contaminated.
Andy Duffy
The base created for 32 Battalion, the notorious army unit that fought on the frontline of South Africas dirty wars in Angola and Namibia, is to be closed amid fears that it is a potential death trap.
The army said this week that Pomfret military base, home to nearly 5 000 soldiers and their families, was heavily contaminated with lethal dust and fibres from the asbestos mine which once occupied the site.
The camp, in North West province on the border with Botswana, was built in 1989 especially for 32 Battalion after its troops withdrew from the Caprivi Strip following years of fighting against liberation movements beyond South Africas borders.
Consultants have been quietly investigating the extent of the contamination since February. They are due to report to the Public Works Department, which is responsible for the site, on September 25. But the army said the Ministry of Defence has already ordered the base shut. The 2 SA Infantry Battalion, which now occupies Pomfret, will be shifted to the nearby Zeerust base.
The defence force is very concerned about the situation, said army representative Major Merle Meyer. We were given guarantees that the site was safe and now its not safe. We have to move them.
The fate of hundreds of civilians, many of them families of former 32 Battalion members, remains unclear. We cant look after all of them, Meyer added. Its not our responsibility either.
Community forums would be established to discuss the closure, she said, once North West Premier Popo Molefe had announced it officially. Pomfrets base commander was unavailable for comment, but Meyer said medical tests had so far found no cases of asbestos-related disease on the base. The question of liability or possible negligence had also still to be resolved, she said.
Meyer added that: No cases of asbestos contamination have been reported to date, via the normal South African National Defence Force channel or in any interim reports from the consultants. This can be attributed to the special care that was taken as soon as the environmental problems surfaced.
But consultants on the project, speaking on condition of anonymity, said asbestos fibres littered roads around the area, Pomfrets parade ground, living quarters and even the bases school playground . The consultants had worn protective masks during their work a move that bemused troops living on the base.
A preliminary report, produced by one consultant earlier this year, also notes that an overall study of the area indicates the long-term potential for disaster.
The risks to all parties involved in the Pomfret base are potentially very high both in the areas of health risk and litigation.
The obvious risks from living on or around an asbestos mine are high because of the nature of the mineral and the long- and short-term exposure to loose fibres that are clearly contaminating the area . The two most common asbestos-related diseases, asbestosis and mesothelioma, can also take years to develop.
Several members of the battalion joined the infamous Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB), while others went on to form the mercenary outfit Executive Outcomes. In 1993, 32 Battalion and 31 Battalion, which shared Pomfret base, were disbanded, with many of the troops joining other units across South Africa.
Some, however, stayed on at Pomfret, as part of the 2 SA Infantry Battalion a motorised infantry unit that also includes former MK and Apla troops. The site had been owned by listed company Griqualand Finance & Exploration Company (Gefco). The mine had once been Gefcos largest, producing blue asbestos a product now banned in countries such as France before the company sold it to the Department of Public Works in 1988.
Gefco chairman Pat Hart said this week that the company had met stringent government requirements to clean up the site before the sale was approved. Meyer said the army had monitored the site since the base was built, but that Gefcos efforts had been overturned by a combination of poor weather and constant trampling by base personnel.
It was a natural process, she said. Hart disputes this, saying Gefcos work, including grassing over the mines dumps, was to a standard designed to last forever.