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South Africa should immediately ban highly hazardous pesticides — especially those outlawed in their country of origin — because they are dangerous to human health and to the environment, a United Nations expert has said.
“The human body is the same everywhere,” said Marcos Orellana, the UN’s special rapporteur on toxics and human rights. “A highly hazardous pesticide that is harmful to human health and banned in Europe should not be allowed for production, for export, and it should not be allowed for import in South Africa.”
He was speaking on Friday after delivering his end-of-mission statement concluding his 12-day official visit to South Africa, where he examined the human rights situation related to the environmental management and disposal of hazardous substances and waste.
Exponential growth
Pesticide use has “exponentially grown” in South Africa, largely because of the Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act 36 of 1947, he said.
It prioritises the promotion of chemically-intensive agriculture, largely neglecting the protection of human health and the environment.
In addition, pesticides meant for agricultural use are illegally sold and used to combat rat and cockroach pest infestations in the absence of sanitation services in informal settlements.
During his visit to the Western Cape, he heard from women farm workers who were routinely exposed to hazardous pesticides.
“They spoke about cases of cancers in their community, their own experiences, and of their husbands that died [and] about going out to work in the fields without being given personal protections and without being told when the spraying would take place,” Orellana said. “The spraying would come suddenly or [they would] be told to go work in the fields right after spraying had taken place.”
The women spoke about how they weren’t given medical care and that “doctors responded to the interests of agricultural production” and dismissed their concerns.
“I heard once and again the plea for medical monitoring and assistance by those people who have been exposed to hazardous pesticides. Many spoke about how they started working in the fields and they didn’t know these products were dangerous and toxic,” he said. “When they started seeing the health impacts in their communities or in their own bodies … they started learning about the harms and risks of pesticide exposure.”
Double standards
“I was appalled to learn of the many children who were poisoned or died from eating, drinking or handling hazardous pesticides.”
Despite scientific evidence on their harms and the fact that they cannot be safely used, many highly hazardous pesticides are still legal and in use in South Africa, Orellana said. There were 34 reported cases of poisoning and five deaths in Gauteng caused by an organophosphate, probably Terbufos, last year.
“Paraquat is another example of a pesticide that is widely available and responsible for serious health impacts and deaths. These two pesticides, among many others, are banned in the European Union, yet they are still produced in European countries for export, particularly to developing countries.”
Orellana said the government has a duty to protect its people and not contribute to reinforcing these double standards.
He applauded South Africa’s decision to ban chlorpyrifos, a hazardous organophosphate pesticide. But existing stockpiles should be destroyed immediately to prevent the further harm from a “lengthy, years-long phase-out period”.
On the extent of the agrochemical industry’s influence on information and standard setting, he noted that although the government does not have a publicly available list of registered pesticides, Croplife, an industry association, has an online database for purchase.
Similarly, consultants not registered with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions have been involved in the preparation of applications for the registration of agricultural pesticides, in open breach of the Natural Scientific Professions Act.
Risk to lives, health
Orellana said the country has tools for enforcement, including the Green Scorpions. “At the same time, postponement or exemption of compliance, for example with regard to hazardous air emissions, weakens enforcement and exposes the population to harms and risks to their lives and health.”
And, although people have the right to participate in public affairs but “certain areas are covered in secrecy. For example, it is not possible for the public to access, free of charge, the list of pesticides registered for use in the country”.
He heard numerous testimonies that public participation has become a mechanical “box-ticking” exercise. The fact that people resort to litigation to be heard, as in the so-called Deadly Air case, shows that public participation processes are not adequately done. But many people cannot afford to go to court.
Need for accountability
Those responsible must be held accountable for the harm suffered by people from hazardous substances and waste. Orellana said he had information on numerous cases where hazardous chemicals that have affected people’s human rights but have not been compensated, nor has industry and the government been held accountable.”
Citing the chemical disaster when UPL’s chemical warehouse was set ablaze during the July 2021 riots, Orellana said the Blackburn informal settlement was particularly hard hit by the toxic air and water pollution.
“When talking to affected community representatives there, it was clear to me that both industry and government left them on their own to bear the short and longer-term consequences on their health and livelihoods.”
Toxic mining fallout
The mining industry, particularly gold mining, has for many decades contributed to South Africa’s economic development. But its legacy includes more than 6 152 ownerless or derelict mines and mine dumps, which pose a significant threat to human health and the environment.
On his visit to the Witwatersrand mining basin, Orellana saw “mountains of mining waste dumps” that contain heavy metals.
“In the Witwatersrand, the ore contains uranium. Nearby communities inhale the radioactive dust particles as they are blown by the wind. Due to contaminated soils, crops are unable to grow. In addition to toxic dust and tailings dumps, mining operations create acid mine drainage (AMD).
The mixture of fluids that make up AMD is highly toxic, seeping into and contaminating water that people use for irrigation, livestock, spiritual rituals and other domestic and recreational purposes.
Often, remediation upon mine closures is lost in the poor enforcement of legislation, with the result a landscape “scarred by abandoned mines and tailing dumps and acid mine drainage”.
Just transition
The dust from coal mines, along with ashes, mercury emissions, and PM2.5 — tiny airborne particles small enough to penetrate deep in the lungs and pass to the bloodstream — from coal burning affects air quality, because the country generates almost 90% of its electricity from coal.
South Africa has begun to transition away from fossil fuels for energy production, but the process faces serious obstacles. Given the government’s commitments on climate action, Orellana said he was “perplexed” by its licensing of new coal and greenhouse gas-intensive projects, including the Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone, another coal mine in Lephalale and numerous offshore oil and gas projects.
The country has several mineral resources useful for renewable energy technologies, including copper, cobalt and vanadium. It has a “clear opportunity” to integrate decarbonisation and detoxification strategies, and “to learn lessons from the past to prevent toxic pollution in the mining of transition minerals”.
Reasons for optimism
In September 2024, Orellana will present his report to the South African Human Rights Council on his visit to the country. The toxic disasters South Africa faces are “significant, enormous” and compounded by inequality, poverty and unemployment.
“And yet South Africa has a Constitution that is progressive, that contains the commitment of the country to human rights protections. The country also has good laws on the books and strong regulations.”
While some elements need to be overhauled, such as on pesticides and hazardous waste, since 1994, there has been significant effort in putting into place a “normative and institutional framework” that can address these issues.
“That is cause for optimism. Because while enforcement and accountability deficits are real, there are tools that can turn the tide and make the human rights enriched in the constitution a reality for all.”