 No to new coal, a South African story. April 2016, the controversial Gupta family hurriedly leave South Africa, abandoning their pal Jacob Zuma with the bill for the incandler upgrades as ordered by the public protector and the constitutional court. The Guptas are off to Dubai, the monster capital built from fossil fuels. Many of the questions they leave behind may never be answered, but the phrase, state capture, is indelibly imprinted in the minds of concerned South Africans. There is a murky network of secret dirty deals that encircles our planet like a suffocating web. We know there are dirty deals going on in our backyard, but will we ever fully understand how these dirty deals fit into the global pattern of money grabbing malfeasance, trashing our planet like a spoiled brat trashing a favourite toy? We're talking about dirty deals where venal corporates get into bed with corrupt politicians. It happens the world over, and there's plenty of it in South Africa. But what makes the South African case even worse is that 93% of our electricity comes from some of the dirtiest coal on the planet. Dirty deals, dirty coal, that's the story here. Despite its relatively undeveloped industrial economy, South Africa is the world's 12th largest carbon dioxide emitter. How long is our economy and our precious ecology going to be held hostage to what Thomas L. Friedman calls fuels from hell? It's time for South Africa to join the countries of the world who are making the switch from fuels from hell to fuels from nature. The wind and the sun. And good reason too. After all, we have the third best solar potential in the world, and more than enough wind to get thousands of turbines pumping electricity through the veins of the national grid. And we already have a solid foundation in renewable energy development. There has never been a better time to break free from fossil fuels. Rising temperatures, a plummeting demand for fossil fuel, a massive global investment in renewable energy, and a growing pro-planet movement challenging governments to honour their climate pledges. These are the forces coming together into a perfect storm for good. But what is South Africa doing? Going in exactly the opposite direction. Two new giant power stations, Madoopy and Kusile, will lock us into a toxic embrace with dirty coal, releasing millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for the next 30 to 40 years. Continued reliance on coal will leave South Africa far behind global energy trends, contemplating a cursed future. We've all heard the inconvenient truth, and down here at the foot of Africa, it's potentially really bad. Water scarcity, agricultural collapse, food insecurity and the inevitable human calamities. This is what we've got to look forward to. Unless we do something about it now. And if this scenario isn't enough to make your hair stand on end, we now have the very real threat of nuclear and fracking projects that are ready to go, signed and sealed in secret deals with politicians and cahoots with the likes of the goopters, and dodgy Russians lurking in the wings. It may sound like a James Bond movie, but it isn't. It's real, and it's happening right here in South Africa, right now. Cartoonists and commentators have likened South Africa to the frog in the pot. Under the pot are a few glowing coals that warm it up gradually. The frog gets used to the heat and instead of leaping free becomes boiled frog. But it doesn't have to be like this. We can leap frog out of here. We can leap frog over the kind of mistakes made by other countries by staying clear of nuclear, by shying away from fracking, by getting rid of coal. We can leap frog out of here by turning to renewable energy or RE. RE is viable, reliable and ready to go. Now, every year the technology gets more advanced, more appropriate, cleaner and cheaper. The world's smartest nations are capitalising on this. Reskilling their workforces, creating clean energy jobs, flossing toxic carbon out of the planetary system. These countries are becoming leaders in the RE field. They are the future. We could be one of them. 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history. We can still turn the tide if we act now. Break Free is a network of fossil fuel affected communities, citizens and organisations. We're campaigning for South Africa to break free from fossil fuels, especially coal, and accelerate a just transition to a more sustainable energy model. We believe that financial institutions should divest from financing fossil fuels and reinvest in RE. Our mission is to tackle corruption and to promote transparency in the energy sector, to support affected communities, to call for food sovereignty and highlight the negative human impacts of coal and other fuels from hell. We want a greener future for our children, our grandchildren and our planet. We know that's what you want too. So, get involved in the Break Free South Africa campaign. Commit yourself to fuels from nature. Make your stand against fuels from hell.