Cape Town - Most will spend this weekend preparing spoils for their mothers and motherly figures for Mother’s Day.
However, Extinction Rebellion (XR) Cape Town and its supporters are gearing up for a Mothers Rise Up protest to spotlight the struggle mothers endure as they and their children bear the brunt of the climate crisis.
Tomorrow, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, aunties and allies will gather in front of the National Gallery by the Company’s Garden in Cape Town from 10.30am for a “Performance Protest”.
That includes a pram parade through the gardens (weather permitting) and speeches by women from various backgrounds as they reflect on what mothers “really want” on Mother’s Day.
XR Cape Town said this includes standing in solidarity with activists across coastlines who are calling for an end to the exploitation of offshore oil and gas. The protest will also touch on the hard decision many are faced with of whether or not to bring children into the world.
XR Cape Town spokespersons Jacqui Tooke and Judy Scott-Goldman said: “It’s Mother’s Day, and companies are trying to convince us that chocolates, flowers and fluffy slippers make mothers happy.
“But the essence of motherhood is bringing up children, and what truly makes a mother happy is when her children are fed, healthy and heading into a bright future.
“Many mothers do not have that comfort this Mother’s Day as worldwide floods, droughts and heatwaves caused by climate change are upending people’s lives and increasing poverty.”
Some mothers from Cape Town spoke to the Cape Argus to share why they will be supporting the protest. Leigh Meinert, a mother from the Cape Town Unitarian community will be attending the action along with her 11-year-old son.
Meinhert said, “I don’t want gifts for Mother’s Day or anything that is bought. What would mean the most to me are handmade cards from my children and for the government to start taking decisive action to address the climate crisis.” Meinert said women bore a disproportionate amount of the burden of care. This included the provision of physical care for loved ones, but also support for their emotional, mental and spiritual well-being.
“The growing climate crisis that governments seem to be impervious to, is affecting us all on all of these levels – and women especially,” Meinert said.
Cele Esau, a mother fighting for climate justice and a lay leader for social justice at Cape Town Unitarians, said: “I’m very excited that we’re going to have an opportunity to have our voices heard and to say that the effects of pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate chaos are very real.
“To stand up and say, ‘don’t destroy our coastline’, particularly those of us in Cape Town where the mountain and the sea are so pivotal to who we are as Capetonians and which we definitely want to preserve for our children.”
kristin.engel@inl.co.za