If someone had told me 18 years ago that not only, would I launch an almost two-decade campaign fighting for environmental justice, but I would also at the respectable age of 52 write my first book – a memoir/exposé no less – I would have laughed at them. But as the clock counts down to the end of 2021, that is exactly what I have done.
Please note R10.00 from each book sold will be donated to the Owl Rescue Centre.
Corruption is pervasive in both local and global authority structures. One need only glance at a newspaper, watch the news on TV, or browse X (formerly Twitter) to be bombarded with a constant stream of reports about government and corporate corruption and criminal activities. Her exploits earned her the moniker, the Brockovich of Boksburg by the Mail and Guardian. After the famous Erin Brockovich who was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) involving groundwater contamination in Hinkley, California.
about the book
Corruption in local and global authority structures is rife. One only has to look at social media posts to see the many reports of corruption doing the rounds. However, while many people suspect the widespread issue of corruption, few can prove there is any substance to their suspicions. But what if many of these allegations could be proven to be true?
This book details my 18-year battle to prove the corrupt relationship between officials, who have held the public’s trust through positions of great power and influence, and developers. These authorities include the MEC, at the then Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (GDACE), now the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) in South Africa, and the developers of a British Petroleum (BP) fuel station.
My tentative investigations and determination, against the odds, have at times put my life and well-being at risk, and are the reason I have been dubbed the ‘Brockovich of Boksburg’ by the Mail and Guardian. This book is the pièce de résistance, if you will, of my (almost) two decades of fighting for justice for the community and environment. Corruption destroys our environment, our water resources, and pollutes our lives, and unless we tell our stories, the world our children inherit will be governed by twisted networks of wickedness and void of integrity.
Fuelling Environmental Corruption unravels a web of intrigue involving bribery, clandestine meetings, court cases, arson and even murder. It details my harrowing private and public struggle to expose the murky, underground world of government and corporate collusion in the development and fuel sector.
The saga of the BP Libradene Filling Station on Rondebult Road in Boksburg represents a microcosm of the corruption and maladministration that has plagued the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (the erstwhile Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment or “GDACE”) for almost twenty years. What began as an innocuous objection to a filling station constructed in a wetland, opened a can of worms exposing over R 58 million worth of bribes paid by developers to officials and the MEC as appellate body of the Department.
The book takes the reader on a journey through the past 18 years of my life, a life that has bizarrely been almost singularly dedicated to exposing the fraud and corruption surrounding a petrol station built less than a kilometre from where I live in Boksburg.
This started out on solid grounds of environmental decision-making. The original application was refused. It was rigorously evaluated against a comprehensive checklist of factors, specifically pertinent to the siting of filling stations, and was found wanting. Dr Patricia Hanekom, wife of former ANC Minister of Tourism, Derek, in her capacity at the time as Head of Department, denied the application and informed the applicant accordingly.
However, this is not where the story ended and the fact that the petrol station is now in place and operating attests to this. This book documents what happened after the application was refused, exposing allegations of forgery, arson, bribery, and corruption, coupled with ad hominem attacks directed against me including attempts to even attach my home.
Despite this, I have persisted, virtually alone and at considerable personal financial and psychological expense, in trying to seek redress for this environmental injustice.
Fueling Environmental Corruption is a riveting book detailing my harrowing private and public struggle to expose the murky world of government and corporate collusion, which includes alleged murder, fraud, bribery and threats to myself and others. It unravels the intricate web of corruption between officials and the MEC at the then GDACE and the Directors of Petro Props – the company that owns the fuel station. Its intention is to highlight the festering corruption that permeates the relationship between developers and the officials in government – and more importantly how that corruption destroys our environment, our water resources and pollutes our lives.
Please note R10.00 from each book sold will be donated to the Owl Rescue Centre.
