OBITUARY: Environmental justice warrior Desmond D’Sa returns to Mother Earth
Forced from his childhood home under apartheid, he spent half a century organising the people of Wentworth against the industrial giants that poisoned their neighbourhood. He closed a toxic landfill, won the Goldman Environmental Prize and never stopped fighting.
Desmond D’Sa, the environmental justice warrior, passed away on October 29, 2026, at the age of 70, after a lifetime of fighting for his community in South Africa. Born in 1956 in Cato Manor, Durban, D’Sa was forced to leave his childhood home under apartheid and spent half a century organizing the people of Wentworth against the industrial giants that polluted their neighborhood. His activism culminated in leading a protest at Eskom’s Durban offices, where he was tragically killed in a vehicle collision.
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