Since the news of Environmental Affairs Minister Dr Edna Molewa’s passing, tributes from around the world have been pouring in acknowledging the late minister’s contribution to the fight for a cleaner world.

Molewa passed away on Saturday 22 September 2018 at the age of 61 following a brief battle with a virus she contracted on a trip to China.

The late minister has been described Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, Barbara Thompson and Director-General of Environmental Affairs as Nosipho Ngcaba a true champion of conservation.

A short summary of her success

Molewa will be remembered for many things. Some of the successful initiatives she pioneered and championed include:

• The Department of Environmental Affairs’ Recycling Enterprise Support Programme
• Cabinet’s 2014 adoption of the integrated strategic management of rhinos
• South Africa becoming a signatory to the implementation of the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Protection and the Minamata Convention for the phasing out of mercury
• Advocating for a science-based approach to conservation and biodiversity decision-making that resulted in the transfer of the National Zoological Gardens from the National Research Foundation to the South African Biodiversity Institute
• Heading up the lead department driving Operation Phakisa: Oceans Economy
• The drafting and adoption of South Africa’s national climate-change response policy in 2011
• Working tirelessly to tirelessly to ensure that the historic Paris Agreement to Combat Climate Change was adopted

Warm words for the Molewa

As tributes continue to stream in it is clear that Molewa’s loss has been felt the world over.

“What Molewa will best be remembered for is her contribution to the global fight against climate change. A week before she took ill, she delivered the annual climate lecture at the prestigious Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University in Beijing, the first African leader to do so.” – Barbara Thompson Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, and Nosipho Ngcaba, Director-General of Environmental Affairs.

“Edna Molewa’s death shook us all, but her work to ensure a climate safe world will outlast us all.In the diplomatic heat of the Paris climate conference we were lucky to have her alongside…Let’s be in no doubt: South Africa was an instrumental player in delivering the deal in 2015, not only as chair of G77 but also as guardian of the Durban platform.” – Laurent Fabius, honorary UN Environment Patron on Environmental Governance, and Laurence Tubiana, CEO European Climate Foundation.

“We acknowledge the significant contribution Minister Molewa made to the environmental cause in South Africa. It is worth noting that under her watch there has been a decline in rhino deaths over the past three years.” – WWF South Africa.

The African National Congress (ANC)’s 10 days of mourning for the late Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa will officially commence on Friday.