Ndivhuwo Khangale

A South African community leader who mobilized grassroots efforts to halt destructive mining projects and protect indigenous water rights.

Ndivhuwo Khangale emerged as a key figure in South Africa’s environmental justice movement after mining operations threatened her ancestral Limpopo community’s water supply in 2020. A former teacher turned activist, she founded Limpopo Water Guardians, a coalition that used traditional knowledge and legal advocacy to halt a controversial platinum mine. Khangale’s campaign combined drone-based environmental monitoring with ancestral land mapping, techniques later adopted by global NGOs like Global WaterNet. Her 2023 TEDx talk, ‘Water is Life: Indigenous Resistance in the Anthropocene,’ highlighted intersectional environmentalism, connecting land rights with climate justice. Khangale also pioneered the ‘Rainwater Sovereignty Project,’ a decentralized water harvesting system now replicated in 15 African countries. Her book 《Earth’s Defenders》 (co-authored with ecologist Dr. Zanele Mkhize) became a textbook in African environmental studies programs. In 2024, she received the African Green Hero Award, recognizing her role in shaping South Africa’s new Mining Charter Act 2025.