Coronationville Hall was packed on Monday evening. Residents came to get answers from officials about the water supply in their areas. Photos: Silver Sibiya

People from Westbury, Westdene, Claremont, and Hursthill want a permanent solution to their water woes

By Silver Sibiya this post was first published on GroundUp

• Frustrated residents from Westbury, Westdene, Claremont, and Hursthill met with officials from Johannesburg Water and City of Johannesburg on Monday evening.
• They complained about water troubles in their neighbourhoods while several officials from Johannesburg Water and City listened.
• Some people from Claremont said their taps have been dry for four months.
• Johannesburg Water confirmed that the City will be investing in building infrastructure to mitigate some water problems.

About 200 frustrated residents from Westbury, Westdene, Clairmont, and Hursthill filled the Coronationville Hall on Monday evening to voice their unhappiness that they have not had consistent running water for years.

One-by-one residents stood up and complained about water troubles in their communities while several officials from Johannesburg Water and City listened.

Anistine Watson from Claremont said her 60-unit block of flats has not had reliable water supply for two years, but for the past four months their taps have been completely dry.

Community leader, Bianca Olivier, questioned why officials had even come to the meeting if no one had answers for when their water would be switched on again. “They are only telling us of water trucks and Jojo tanks. But the water trucks don’t come to the community every single day,” she said.

She warned that they would “take to the streets” again should their taps remain dry.

Two weeks ago GroundUp reported on a protest by residents from these communities where they shut down a few busy roads and caused disruptions to Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa hospitals. At the time City of Johannesburg manager Floyd Brink admitted that there had been problems and promised that water would be restored in three days. But this never happened, says residents.

As Johannesburg Water’s managing director, Ntshavheni Mukwevho started speaking at the meeting, he was repeatedly interrupted by residents shouting insults and some walking to the stage to try and confront him.

Mukwevho told residents that the Hursthill reservoirs supplied water to areas in the west of Johannesburg, including Coronationville and Westbury. For these reservoirs to get water, the reservoirs in Meredale, which remains almost empty, must be at least 20% full or ideally above 40%, he said.

He said the City is investing in infrastructure to mitigate some of these issues. “The City is going to build a new pump station and bulk pipeline from the reservoir to this area to make sure the bulk infrastructure is sufficient.

“When the systems were healthy across Joburg it was fine, but now to get it to 40% plus is very difficult because the demand surpasses supply,” he said.

Responding to residents’ complaints that the neighbouring Slovo Park community had an uninterrupted water supply, Mukwevho explained that it was not part of Hursthill reservoir 1 or 2. “The areas are supplied by Brixton Tower and Crosby Reservoir.”

Every day Joburg Water shuts down about 25 reservoirs at scheduled times for “the system to recover”. He said they will know in January whether they can drill boreholes at the Hursthill reservoirs to supplement water supply.

Council speaker Nobuhle Mthembu said officials met last week to discuss ways to improve the water woes across the metro. At this meeting it was decided that they would start a massive project to repair and build proper water infrastructure next year. “We received a petition from this community about the water issues. We then realised that the [information] we get for some reason isn’t shared with the community,” she said.

At the end of the meeting, residents agreed to select representatives from each area to sit on a committee tasked with engaging officials regularly on water issues in their communities.

The post Angry residents confront Johannesburg Water officials appeared first on Vuka News.

A shepherd lets sheep out to graze in the early morning. The commonage in Upington is hot and dry. There is very little for livestock to graze.

Small-scale livestock farmers in Upington using municipal owned common land face severe water and grazing shortages.
The farmers pay fees but say they receive minimal support as they struggle with water scarcity and frequent livestock theft.
A 2022 draft policy to empower emerging farmers and manage the common land has never been implemented.

Small livestock farmers on common land in Upington are desperate for water. The farmers’ kraals and grazing areas are on municipal commonage in this hot and arid town south of the Kalahari desert.

The Hondejag commonage lies between the townships of Rosedale and Paballelo. It is owned by the Dawid Kruiper Municipality, and according to draft municipal policy, which dates from 2022, it is to be used for the “empowerment of emerging farmers within the municipal area” and the “alleviation of poverty by making land available to poor residents”. This policy has yet to be applied.

Little grows on the sandy plains. And most of the 80 or so farmers on the commonage do not have access to water at their kraals for sheep, goats and cattle. There are communal water tanks supplied by the municipality, but the farmers say there is little water in the tanks.

Andre van Wyk, who farms on the Rosedale side of the commonage, said that the pressure in the water tanks is very bad and water only dribbles out, if at all. It is worst on hot days, he said.

“We are dependent on the vegetation,” said Van Wyk.

Andre van Wyk fills his tank with water that he had to fetch from home. He said that water pressure is very low.

Farmers have resorted to fetching water from their homes and carting it daily with their trucks to their thirsty livestock.

Rosedale farmers are also battling frequent livestock theft. There is no fencing.

Carl Stevens say she lost about 64 of his livestock in January.

They were either stolen or just lost, said Stevens. “My heart is sore.”

Farmer Frankie Koopman wondered how the municipality expected them to farm enough to export and make a livelihood.

“It is any person’s desire to make your farming successful, so it can provide for you. No one wants to farm just for the sake of it,” he said.

Carl Stevens said that over 60 of his livestock were either stolen or lost in January.

On the Paballelo side, farmers’ kraals are lined up next to one another and they are cramped. When the farmers were moved here they were told it was only temporary. That was in 2013.

“Look at how many people are here. There is no grazing here anymore. It is very cramped. There is nothing here anymore,” said farmer Paulina September.

Overgrazing and lack of water makes it difficult for the emerging farmers to feed their livestock. Yet they pay a fee to the municipality for each animal for use of the commonage.

“For eight months I haven’t had water here. There is no water,” said farmer Mangaliso Mashiyi. “Can they not take us somewhere where there is wetter ground?”

Mashiyi said the day they have access to water, they will have no trouble paying their bills.

Maria Lankalebalela has to transport bales of feed as there isnt enough food for the animals to graze on. She says that she is also struggling with access to water.

Aaron Ranayeke, a representative of the small-scale farmers at the Trust for Community Outreach and Education, said the draft commonage policy from 2022 would give the farmers more power to make decisions about the land. But the municipality had delayed implementing it.

“The municipality is running away from that power,” said Ranayeke.

The draft policy sets out a framework for the management of the commonage through a “Commonage Committee”. It is to consist of commonage users, representatives of the municipality and the departments of agriculture, water and SAPS. This committee will make recommendations to the municipal council.

Every commonage is also to have a management committee with emerging farmers as members. The management committee would be responsible for managing the commonage and reporting to the Commonage Committee.

There isn’t always water available for the animals when they return from grazing in the field.

The acting district manager of the Northern Cape Department of Agriculture’s directorate for Agricultural Producer Support and Development, Andres Majaja, said that the management of the commonage is the “sole responsibility” of the Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality .

Majaja said the last commonage committee meeting for Dawid Kruiper Municipality was held on 14 February 2014. A meeting to revive the Commonage Committee was held on the 19 September 2024, but only two farmers attended the meeting, and “the meeting didn’t reach a desired outcome”.

He said the reason the meeting was badly attended was because the municipality had postponed meetings with the farmers so many times.

Another meeting, where farmers were due to address the council, was cancelled. The farmers were told this when they arrived at the municipal buildings.

Majaja said the fees farmers are paying to the municipality are for the use of grazing. The funds should be applied to maintain fences and stock water systems on commonage farms.

