grantees » Thabang Ngcozela

Thabang is a long-time activist for justice from the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Already consciously engaged against apartheid in high school, he realized human rights issues also extended to environmental sustainability. He is fully committed, often working late nights and weekends. His nominator, Stephen Law, commends his natural ability “to bring diverse groups together to learn, share and strategize with each other around environmental issues”. He also founded the Ilitha Lomso Chidren and Youth Foundation and the Khayelitsha Environment and Tourism Forum. Heavily involved in water and climate change issues, Thabang is an active communicator and networker for EMG.

Determined to empower his community’s everyday reality, Thabang followed many courses surrounding teaching and organizational development, and travelled extensively to participate and present in strategic seminars. As one of the first JWH grantees, he won the People’s Choice Award at JWHi’s opening ceremony in Amsterdam. Today, Thabang continues to be an effective spokesman, representing his organization on the South African Civil Society Water Caucus, the African Rivers Network, and the Coalition for Environmental Justice.