/ 19 September 1997

Mine dust blows disease at school

Raincoats are the only protection schoolchildren in Meadowlands have from the clouds of dust that blow off a disused slimes dam, writes Ferial Haffajee

The children wear raincoats. Not to keep out the rain, but to ward off the dust. It blows and then settles everywhere. In the ceilings, on the rose-bushes and in the lungs.

Zones 7 and 11 of Meadowlands in Soweto are built a stones-throw from a grey and imposing disused slimes dam, said to be responsible for severe respiratory illness. Local authorities also warn that radioactive gases from the site, owned by Randgolds Durban Roodepoort Deep mine, pose a long-term health risk.

Living in the shadow of the dump means the area is always dusty, but in the windy months, Meadowlands wouldnt look out of place on the volcanic island of Montserrat.

Between July and September, the wind whips and twirls the dust, making the area so dark that drivers turn on their headlights at midday and the Maroeroe lower primary school is often dismissed by 9am because learning is impossible when you cannot see much and even less, breathe.

For teacher Seipati Tau, the link between dump and disease is obvious. The children cough a lot. They get hoarse. Their eyes are red. Sometimes theyre not at school for two weeks. They have chest problems, she says.

Ive been here for 15 years and the dumps been here for 15 years, says Tau. The dust gets in the way of the schools Masakhane revitalisation plan: it is a poor but immaculate school, newly painted with rose bushes braving the grime. The schools front door is boarded shut, its crevices stuffed with newspaper.

The school caretaker David Moloi sits outside his home in the school grounds. Hes putting together 14 new brooms. Moloi uses more than 100 brooms a year, fighting a losing battle with the dust which has caused the collapse of the ceiling in his living quarters. I cant read because of the dust in my eyes. My chest, my voice is not clear. Im a marathon man, now I cant run because of that dust.

On the other side of the dump, the managers of Durban Roodepoort Deep mine know they have to fix the problem. The mines newly appointed metallurgical manager, Ken McVey, says they will begin ridge ploughing a system which acts as a windbreak to keep dust down.

The dump must also be vegetated in the long-term, but that is going to cost half a million rands. While mining has brought great prosperity to many, the costs of rehabilitating after excavation are high and with South Africas mining industry in decline, healing is not high on the agenda of many managers.

Durban Roodepoort Deep is losing about R5-million a month this makes the company more sensitive to the recurring costs it says it has to incur when vandals repeatedly break the hoses which are meant to start sprinkling automatically when the wind blows. I think lots of effort must go into educating the community and into looking at ways in which they can assist, says McVey.

The only study of the effects of the dump, the Annergan Environmental Report, found that the dust it emits is significantly above the level at which most people can be exposed over a long period without any significant risk. Chronic bronchitis and obstructive lung diseases are common.

The Meadowlands Clinic warns that proper research needs to be done to identify what health risks the dump poses. A representative warns that the tail-end of winter is generally a time of greater respiratory and chest problems.

Evodia Mabokela runs a spaza shop across the road from the dump. She often has to close her shop in the gusty months but even when its open, the dust encrusts the Coke bottles piled on top of the cooldrink fridge, while popular video games are covered by dust as if they havent been played for years. Mabokela sighs as she wipes her hand through a pile of mine-dust sitting on her window sill, Business is slow when the wind blows.