“On municipal grazing land, there are no sustainable agricultural management practices followed, and these grazing areas tend to be the first to show signs of drought when conditions are unfavourable,” he said.

Dawid Kruiper municipality spokesperson Patrick Williams promised to respond to GroundUp’s questions but had not done so at the time of publication, despite numerous follow-ups.

About 80 small-scale farmers live on commonage land in Upington. The area is hot with very little rain.

The post Upington farmers are desperate for water appeared first on Vuka News.

Mtyhintyini Mayirheni borehole station which supplies seven villages was vandalised six years ago, allegedly by municipal workers. Photos: Nombulelo Damba- Hendrik

Numerous villages in Mbinzana, Eastern Cape, have not had water for many years because their boreholes are inoperative.
We visited eight boreholes and all had serious issues.
Community leaders claim vital equipment was removed by municipal workers, with one official dismissed and another resigning following these allegations.
Villagers are forced to buy water from private trucks or use donkeys to collect water from streams.

Most of the 15 villages in the Mbinzana area around Cofimvaba, Eastern Cape, have been without running water for many years.

Bulelwa Ganyaza, Chris Hani District Municipality spokesperson, says the ward 4 villages are largely supplied by boreholes, but because of theft and vandalism of generators, pumps and electrical cables, the boreholes cannot function.

Villagers buy water at R2,500 per 5,000 litres from private trucks, or they hire donkeys for R20 to R100, depending on the load, to fetch water from the Indwe River and the Lubisi dam.

Nkosi Mdengentonga Thembalakhe Liwani, the headman elected by the community in 2010, said they begged the municipality for years to assist them. They asked for water tanks in 2020, but these were never supplied. The community then appealed to the national Department of Water and Sanitation for help.

The Singeni pump station, which supplies about 30 households, has not been working for the past five months due to a lack of diesel.

In November community leaders took Thembilizwi Macatshaza, an official from the national department, for a tour of their inoperative boreholes. We visited eight boreholes. All had serious issues.

The first borehole was in Singeni village, which supplies about 30 households. Resident Bulelani Kama said they ran out of diesel months ago to operate it.

A pipeline, laid two years ago from Lubisi Dam, was intended to supply additional households. But the pipeline ends just five metres from the pump station and has never been connected.

“We are really struggling. We want clean water,” said Kama.

Two kilometres further in EMasimini is a borehole with a pump station that supplies three villages, but its generator was removed in 2021 by unknown people.

A third borehole, at Mtyhintyini Mayirheni pump station, which is meant to supply 50 households and seven more villages, including Singeni and EMasimini to which it is connected, has not been working for the past six years.

Headman Liwani said a resident saw municipal workers, who were driving a municipal truck, remove the power generator. He said they contacted the district municipality and it was returned, but a battery was missing.

Ganyaza said, “The district municipality does open cases with SAPS across the district whenever there is an occurrence that requires such. However regarding this particular incident, internal processes immediately ensued … with one official subsequently dismissed, while another resigned.”

Next was Emabaleni village, where the borehole has a working generator, but no diesel. The borehole supplies one tap shared by about 30 households. Community chairperson Khathazile Danileyo said they go for “years” without diesel.

The many elderly residents in this village in Mbinzana find it very hard to rotate the plate wheel to pump water.

The fifth borehole we visited is operated by a plate wheel. Only the physically strongest in the community can rotate it and it takes time and great effort to fill a 5,000 litre tank.

The power generator at Xabisweni, meant to supply four villages, was also allegedly removed by municipal officials. It was electric and meant to replace a diesel generator, but was removed before it was ever connected.

Holi village, on the way to Lady Frere, last had water supplied in 2014, because the power generator there isn’t working properly, according to ward committee member Nolungisile Matholengwe.

Matholengwe said they reported it but it was never fixed.

“We are really struggling with water … The sad reality is that most people here are pensioners who can’t afford to buy water from the trucks. They rely on donkeys and that water is not clean,” she said.

On the borehole tour, community leaders said that even though most boreholes were not functioning, water operators were still being paid stipends every month.

They asked Macatshaza to compel the district municipality to at least fix the main borehole (the eighth on our tour) which supplies all 15 villages and some from another ward.

Macatshaza said the district municipality said the old and new power generators at Xabisweni had been stolen. But water operator Shekile Moyikwa said he had been present when the generators were taken by municipal officials.

Danileyo asked Macatshaza why, if the generators had been stolen, no case had been opened with the police.

Macatshaza did not respond to this. He said the district municipality had said water is being delivered to the area by truck.

Resident Mcebisi Maya disputed this. “We recently had a funeral at home. We contacted the municipality asking to be assisted with water. They only promised, but did not deliver. We had to buy water.”

Macatshaza told villagers that he would report his findings back to the department.

Ganyaza said the district municipality is busy replacing the stolen engines.

She said the district provides a water carting service but admitted it is inadequate given the vastness of the area.

Comment from the national Department of Water will be added if received.

This is where Xabisweni residents have to get their water.

The post We visited eight boreholes in Cofimvaba: not one of them is operational appeared first on Vuka News.

this post was first published by Centre for Environmental Rights

IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Court Victory – No new coal fired power

The North Gauteng High Court, on 4 December, handed down judgment in the landmark constitutional litigation against the South African government’s decision to procure 1 500 MW of new coal-fired power. The court declared the decision unlawful and invalid, on the basis that there was insufficient consultation with, and consideration of, the harms and limitation of rights of present and future generations that could follow from building new coal electricity generation.

Dubbed the Cancel Coal case, it was launched by three civil society organisations – the youth-led  African Climate Alliance (ACA), the community-based Highveld group, the Vukani Environmental Justice Movement in Action (VEM) and groundWork (gW), represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), against the former Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy (the Minister) and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).

In addition to declaring the Minister’s 2020 determination to procure the new-build coal power, and NERSA’s concurrence thereto, unlawful and invalid, the court also held that the portion of the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that provides for this new coal generation is unlawful and invalid. This is because this section of the IRP does not pass the test of legality, there being no evidence that the Minister adequately considered the limitation of rights of children due to health and environmental harms of coal combustion for electricity.

The court further found no evidence that the rights of children [and future generations] had been adequately considered when the Minister and NERSA made the decision to procure coal-fired power. This was in contravention of their constitutional obligation to consider  the best interests of the child – as defined in section 28 of the Constitution.

The review application, launched in November 2021, highlights the findings of international research, such as the recently published Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which confirms the need to urgently cut greenhouse gas emissions in light of the precarious state of our climate, as well as a series of in-depth expert analyses of the consequences of new coal-fired power specific to South Africa local expert reports document the unnecessary cost and job losses, climate harms and impacts on social, physical and mental health and well-being for people living in South Africa, now and in the future.

The burning of coal is one of the biggest contributors to global climate change, in addition to unacceptable health impacts caused by air and water pollution. Given the nature of the climate crisis with its intensifying impacts, it is children and future generations who will bear the brunt of the climate harms caused by the ongoing burning of fossil fuels.

[ENDS]

For further information contact: babdinor@cer.org.za 

The post PRESS RELEASE: COURT RULES NO NEW COAL FIRED POWER appeared first on Vuka News.

the post Community Members Now Fed Up with Half-Decade-Long Makhanda Water Crisis appeared first on Karibu – A Working Class News.

By Nolusindiso Baliti 

For over five years, the community of Makhanda has been struggling with a severe water crisis.

Despite numerous complaints, protests, and community meetings, the local municipality has failed to act in the community’s interest.

