Greenpeace activists scale Nelson Mandela Bridge
A group of Greenpeace Africa activists scaled the iconic Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg on Tuesday to protest against the continued use of coal to generate electricity.
The protest led to the closure of the iconic bridge in downtown Joburg.
The protest comes after the Department of Energy released the latest drafted integrated resource plan (IRP) on Monday, which includes coal-fired energy.
The IRP is the government's 20-year energy plan.
Greenpeace's Melita Steele says the inclusion of coal endangers the lives of many people.
"Greenpeace is absolutely against coal. Almost 90% of our electricity comes from coal at the moment and we are pushing for an transition away from coal towards renewable energy, so we are saying that new investments shouldn't being going to coal. It's completely irrational and existing coal should be phased out."
The activists scaled the bridge in a bid to place a banner that read 'More coal, more deaths' but the city's metro police and emergency services were deployed to the scene.
Johannesburg Metro Police Department spokesperson Wayne Minnaar says four people were arrested in connection with the protest.
"Two men, two women have been arrested for blocking the bridge illegally and for advertising illegally."
Steele says if any activist are charges the organisation will provide legal assistance.
"Greenpeace believes our right to a peaceful protest is at the core of our DNA and we wouldn't take measures to protest like this unless we believed that it's not critically to the country, so we will assess the charges and take it from there."
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