Corruption is pervasive in both local and global authority structures. One need only glance at a newspaper, watch the news on TV, or browse X (formerly Twitter) to be bombarded with a constant stream of reports about government and corporate corruption and criminal activities. Her exploits earned her the moniker, the Brockovich of Boksburg by the Mail and Guardian. After the famous Erin Brockovich who was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) involving groundwater contamination in Hinkley, California.
about the book
Corruption in local and global authority structures is rife. One only has to look at social media posts to see the many reports of corruption doing the rounds. However, while many people suspect the widespread issue of corruption, few can prove there is any substance to their suspicions. But what if many of these allegations could be proven to be true? This book details my 18-year battle to prove the corrupt relationship between officials, who have held the public’s trust through positions of great power and influence, and developers.
These authorities include the MEC, at the then Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (GDACE), now the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) in South Africa, and the developers of a British Petroleum (BP) fuel station. My tentative investigations and determination, against the odds, have at times put my life and well-being at risk, and are the reason I have been dubbed the ‘Brockovich of Boksburg’ by the Mail and Guardian.
This book is the pièce de résistance, if you will, of my (almost) two decades of fighting for justice for the community and environment. Corruption destroys our environment, our water resources, and pollutes our lives, and unless we tell our stories, the world our children inherit will be governed by twisted networks of wickedness and void of integrity.
Fuelling Environmental Corruption unravels a web of intrigue involving bribery, clandestine meetings, court cases, arson and even murder. It details my harrowing private and public struggle to expose the murky, underground world of government and corporate collusion in the development and fuel sector.
This started out on solid grounds of environmental decision-making. The original application was refused. It was rigorously evaluated against a comprehensive checklist of factors, specifically pertinent to the siting of filling stations, and was found wanting. Dr Patricia Hanekom, wife of former ANC Minister of Tourism, Derek, in her capacity at the time as Head of Department, denied the application and informed the applicant accordingly.
However, this is not where the story ended and the fact that the petrol station is now in place and operating attests to this. This book documents what happened after the application was refused, exposing allegations of forgery, arson, bribery, and corruption, coupled with ad hominem attacks directed against me including attempts to even attach my home.
Despite this, I have persisted, virtually alone and at considerable personal financial and psychological expense, in trying to seek redress for this environmental injustice.
Fueling Environmental Corruption is a riveting book detailing my harrowing private and public struggle to expose the murky world of government and corporate collusion, which includes alleged murder, fraud, bribery and threats to myself and others. It unravels the intricate web of corruption between officials and the MEC at the then GDACE and the Directors of Petro Props – the company that owns the fuel station. Its intention is to highlight the festering corruption that permeates the relationship between developers and the officials in government – and more importantly how that corruption destroys our environment, our water resources and pollutes our lives.
If someone had told me 18 years ago that not only, would I launch an almost two-decade campaign fighting for environmental justice, but I would also at the respectable age of 52 write my first book – a memoir/exposé no less – I would have laughed at them. But as the clock counts down to the end of 2021, that is exactly what I have done.
The adage ‘time waits for no man’, was something I was forced to reflect on while wading through thousands of pages of documents and sorting through the events of my life as laid out in my book – it kept ticking over regardless.
My life has been like a game of twister, it is a game that challenges you to put your hands and feet at different places on a mat without falling over. Be the last player standing and you are the winner! As I move one way my opponents move another, however, my determination to be the last man standing in the battle against corruption between the officials at the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Petro props/British Petroleum is unwavering.
I have no publishing accolades to my name nor any notable achievements in the esteemed world of academia, what I do have is an overwhelming desire to see justice done and the environment saved and preserved for future generations. This cannot be achieved however if we do not expose and eradicate corruption in the development sector.
This book represents but a snapshot of my life and what I’ve accomplished. However, I have yet to reach the pinnacle to success. That will only be achieved the day I am able to secure the criminal prosecution of the corrupt officials and their corporate counterparts who are featured in this book. The revelations herein are aimed at taking the first tentative steps in that direction.
