Milieudefensie — the Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth that won a high-profile 2021 ruling against Shell — has been thrown into crisis after long-time director Donald Pols briefly joined Tata Steel and was sacked when reports revealed his involvement with a pro-apartheid student group in the early 1990s. Pols apologised and said he has changed; Milieudefensie’s supervisory board acknowledged being told of his past in 2021. The scandal prompted the mass resignation of the supervisory board, which said it stepped down to remove distractions and refocus on climate justice.
Pro-Apartheid Past of Ex-Milieudefensie Chief Sparks Crisis After One-Day Tata Steel Tenure
Donald Pols is in the news again, but for different reasons than usual (Jeroen JUMELET)(Jeroen JUMELET/ANP/AFP)
Milieudefensie, the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth that secured a landmark 2021 court ruling against Shell, has been plunged into turmoil after its long-time executive director, Donald Pols, briefly joined Tata Steel and was dismissed a day later amid revelations about his pro-apartheid activity as a young man.
Pols, 54 and born in South Africa, led Milieudefensie for 11 years and rose to prominence after the group's court victory that forced Shell to cut carbon emissions — a decision that was later partially overturned and remains the subject of ongoing litigation.
The controversy began when Pols announced he would leave Milieudefensie to become Tata Steel Netherlands' director of sustainability and communications. His move prompted immediate criticism from some quarters who questioned how a campaigner known for pressuring individual polluters could accept a corporate role at one of the Netherlands' largest industrial emitters.
Milieudefensie’s supervisory board, led by Marty Smits, initially expressed surprise and disappointment and said it had no understanding of Pols's decision. Tata Steel welcomed the hire, saying it valued a critical perspective within the company. Hans van den Berg, chairman of Tata Steel Netherlands, commented that Pols had "kept us on our toes for years."
Pols formally started at Tata Steel on June 1 but was dismissed on June 2 after the company said "additional information about his background" had emerged. That same day, Dutch newspaper NRC published an interview and archival material showing that, as a 19-year-old student at the University of Pretoria in the early 1990s, Pols had led a far-right group called the Afrikaner Studente Front (ASF).
According to the NRC report, the ASF used Nazi symbolism and disrupted speeches by black South African leaders, including Nelson Mandela. The group reportedly advocated for a separate homeland for white Afrikaners. NRC cited a 1991 quote attributed to a young Pols: "This is our country, and we will not allow it to be taken from us in such a dictatorial manner," and attributed another line: "The only way to prevent a bloodbath is to give the Afrikaner a fatherland of their own."
Historian Anne-Lot Hoek uncovered Pols's involvement while researching a book on apartheid and alerted NRC. In the published interview, Pols said he was ashamed of his "reprehensible behaviour," accepted responsibility, and insisted he is not the person he was three decades ago.
The revelations reignited questions about what Milieudefensie knew and when. Smits said Pols had informed him in 2021 about his past and had distanced himself from it and expressed regret. Nonetheless, the dispute intensified; two days after the NRC story, Smits and the entire supervisory board resigned, saying they stepped down to remove internal distractions so the organisation could stay focused on accelerating climate justice.
This episode has prompted wider debate in the Netherlands about redemption, accountability, and whether past political extremism should preclude people from public or corporate roles decades later. Milieudefensie now faces the dual challenge of defending its record on climate litigation while restoring internal stability and public trust.
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