[2] In 2018 McDaid and Lekalakala received the Nick Steele Memorial Award for their work in winning a crucial court case to halt plans by the South African government to proceed with a national nuclear build programme.
She shared the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa alongside Makoma Lekalakala for their efforts in 2017 to use the legal system to block a Russian-South African nuclear deal.
McDaid and Lekalakala were given the Nick Steele Memorial Award in 2018 for their efforts in defeating the South African government's ambitions to move through with a national nuclear build program by successfully arguing a key legal matter.
Together, the two women developed a plan to challenge the project, including President Zuma himself, on the grounds that the agreement was secret and had bypassed legal procedures without public consultation or parliamentary debate.
Lekalakala and McDaid's legal triumph was a landmark victory that protected South Africa from the severe development of nuclear infrastructure, which would have had long-lasting environmental, health, and financial consequences for future generations.