In the past, the Gift of the Givers organisation provided some form of relief to the communities by delivering water to households, schools, and health facilities. However, their support has stopped, leaving many areas without water for weeks.
Community members are suffering a lot. Mr Lubabalo Bovuka (34), a father of two, explained that the lack of water affects his family’s daily life. “We can’t flush our toilets, and when the water truck arrives, the lines are long, and we often don’t get any water,” he said. “Our children get sick from drinking water from the tanks, suffering from vomiting, diarrhoea, and rash,” explained Bavuka.

The residents who don’t have access to water tanks are forced to rely on wells for water supply. However, the cleanliness and safety of well water are not guaranteed, sometimes it causes a serious risk of cholera which is a big health risk to those who use the water from the wells.

Nwabisa Mhlahla (31), a Makhanda resident, is also concerned about the ongoing water crises. “The situation is getting worse by the day, we need the municipality to find a solution to this water problem, our community deserves access to clean and safe water,” said Mhlahla.

It’s heartbreaking that women, children, and the elderly are suffering the most from the water crisis. Women spend all day queuing with buckets, waiting for water. The community in Makanda urgently needs help to solve this water problem.

This article was submitted on 27 November 2024. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.

The post Community Members Now Fed Up with Half-Decade-Long Makhanda Water Crisis appeared first on Vuka News.

The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation’s outreach programme is likely to reach 100,000 children this year. Photo: Renée Bonorchis

The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation’s outreach programme is likely to reach 100,000 children this year.
The Foundation, which has about 3,000 schools on its database, teaches children about the ocean and what they can do to preserve it.
One of its goals is to reach schools inland, where children may never have seen the sea.

On weekday mornings, staff from the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation often head to schools in Cape Town’s poorer areas to teach learners about the ocean and what they can do to preserve it.

In the financial year to February 2024, the education department of the Foundation, now named Ocean Campus, reached 70,000 children in the Western Cape. This financial year, the staff expect to reach 100,000 children, says Ocean Campus head Leigh Meinert.

From early childhood development puppet shows, online courses, and teaching in classrooms, the staff are pulling back the surface of the ocean and helping young people to understand a little about what lies beneath and why it’s important.

Some of the children they meet will find their passion and make protecting the sea their life, like Anzio Abels. Abels, who was a course participant at the aquarium when he was at school, has been a critical part of the outreach programme for a decade.

This year, he says, he’s covered about 12,000 kilometres and done around 85 school visits. His main message when he’s out in the field is about how people can “make sustainable choices in their everyday lives to protect the environment for our own future”.

Abels, who this year launched his own online course for the Ocean Campus, called Climate Action Now, says there are some common questions from learners across the board. When he’s teaching about the environment or biodiversity, the kids most often want to know if megalodons and mermaids exist.

The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, under which Ocean Campus falls, has about 3,000 schools on its database. One of its challenges is to reach people inland where children may never have seen the sea.

This is important because much of the damage to the ocean is done inland. From chemical leaching and discharge flowing into rivers to prolific amounts of single-use plastic and typically large carbon footprints, big cities far away from the ocean can have an outsized impact on the sea.

“To reach inland provinces, we have our online videos – it was one of the reasons to launch our Ocean Campus Studios and we now have our own YouTube channel,” Meinert says, referring to the Foundation’s audiovisual department. “More and more we’re filming our lessons and making them available freely on our YouTube channel. That’s one way to have an impact. Online courses are another.”

With adult education another area of expansion, the Foundation is also working on influencing parents so that they’re equipped to share that knowledge with their children.

“We’ve analysed what people know when they come in, and then we ask what do they know when they leave? Oh, they know more: great, we’ve done a good job.”

“But that doesn’t really speak to the impact,” Meinert says.

Often the results are anecdotal, she says, citing one example where one of the children in an outreach class in Lavender Hill years ago now has her doctorate in oceanography.

“And that’s just from one visit,” says Meinert. “What we’re really now focusing on is tracking our courses, letting school children know about marine sciences as a matric course, the new kind of subject choices they can make, and consolidating everyone who has come through our courses into an ocean champion community, helping them with what they want to do and supporting their activism.”

Meinert sees the Ocean Campus collaborating with all kinds of institutions from corporates to universities to activist groups. There are also plans to invite former students who have gone on to work in the marine field to give master classes. The future, she says, is going to be about upskilling, community events, and things like giving students who have completed courses aquarium membership.

Getting the Ocean Campus to where it is now and the number of children whose lives it can touch is a significant achievement, says Ann Lamont, executive chairperson of the Foundation. “But we can’t stop at just a lesson or a course. We’re moving toward sustaining relationships with people who’ve been through our programmes and supporting them and starting to tell their stories.”

As for funding, Meinert says it’s difficult.

“There are just so many worthy causes out there. Being a funder must be a nightmare because there are so many issues. We’ve done very well to build long-term relationships. But I’m also surprised by how little funding we sometimes receive, given how significant our reach is and how impactful our work is,” she says.

Nonetheless, with expansion underway, the Foundation has taken on a new stakeholder relationship manager and is ramping up its fundraising efforts.

According to a report released earlier this year, only about 1% of philanthropic giving worldwide goes to the marine conservation sector. Yet the ocean is vital for sustaining life on earth.

But that’s not to say there isn’t hope; Abels says he sees the impact the Foundation’s outreach visits have, especially in schools that are revisited regularly.

He says when young people understand how they can affect the environment in their everyday lives, they are willing to make decisions to preserve and protect it for the future.

“Young people are eager to learn about how the world works,” he says.

The post The Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation is bringing the sea to the classroom appeared first on Vuka News.

Residents of Phumla Mqashi informal settlement march through Lenasia South to the civic centre in in Johannesburg, demanding a permanent solution to their water woes. Photos: Silver Sibiya

Residents of Phumla Mqashi informal settlement say they’re not getting enough water from trucks

 By Silver Sibiya – this post first appeared on GroundUp

About 500 protesters from Phumla Mqashi informal settlement in Johannesburg marched through Lenasia South to the civic centre on Monday, demanding a permanent solution to their water woes.

Last month, Johannesburg Water officials disconnected scores of illegal water connections from the settlement, sparking several protests.

Johannesburg Water confirmed that about 17,000 people live in the informal settlement, and said there had previously been water tanks there, but “due to the ongoing land invasions … these tanks were vandalised”.

Following the protest, the utility sent water tanks to the settlement, which are filled by water trucks. But residents say there is not enough water for every household.

Before the march on Monday, protesters blocked busy routes in the community including the Golden Highway and Sheffield Road. At the civic centre, there was a heavy police presence.

Community leader Alfred Mcunywa said they want Mayor Dada Morero to commit to timeframes for a permanent solution to the water situation.

“We want the mayor to tell us how long the Jojo tanks will be in Phumla Mqashi,” he said.

Mcunywa said when Johannesburg Water officials heard about their planned march, they were told more water tanks would be delivered. “Why do we have to protest for the government to do the right thing?”

Mcunywa said they would approach the court to intervene if Johannesburg Water does not keep its promise.

In a statement, Johannesburg Water spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said that 36 water tanks had been sent to the settlement, and said nine more would be added.

“Johannesburg Water remains committed to maintaining sustainable water management practices.”

Residents say they want the municipality to build proper water infrastructure.

The post Hundreds march in Joburg demanding water appeared first on Vuka News.

