It’s time to debunk the myths surrounding environmental legislation, close the divide and look to the future, argues activist Muna Lakhani.

South Africa has some strange apartheid hangovers, and the area of environmental legislation is no exception, with a divide that is generally, although not exclusively, racial. on one side of this divide are white people who tend towards biocentrism and the need to protect a dwindling natural heritage. on the other side are black people who tend more towards anthropocentrism, the idea that humans are the central concern.