, together with another associate Sheila Berry of the Global Environmental Trust, will handle community meetings and training, provide trauma counselling and facilitate access to security measures offered by partner organisations.
ALL RISE officially started before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic but as a registered NPO. The official registration as a law clinic came into effect in February this year.
“Being witness to the injustices in northern KZN was the turning point for us, and where our law careers became our passion. We realised the positive impact we could have on thousands of people who don’t have access to the information or legal support they need to advocate for their own rights. And that we could play the role of educator, rights defender and ally.
“Combining our environmental and human rights activism with the law has made us even more committed to our profession. We will continue to fight on behalf of those who can’t. And we will bring about the changes that we envision. Both for people and for the planet,” said Youens.
According to her, ALL RISE are the “only pro bono attorneys in the province working exclusively in the environmental field”.
“It is one of a few in the country assisting communities and organisations assert their constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing.
“This all-woman legal team consists of passionate and experienced attorneys who represent those who cannot afford legal services. ALL RISE takes on other matters of public interest, offering legal advice on a range of environmental and climate change issues, litigating when necessary, and providing representation in environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes and administrative appeals.
Being witness to the injustices in northern KZN was the turning point for us and where our law careers became our passion.
— Kirsten Youens
Speaking to Sunday Times Daily on Wednesday, Youens said one of the key projects the firm took up was creating an isiZulu training guide to help communities through the EIA process, enabling them to ask the right questions and get the right answers, when promises are made by companies and developers wanting to come into their communities.
“There’s often a divide between organisations that are fundamentally based on human rights and those fundamentally based on conservation, but I think with the climate justice movement there’s become a much better understanding that you can’t have one without the other.
“Some people are only interested in the game reserve, and some are more interested in the people side of things. For me, personally, I realised that I cared about both. Working in these areas it was vital to combine everyone,” said Youens.
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