We stand in solidarity with the vast majority of INC Member States working constructively to find common ground and to conclude an urgently needed, effective treaty here in Busan. We have made much-needed progress on a range of issues that will be critical for the treaty to achieve its goal of protecting human health and the environment from the adverse effects of plastic pollution.

However, we voice our strong concerns about ongoing calls by a small group of countries to remove binding provisions from the text that are indispensable for the treaty to be effective.

Ambition must be reflected throughout the treaty, covering binding provisions and support provided. The treaty must:

Include a requirement for the Conference of the Parties to adopt, at its first session, in an annex a global target to reduce the production of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels
Establish a clear and legally binding obligation to phase out the most harmful plastic products and chemicals of concern in plastics
Provide ambitious and effective means of implementation, including technical assistance and timely, accessible, predictable and adequate financing from all sources for recipient developing countries, in particular Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States
Enable future development, including by adopting new annexes or amending existing annexes, through regular UN procedures for decision making if all efforts at consensus have been exhausted

A treaty that lacks these elements and only relies on voluntary measures would not be acceptable.

Those most affected by plastic pollution must be supported in the development of inclusive and equitable pathways forward. A just transition is critical to the success of this treaty, ensuring that no one is left behind.

We are operating under a clear mandate from the UN Environment Assembly, a mandate fully supported by all INC members. It is time we take it seriously and negotiate a treaty that is fit for purpose and not built to fail.

We call on all INC members to seize this historic opportunity to conclude an ambitious and effective treaty that demonstrates our collective resolve to end plastic pollution for the benefit of current and future generations.

The post Standing up for Ambition: Statement on Indispensable Elements for an Effective Treaty appeared first on groundWork.

The post Standing up for Ambition: Statement on Indispensable Elements for an Effective Treaty appeared first on Vuka News.

The post Launch of the People’s Plan to the Right to Housing in an Age of Climate Change appeared first on groundWork.

DATE: 28 November 202

Launch of the People’s Plan to the Right to Housing in an Age of Climate Change

Durban: Thursday 28th November sees the launch of the People’s Plan to the Right to Housing in the Age of Climate Change hosted by the Chief Strategy Officer of eThekwini Municipality, Mr Bongumusa and the Durban Coalition at the Durban Botanic Gardens.

In the past few years, the city of Durban has experienced increased severe weather events due to climate change. Floods have resulted in lost lives and extensive damage to urban infrastructure. In April 2022, 461 people lost their lives over 3 days. The resultant infrastructure collapse rendered our rivers and ocean unfit for human use. The lack of maintenance to key public infrastructure (sewage, water, roads and electricity) compounded the destruction experienced in the floods. Almost two years later, slow infrastructure repair continues to impact on people across the city, especially the most marginalised people. This has revealed a dire lack of planning and capacity within the city to respond to climate change disasters.

Against this backdrop, and in response to these climate and human induced disasters, a coalition of civil society, civic structures and social movements formed in May 2022. The Durban Coalition is a growing collective of civil society (NGOs, CBOs, university academics and social movements) and civic structures (ratepayers and residents associations) in eThekwini. As a non-politically aligned group, the Durban Coalition has committed to work collectively and in solidarity to build a united and co-ordinated participatory civil society movement to strengthen civic structures on the ground. It also engages constructively with local and other spheres of government to respond to social and environmental justice issues.

“The consequences of climate change are no longer an abstract future event,” says Dr Kira Erwin of groundWork, Friends of the Earth South Africa, “the severe weather we experience, including floods, storms, heatwaves and drought, pose significant threats to all life in the city, including to animals and plants. A lack of political will to meet climate targets from all nation states means that we must refocus our efforts to find ways to survive on a planet that overshoots a 1.5° Celsius increase in global temperature.”

In response to this situation, Durban Coalition has developed a programme of action towards transforming the city into a more just, inclusive and climate resilient place to live. Through a participatory and grounded planning process, across different urban sectors and class positions, the coalition has collectively produced a bottom-up development plan for the Right to Housing in the Age of Climate Change.

Addressing climate change requires integrated planning through participatory and democratic methods. This People’s Plan for the Right to Housing in an Age of Climate Change offers a clear programme-based implementation guide for the municipality and civil society partners to prepare the city to live through severe weather events and protect people’s right to housing and a healthy environment, especially for the most marginalised. Developed over 18-months the People’s Plan involved a broad ground-truthing exercise to test it with constituencies and partners of all member organisations in the Durban Coalition. The People’s Plan has innovative programmes on, amongst others, technical norms and standards for climate resilience, community disaster management planning, security of tenure, and new governance arrangements.

“A Just Transition in South Africa must include participatory resilience planning premised on environmental justice principles that address marginalization and inequality in the city,” says Dr Kira Erwin.

….ends…

Peoples Plan Links:

English version:

IsiZulu version:

Media Contacts: 

groundWork: Tsepang Molefe +27 74 405 1257  media@groundwork.org.za

The Durban Coalition:  Thalia Erwin +27 83 480 0635  thedurbancoalition@gmail.com

Durban Coalition Spokespersons: 

S’bu Zikode (President of Abahlali baseMjondolo)

Kira Erwin (groundWork)

Vusi Zweni (Chairperson of Ubunye bamaHostela)

Nicole Daniels (Springfield Disaster Management)

The post Launch of the People’s Plan to the Right to Housing in an Age of Climate Change appeared first on Vuka News.

Protesters in Westbury blocked roads on Wednesday, demanding a reliable water supply. Photo: Silver Sibiya

By Silver Sibiya – this post was first published on GroundUp

Protesters from Coronationville, Claremont, and Westbury in Johannesburg blocked main roads on Wednesday demanding water.

Some said they had been without any water for six consecutive days. Others said the supply had been erratic for two years.

Busy Ontdekkers Road, Perth Road and Portland Avenue were blocked for most of the day until police intervened. Bus services were disrupted and access to Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa hospitals was affected.

One person was arrested after clashes with police.

Claremont community leader Bianca Olivier said households had not had reliable water since 2022.

“We are lucky if we have water during the day. We only have water sometimes at night, between 10pm and 4am,” she said.

“Some wake up at 2am only to find out there is no water in the tap,” she said.

“Those who are fortunate enough use their cars to collect water from neighbouring areas or from the relatives and friends who have water. This is what I have been doing, going to Florida to my cousin.

“Petrol is not cheap, having to travel all the time is a great cost. We are being deprived of our basic human rights.”

She said when water trucks do arrive, they don’t cover the whole suburb and it is difficult for old people to carry water.

She said they had been told there was a problem with the Hurst Hill reservoir.

Coronationville and Westbury residents say they have been starved of water for the past six days.

Coronationville resident Donita Jones said it was difficult even to wash clothes. “We have to spend our money to do laundry. There are people who can’t even afford this.”

“Every month they still expect us to pay for services which we are not even receiving.”

City of Johannesburg manager Floyd Brink admitted there had been problems. He said the water would be restored in the next three days.

He said Brixton Reservoir, when completed, would increase water supply to these areas. He said the Hurst Hill reservoir was being rehabilitated.

Brink promised to deploy water trucks at once.

The post Joburg protesters block roads, demanding water appeared first on Vuka News.

By Mzi Velapi – this post was originally published on Elitsha

Summary by Vuka.news:

Strike Overview: Sea Harvest workers are on strike, demanding higher wages and better working conditions. Workers include truck drivers, welders, forklift drivers, pipe fitters, and general workers. Strikes occurred in Cape Town city centre and outside the airport.

Wage Demands: Workers want an 8% salary increase; the company is offering 6.5%. Union representative Leo Bottoman said they aim to reduce the large pay gap between workers and management. Management earns three to four times more than workers, according to Bottoman.

Comparison to Competitors: Workers want their wages aligned with competitor I&J. A general worker earns R34/hour at Sea Harvest but R54/hour at I&J. Workers demand a minimum wage of R7,000 per month and an employee share scheme.

Additional Demands: Increase the night shift food allowance from R80 to R120. Introduce a cold room allowance due to harsh working conditions. Better protective gear for cold environments.

Worker Conditions: Justin Peterson, a forklift driver, earns R43/hour and works in frigid conditions (-18°C). Peterson supports four children and his wife on this wage. Bottoman claims workers’ pay grading is outdated and unfair.

Recent Safety Concerns: In May, a Sea Harvest vessel capsized, with 11 fishermen presumed dead. In October, a fire broke out on another vessel, prompting safety inspections of all fishing vessels.

• “The gap between what these workers earn and what the management earn is triple or even four times more,” – Leo Bottoman.
• “We are also demanding a cold room allowance and the food allowance for night shift to be increased from R80 to R120 as one cannot have a decent meal from R80,” – Leo Bottoman.
• “The fridges are set at -18%, so you can imagine how cold it is. They give us freezer suits, kidney belts, balaclava and socks. We are three drivers and a casual and we have to divide all the work between us. I earn only R43 per hour and I have to feed my four children and take care of my wife from that,” – Justin Peterson.
• “You will find out that people who were employed after me have a rate that is better than mine,” – Justin Peterson.
• “The company remains committed to negotiating in good faith for the long-term sustainability of the business, which will enable it to continue creating sustainable jobs for the long-term well-being of its staff,” – Anthea Abraham.

The post Sea Harvest workers go on strike appeared first on Vuka News.

BY Daniel Mkhwanazi

The community members of Snake Park are struggling with the issue of tailing dust blowing toward their households, and it is an everyday struggle.

On Monday, October 21st we saw a very dusty day from the early hours of the morning until the next day. Dry tailing deposits contain small particles that were picked up by the wind, transported, and deposited near the community of Snake Park. The tailing contains toxins such as arsenic, uranium, and lead chemicals that may cause serious health concerns. With that being said, the whole community was somehow filled with the tailing dust inside their households.

A 38-year-old, resident of Snake Park who goes by the name of Mr Bhebhe said the dust was somehow on his blankets and pillows, and he had to clean up even though his girlfriend had cleaned up in the early morning but it was dusty in the whole house. He went on to say that when he slept, he would get skin irritation then he started scratching his whole body until he noticed that the tailing dust had chemical reactions on his body.

A 17-year-old female who said she suffers from sinuses stated that when the dust was blowing towards the community households she had a problematic experience, due to that her nose would be itchy and her eyes also. Yet she struggled to breathe through late at night and this saddens her because every time the tailing dust is inside the house it causes her serious health concerns.

The air quality of Snake Park is very poor due to the tailing dust that keeps rapidly blowing up nearby the community and the inhalation of the airborne particles can lead to respiratory issues, such as asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory diseases. The dust from the mine tailing can also hinder the plants and vegetation, which reduces plant growth. Accumulation of dust on leaves can also block sunlight and the ability to absorb carbon dioxide, implanting plant health.

So to mitigate the risk of the environmental impact of the tailing dust pollution to the community of Snake Park is that the mine has to implement several measures such as putting water sprays, chemical dust suppressants to control the release of dust into the air, planting native trees and vegetation could also help trapping dust particles and improving air quality.

Engaging with the community and residents of Snake Park can help raise awareness about the environmental impacts of mining and ensure their concerns are heard attentively.

The post Mine Tailing Dust Impacts The Snake Park Community appeared first on Vuka News.

BY Sicelo Sithole

Talings are very highly toxic and they compromise people’s lives, In Snake Park residents are exposed to the dangerous chemicals that come from the mine tailing dump. Inhaling is more dangerous. Many community residents have health issues like wheezing chests from young children and babies who are born with deformities, in most cases some never grow normally because of the toxic chemicals.

In Block 7 a mother whose name is Nomsa said her 16-year-old boy Sthembiso has cerebral palsy and looks like a three-year-old baby because of deformation that’s caused by the chemicals from the mine tailing. Nomsa spends more time at home to care for her son and struggles to get a job because she can’t leave her son alone since he is not even attending any school. In Snake Park, there is no center for people living with disabilities and South Africa is the most unequal country when it comes to providing free education to people who are living with disabilities.

Moketsi Mofokeng from block 3, the father of Sthembiso, also said he is very angry with the mine tailing because it has disabled his son and made him unable to do anything for himself. It is a challenge to the family and more difficult for him to understand why they don’t remove this mine tailing for good so that people can be healthy and live in a healthy environment.

Residents are now looking for the best way to eliminate the mine tailing as people want this toxic mine tailing to be removed for health reasons.

We must all have one common goal to tell the mine tailing owners to remove the mine tailing and everyone must be part of the movement to fight for what is good for the community.

The post Toxic dust blows at high speed into the community of Snake Park. appeared first on Vuka News.

BY Bongani Dladla

A child may develop a sense of mixed emotions and physical neglect as well as a fear of danger if they are exposed to drug use at an early age in their homes. Drugs and alcohol are destroying our communities due to unemployment and lack of opportunities especially for our youth. After matric, they don’t have anything to do. So some of our youth have started to use drugs and others are drinking alcohol every day.

Bongani Dladla explains to us the negative effects of drugs and alcohol which contribute to violent crimes as well as gender-based violence:

The mental and physical effects of addiction are devastating and the disease of addiction itself can cause permanent brain damage. When a person is struggling with a substance addiction disorder, he/she can be noticeable in their behavior. Drug addiction is more than simply a bad habit, it’s a disease that like any other chronic illness. Let us stop using drugs and alcohol.

Our purpose is to encourage young people not to allow peer pressure to get the better of them. Do not drink because your friends are drinking and remember you can still have fun without alcohol and drugs. We also call on liquor traders and members of our community not to sell alcohol to a person under the age of 18 years, our community policing forum is working with police to find out who is selling drugs to our community, especially our youth. Let us protect our youth and say NO to drugs and alcohol.

The post Drugs and alcohol abuse affects our communities, especially our youth. appeared first on Vuka News.

Nobulawo Sitshaluza

The mine dump constitutes a potential source of contamination to the environment, as heavy metals and acids are released in large numbers. Soil erosion is the natural process in which the topsoil of a field is carried away by physical sources such as wind and rainwater.

Snakepark community members are currently experiencing a lot of dust since there are several truck movements on top of the tailing. On the 20th of October 2024 it rained but the following day on the 21st it was dusty, later the same day it rained again. On the 22nd of October 2024, the following day it was dusty again.

Ms Tlalane aged 40 years stays at number 27, with her husband and one child. He moved to Snakepark 5 years ago from Lenasia reason being they couldn’t afford rent payments. They made a deal with the farm owner to look after his farm in exchange for staying rent-free on his farm.

“She says that she doesn’t know what is going on in the tailing, all she saw were trucks that were busy on top working and the other thing is that the level of dust coming from the tailing mine dump has increased since all of these trucks arrived there ”

Mr Donsa is a farm owner, a father of three, and a grandfather of two. We spoke briefly during the time I went to his farm to bring his pig’s leftover food as I sometimes do .” He said that he spoke to one of the workers that were near the tailing mine dump and asked him what exactly are you guys working on there on top of tailing. He says the guy responded that “they are leveling the mine to prevent another sludge from flooding the community again and also we will be removing the tailing completely. He also complains about the dust becoming even more. ”

I have realized that some of our community members know nothing about what is going on at the tailing. The counselors need to put more effort into informing the community members of what is going on at the tailing currently. The most she needs to do is to call a follow-up meeting with all the community members because mostly it is only the stakeholders who receive invitations to attend the important meetings but when it comes to some community meeting gatherings, on every street there will be a huge announcement about an up and coming meeting.

The post Soil erosion at tailing mine dump in Snakepark appeared first on Vuka News.

Eminent scholars Professor Yan Hairong (Tsinghua University) and Professor Barry Sautman (Hong Kong Polytechnic) will present their research at the University of the Western Cape in this one-off event. They will elaborate on mechanisms of global capital accumulation in the context of China’s interface with the Global South, especially through case studies of key BRI countries, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka.

Details:
Thursday, 28 November 2024
13.00 – 14.00 SAST
Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS)
2nd Floor, Jakes Gerwel Hall, University of the Western Cape Main Campus, Bellville

All welcome. Refreshments will be served.

Biographies

Professor Yan Hairong, Professor at Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences and Department of Sociology
Professor Yan earlier research focused on rural-to-urban migrant domestic workers in urban China. She examined the transformation in rural-urban relations, gender relations and class relations in China’s reform process. In the past decade, she has become concerned with food sovereignty and agrarian change in China. She publishes in the Journal of Peasant Studies and the Journal of Agrarian Change and contributes to the food sovereignty network in China. For the past two decades, she has collaborated with Professor Sautman on China-Africa links and has co-authored East Mountain Tiger, West Mountain Tiger: China, Africa, the West and “Colonialism” and, in Chinese, China in Africa: Discourse and Practices.

Professor Barry Sautman, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Professor Sautman is a political scientist (PhD Columbia University) and lawyer (JD UCLA, LLM NYU) who primarily teaches international law, China/US relations, contemporary China, ethnicity and nationalism. He collaborates with Professor Yan to conduct research on China-Africa links, including political economy, labour rights, migration between China and Africa and interactions between Chinese and Africans, representations and perceptions of China and Chinese in Africa, and the supposed strategic rivalry between the US and China in Africa.  He has published several monographs and numerous journal articles, as well as print media op-ed pieces and online contributions.

The post Public talk: Chinese ‘colonialism’, capital accumulation, and the Belt and Road Initiative appeared first on Plaas.

The post Public talk: Chinese ‘colonialism’, capital accumulation, and the Belt and Road Initiative appeared first on Vuka News.

Daniel Mkhwanazi

It has been more than a decade since South Africans have been experiencing some power outages and yet load-shedding has been the worst-case scenario, and it even makes problematic cases around the community.

Even when some of the households pay their electricity bills, yet still they struggle with the rest of the ones that don’t worry about paying for their electrical bills. And it’s worse for those informal settlements that make illegal connections which affects the rest of the community residents. Even some of the tuck shop owners do not take accountability to pay for an electricity bill.

The electricity crisis in townships is very a huge problem that has even cost some residents their lives, a local tuck shop owner said he suffers a lot because he loses some frozen items inside his refrigerator which makes their food spoilt and the plugs get burnt out due to load-shedding.

Apparently, it happened that in the early morning, the community members saw that the local shops had been on fire due to the load shedding that keeps on happening frequently, and it ruined almost everything in those local shops. There is still investigation of the incident on how the fire started but the owner said that it has to do with the electricity crisis.

The community members should always intend safety measures to ensure that they don’t have such traumatic experiences regarding the electricity crisis, such as households getting affected by fire caused by power outages and load-shedding.

The post Electricity Crisis Burnt Down The Local Shops appeared first on Vuka News.

Tshidi Sebogodi

The climate change and the tailing mine dump cause heavy wind in our area. On the 21st of October 2024, on the streets and nearby areas like Dobsonville, it was so dusty like it was spring, as we all know the time for dust is August. According to our beliefs as African people, there was a voice note in the community groups that said there were boys who took a snake at the mountain and it was for ancestors. Those boys must take it back to the mountain so that the dust can be finished

According to my research, seeing dust like that is because there are no pipes for water at the tailings. And also those years in 2000 the white people used to play with their motorbikes on the tailings as it was their racing grounds every weekend. The dust affects health issues because many community members get asthma, eczema, itchy skin, eye problems, etc. We as community members are sick and tired of this tailing mine dump It is about time the mining company intervened and engaged with the community to rehabilitate the mining dump. The way dust was so heavy it also took the shacks away and also the bricks as community stays next to tailings dump sides.

I asked Ms Nosipho who stays at block 4 with her family about the impacts of the dust, she was crying at the time and she responded by saying this dust affected her a lot because she’s got asthma using inhalers the kids got eczema. Ms. Nosipho who is 35 years old with 1child also found dust inside the yard on the paving and inside the house, it was white while she was coming back from her piece job of washing and ironing.

She tried to clean it by sweeping using water, and wearing a mask and does so that she would not get sick due to dust. Her actions were so emotional as she saw the shacks fall asking herself where she was going to sleep and where she would get money as she was unemployed to buy building materials to rebuild the shack again. She was wondering if the dust won’t come again to destroy her shack.

I also asked Mr. Mboso about the dust and the tailing mine dump, he said the mining company must come and rehabilitate the tailings and also hire community members to work with them as they can’t cope with this situation. The councilor says in this situation we are the ones who did this by stealing the pipes of water from the irrigation system that was installed there by the tailings dump sides.

Below are the views of the community about the dust

“Yoh! siyafa yi TB I dust igcwele ezindlini
Good morning, Bahlali Nabaphathi.Kwenziweni ngalendunduma ye mine dump egcwalsa i dust e poisonous and toxic to us .” ( we are dying because the toxic dust is inside our houses )

“Sazifaka kulenkinga sifika lapha singenazo izimpompi safika lentaba inama irrigation taps today kufa thina n our coming generation tjoooooo siphila kabuhlungu ” ( the tailing use to have irrigation taps and now their stolen”

“I agree with you on that, there was an irrigation system,yamoshwa within and now we are suffering the consequences, let’s correct our mistakes kodwa other mine dumps have security to guard the irrigation system ours never had.”

Not easy it’s a process Mahali Mining company has to follow That mine is very hard to find as a result Ku Taker over abanye. Let’s treat it as an urgent matter because this is a slow poison by Mr Wandy.

Molweni nonke bahlali kune mine company ezoyisebenza but won’t be fixed today kune process bahlali. Soon to present the report and call them thank you.

The post Dust storms destroying shacks in Mountain View. appeared first on Vuka News.

the post Joburg’s Water Crisis Getting Severe! appeared first on © Karibu – A Working Class News.

By Yonela Gebengu and Karibu Staff 

Residents of Johannesburg are struggling with ongoing water supply issues. This community is experiencing “throttling water” supply.

Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) Minister Penny Majodina announced that Johannesburg’s water would be restricted from 14 November 2024, until further notice.

The minister says the restriction of water in 11 municipalities in Gauteng is caused by neglect of infrastructure, illegal water connections, and frequent pipe leaks.

Johannesburg community members say that Joburg Water and DWS should prioritise addressing the water issues before implementing drastic measures.

An after-care teacher from Zenith Pre-School in Pritchard said the centre is affected by the disrupted supply. She says they must let the children go home early because they can’t use the toilets. For them, water is needed to maintain hygiene in the classrooms. The principal of the day care centre said they had to tell parents to bring water in the morning as their children will need it during outages.

Eritha from Bubbles laundry on Mooi Street said, they forced to close when there’s a disruption in water supply. She said the laundry business is new.

Eritha says they don’t have the capacity to reserve tanks to keep their laundries business running, but it’s something they are considering for the future.

Johannesburg Central residents said they have been without water for up three months at times. This would be exacerbated by electricity outages. It becomes hard for them to even carry buckets of water and use the stairs all the way to the upper floors.

“I don’t even trust if the water is clean when its back, because it’s been gone for too long and that also bring questions, how clean is the water?”

The water crisis in Gauteng has reached an extreme point. As the communities struggle to cope, they demand meaningful solutions.

This article was submitted on 20 November 2024. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.

The post Joburg’s Water Crisis Getting Severe! appeared first on Vuka News.

the post PETITION!!! RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT: HOLD SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT AND CHEMICAL INDUSTRY TO ACCOUNT FOR DEATHS AND SERIOUS ILLNESSES FROM TOXIC PESTICIDES ON THE FARM AND IN FOOD appeared first on groundWork.

Vuka.news SUMMARY – SIGN PETITON here by 4 December 2024:

South Africa is dealing with a serious problem involving food poisoning and toxic pesticides, which has led to children tragically dying. Critics believe the government’s response blames the wrong people and fails to address the real issues. Here are the main points:

• Tragic Deaths: Children have died due to food contaminated with deadly pesticides like Terbufos, which is banned in other countries but still used in South Africa.
• Government Response: A national disaster has been declared, and spaza shops must re-register. Activists argue this unfairly shifts blame onto shop owners rather than addressing the root causes.
• Outdated Laws: Pesticide regulations in South Africa are 75 years old and fail to protect public health effectively.
• Industry Influence: Powerful chemical companies, like CropLife, are accused of blocking reforms and prioritizing profits over safety.
• Activists’ Demands:
  1. Ban highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) like Terbufos immediately.
  2. Create stricter regulations and stop allowing the pesticide industry to self-regulate.
  3. Provide better healthcare for victims of poisoning and support for their families.
  4. Transition to safer, chemical-free methods of farming.
• Call for Action: Experts and activists are urging the government to take responsibility, fix weak regulations, and protect people’s health and the environment.

PETITION

RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT: HOLD SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT AND CHEMICAL INDUSTRY TO ACCOUNT FOR DEATHS AND SERIOUS ILLNESSES FROM TOXIC PESTICIDES ON THE FARM AND IN FOOD

Ban Terbufos with immediate effect, institute mechanisms for banning all highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) within three months

Please click here to sign on.

Please spread the word by sharing this petition with others: https://t2m.io/PesticideTribunal_BanTerbufos 

Signatures open until 4 December 2024.

22 November 2024

To:

The President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa
Portfolio Committees on Agriculture and Rural Development; Labour and Employment; Health; and Environment, Forestry and Fisheries
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries John Steenhuisen
Minister of Labour and Employment Nomakhosazana Meth
Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi
Minister of Environment Dion George
Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development Mzwanele Nyhontso

South Africans have been alarmed to learn of multiple instances of children rushed to emergency due to foodborne illnesses and poisoning, some with tragically fatal consequences. As a result, President Ramaphosa has declared a national disaster and decreed that all spaza shops must re-register within 21 days.

We note that these solutions do nothing to deal with the source of the issue: the unacceptable presence of HHPs on the South African market, and the failure of the relevant Departments to carry out their duty to effectively regulate agrotoxins.

We are alarmed that the chemical industry, CropLife, immediately created a narrative in the media to place the blame on spaza shops, the lifeblood of most communities in South Africa (SA), fanning xenophobic flames. All in a bid to deflect attention from their responsibility for these historic and continuing tragedies. We are alarmed that our government has supported them in this endeavour. This injustice must be remedied.

PETITION DEMANDS

We call on the government to cease conflating incidences of food poisoning by highly toxic pesticides and food contaminated by food-borne illness. This has led to the inappropriate solution of blaming spazas for the government’s failure.

We urge the government to release in an open and transparent matter, the exact cause of each food-related emergency, as was done with the Naledi tragedy.

We call on the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) to ban Terbufos with immediate effect and to overhaul the entire pesticide registration system within 12 months.

We call on the government to ban aerial spraying of pesticides, as recommended by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, Dr Marcus Orellana, following his visit to SA in 2023.

We call on the government to establish an open and transparent process towards the banning of the category of Highly Hazardous Pesticides within the next three months.

We urge the government to ensure adequate funding for government Poison Information Centres.

We call on the government to establish an independent inquiry into the structural causes and the role of industry in the cases of pesticide poisoning.

We call on the government to implement its 2010 pesticide policy and to integrate this with a food security plan that reduces reliance on chemicals for pest control.

We urge the government to establish a Compensation Fund within one year that will compensate pesticide poisoning victims fairly and equitably.

We urge the Department of Health to ensure access to quality health care for survivors of pesticide poisoning – particularly children – whose long-term development and health may be at risk from the poisoning.

“Everyone wants to assign blame for this tragedy but spaza shop owners are not the culprits. If we don’t tackle the upstream causes, we will almost certainly see more poisonings in the future.” 

Profs Leslie London & Andrea Rother, UCT School of Public Health

 THE LONG READ

 Tragic deaths in Naledi highlight the scourge of street pesticides

In October 2024, South Africa was shocked, outraged, and dismayed to learn that six children had died after eating snacks bought at a spaza shop in Naledi, Soweto. The families of these young children will never be the same. The Department of Health soon confirmed that the deaths were caused by an HHP called Terbufos.

Soon, the media machine was picking up scores of other instances of hospital emergencies related to children eating from school feeding schemes and spaza shops. The pesticide industry, under the auspices of CropLife, aided by the South African government, used this tragedy to conflate the incidences of food contaminated by deadly toxins with food-borne illnesses caused by expired or otherwise spoiled or rotten foods. These are separate occurrences that need discreet and systemic solutions.

In the panic to identify a culprit, attention has focused on spaza shop owners and they have been scapegoated for a much bigger and complex problem. This has firstly allowed industry to wash their hands of any responsibility for failing to ensure product stewardship of their toxic chemicals through the lifetime, as required by the National Environmental Management Act. Secondly, it has opened the door to the scourge of xenophobia, which must be stopped immediately.

We, the undersigned, know who the real culprits are in this avoidable tragedy, and we demand radical and expedited changes in the approval, use, and regulation of agricultural poisons

Terbufos – HHP that should have been banned ages ago

Terbufos is an HHP from the organophosphate family. It was listed as a “restricted agricultural remedy” in 2023, requiring specific labelling. Terbufos has been banned in the European Union since 2009 and there is no reason for it not to have been banned here – European bodies and African bodies react to poisons just the same. Further and given that it is banned elsewhere, there are alternatives available.

The South African government was warned about deaths from pesticides freely available on the street, in 2023 and 2024, by the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, Dr Marcus Orellana. He even mentioned Terbufos by name in his report on toxins in SA released in July 2024. He found that deaths are caused by lapses in regulations and enforcement. He also warned of the outsize power the chemical industry has in regulatory decision-making. Although the state responded to his report, they did not acknowledge his findings in this regard or show any urgency to remedy the regulatory problems he identified.

Scientists have persistently raised the alarm over decades about the deaths and impacts of street pesticides, as well as pesticides used in agricultural settings. Research at a large Cape Town mortuary, published in 2023, showed that Terbufos was confirmed as the causative agent for more than 50% of child deaths in a 10-year review of child fatalities in which pesticide poisoning was suspected.

The DALRRD is primarily responsible for failing to modernise its regulatory control over toxic pesticides and this failure is the underlying reason for these deaths. The DALRRD issued two discussion papers on pesticide legislation that indicates knowledge that the current legislation – which is 75 years old – must be replaced to be fit for purpose. However, nothing has been done to advance this legislative reform and, under this antiquated Act 36 of 1947, six preventable child deaths have occurred in a terrible tragedy. The Departments of Labour and Employment, Health, and Environment must also take responsibility where they have failed to act. These incidents of death are not new, not surprising.

Our government has been warned many times by experts and activists but has chosen to prioritise the corporate profits of the chemical industry over Constitutional rights to our health and the right to a clean and healthy environment. We reject their attempt to scapegoat spaza shops and foreigners on this matter.

Terbufos and thousands of other pesticides poison farm workers daily

Terbufos is registered for agricultural, not domestic use. It is one of over 9,000 toxic chemical compounds registered for use in SA, in varying categories of toxicity, used extensively on wine, maize and citrus farms. Farm workers are exposed to these daily. While men often do the spraying, women farmworkers are also vulnerable to pesticide exposure, which occurs in multiple ways, including when pesticides are applied while they are working without proper protective clothing and when they are forced to re-enter vineyards soon after pesticides have been sprayed.

Farm bosses often ignore regulations regarding training, access to information, protective gear, wash stations, etc., and no one is monitoring them. Local clinics lack knowledge of pesticides in use in their vicinity, how to diagnose and treat poisoning, or their obligations to report pesticide poisoning. Farm workers live under extremely vulnerable and precarious working conditions where they have little to no bargaining power. They receive the barest minimum wage, with little access to health services. No amount of traceability and labelling will make a substance designed to kill safe, and there is no ideal real-life situation where these toxins can be deployed safely.

Farm workers and their children, farm dwellers, and people living adjacent to farms are also exposed to these toxins regularly. Spraying season has just begun (November) and those living on and adjacent to farms are experiencing the familiar symptoms of exposure to cocktails of toxic pesticides drifting in the air – asthma, sinus, streaming eyes, mood swings, headaches – and many will know the long-term impacts in their bodies in years to come.

This toxic mode of food production is not inevitable. We reject the well-worn narrative that we cannot achieve food security if we do not spray our food with numerous cocktails of poisons from seed to production to storage. Minister Steenhuisen recently declared in the media that these toxins are beneficial to society. How long will we allow the chemical industry to sell us this bizarre notion? What will it take for our government to take a serious look into alternative, safe methods of food production if the death of children from Terbufos poisoning has been an opportunity to deflect blame and responsibility?

The fox is in charge of the hen house – CropLife regulates itself

The multi-billion-dollar industry that produces these highly hazardous chemicals has a hold over the South African government, as noted by the UN Special Rapporteur in his July 2024 report. This industry, spearheaded by CropLife, has hindered every attempt to reduce the use of agrotoxins and to properly regulate and ban HHPs. Government is complicit, as they have enabled the self-regulation by industry to continue and consistently make decisions in favour of industry over the people and environmental health and safety. Here are some examples of industry audacity and impunity:

In 2006, the draft pesticide management policy contained strong safety measures, but the industry successfully lobbied to remove these and restrict the scope of the policy.
Industry stopped plans to replace the Committee to Protect Man against Poisons with a new department structure because the new members included scientists who were too critical of industry interests.
In 2020, it was revealed that CropLife members pay ‘independent consultants’ embedded in the office of the Registrar to do their bidding.
CropLife lobbied to set up a committee of their members to act as an ‘independent certification body’ when the government introduced new regulations governing regulatory trials for pesticides.
In 2021, the Department of Environment withdrew regulations to implement SA’s obligations under the Rotterdam Convention, arguing that time for adjustment was needed –17 years after SA ratified the Convention. Terbufos was one of the agents imported by UPL at its Cornubia store that went up in flames in 2021, and would have been notifiable under these regulations.
The South African registrar of hazardous substances promised to phase out 116 HHPs by June 2024 (Terbufos is one of these). Ultimately, only 28 were identified for phasing out, but not Terbufos, and to add insult to injury, regulations were even passed to allow industry to apply for exemptions to continue to use these chemicals under certain circumstances.
There is no publicly available database of pesticide registrations. This responsibility was handed by the DALRRD to industry and access to information on what pesticides are registered for use in SA is under the control of CropLife.

We the undersigned demand an end to the self-regulation of this industry as being a clear case of gross conflict of interests. We demand that our government takes responsibility for pesticide poisoning on the farm and in the street, and holds Croplife and its members to account. The government is under a Constitutional duty to take up the regulatory reins to ensure our Constitutional rights to health and the right to a healthy environment.

Issued by the South African People’s Tribunal on AgroToxins (SAPToA).

SAPToA is a coalition of vulnerable and affected peoples, civil society organisations, trade unions, academics and individuals working together to expose the harmful reality of pesticides in South Africa and support those who work with agricultural toxins in their daily lives.

Our growing affiliates currently include:

Commercial Stevedoring, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU); Women on Farms Project (WFP); African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB); groundWork, Friends of the Earth SA, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance; affected peoples of the Blackburn Community; Surplus People Project (SPP); Ubuntu Rural Women and Youth Movement; Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE); UCT School of Public Health.

You can sign the petition here.

Spread the word by sharing this link: https://t2m.io/PesticideTribunal_BanTerbufos 

Signatures open until 4 December 2024.

Further reading

Visit to South Africa – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, Marcos Orellana. July 2024. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5752add1-visit-south-africa-report-special-rapporteur-implications

Comments by the State: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes on his visit to South Africa. September 2024. https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g24/149/14/pdf/g2414914.pdf 

Pesticide Action Network list of HHPs. https://pan-international.org/wp-content/uploads/PAN_HHP_List.pdf

Terbufos information sheet: https://echa.europa.eu/substance-information/-/substanceinfo/100.032.679

End notes

HHPs are pesticides that have been identified as posing a high and unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. They are typically characterised by:

acute toxicity,
potential to cause chronic health effects, or
persistence in the environment, and
commonly being highly restricted or banned in other regions for this reason.

192 HHPs are registered and legally in use in SA and of these over a third (57/192) are banned in the European Union (EU) because of unacceptable human health and environmental risks, and 36 belong to the most hazardous class known as the World Health Organisation (WHO) Group 1a and 1b. These are substances known to have carcinogenic potential for humans, based on human health evidence and, in acute poisonings, can cause death. Examples of HHPs in this class still legally registered and used in South Africa include:

Carbofuran: This pesticide used on many crops is toxic by inhalation or dermal absorption. Farmers and farmworkers are most at risk as it is an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) and reproductive and developmental toxicant. It is also highly toxic to aquatic organisms.

Mevinphos: Exposure can result in long-term neurological effects. It is also a groundwater contaminant and farmworkers and farmers are at great exposure risk as it is also an EDC.

Terbufos: This agricultural insecticide with neurotoxic effects is often sold as a street pesticide in SA – a pesticide that is decanted and sold for use in informal markets without the correct label or warnings. Children and adolescents are the most vulnerable group and high incidences of poisonings are recorded every year.

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