Four years after a promising 21-year-old chemical engineer died after an accident at the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa), his family is still looking for answers.
Victor Motha’s death has highlighted concerns about the safety of workers at Necsa’s Pelindaba plant, which the Department of Minerals and Energy oversees.
Earthlife Africa, an NGO opposed to nuclear activity in South Africa, believes the corporation is less than frank about the health of its employees.
Last year, it requested the medical records of Motha and 22 other Necsa workers, who had consented to the request. Of the 23, said Earthlife activist Mashile Phalane, five had died of possible work-related diseases — including skin cancer, tumours and lung disorders — though the causes of death were not investigated at the time. Another nine workers were currently suffering from such conditions.
A health consultancy, Health Gap Network, hired by Earthlife to examine records and test workers criticised the corporation for poor monitoring of workers’ health and concluded that there was evidence of exposure to potentially disease-causing radioactivity.
The official investigation into Motha’s death has taken four years to complete. His family believes Necsa is withholding information about the circumstances of the death to stave off possible legal action.
Motha died in November 2001 after inhaling fluorine gas while working as a chemical engineer at the Pelindaba plant. Fluorine, a highly toxic yellow gas, is used in refining uranium for use as a fuel in nuclear reactors.
In a letter to Motha’s family shortly after he died Minister of Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka promised his father, Clive, that ”no stone will be left unturned” in investigating Motha’s death. She promised that the family would be kept ”constantly informed of the developments”.
The minister was ”also heartened by the fact that Necsa has pledged to do everything to support the family”.
Tseliso Maqubela, chief director of nuclear technology for the Department of Minerals and Energy, told the Mail & Guardian the Motha investigation was complete.
”The report is an official record administered by the Department of Labour,” he said, adding that Motha’s family ”have been advised to approach the Department of Labour for the report, as it is in their possession.”
But Clive Motha said the last correspondence he had received from the government was the minister’s letter.
He said his son came home from work complaining about nausea and a burning throat and chest. Later he began to vomit. His father rushed him to hospital where he died. Motha’s post-mortem examination confirmed that he had died of fluorine inhalation.
The next day one of Motha’s colleagues, Kennet Mnkuni, complained of a burning chest at work and was also hospitalised, along with about 10 other workers who had been on the same shift as Mnkuni and Motha. The other workers were discharged with a clean bill of health, while Mnkuni was released later in the week.
Mnkuni declined to speak to the M&G about what had happened on the day of Motha’s death. He said he would only give information to the ”investigating officers” of the labour department.
Phalane said Necsa’s incomplete medical records were an obstacle to determining the extent of harm to workers.
Health Gap Network scrutinised the medical records and tested the remaining patients. It found that at least three had suffered from incidents at work that should have been reported and compensated for.
The consultants concluded that ”there is insufficient evidence to believe that Necsa has a good occupational health programme”. It lambasted Necsa for its poor monitoring of workers’ health, saying ”the medical records received are poor both in content and in format”. It concluded that ”there is enough evidence in these files to show exposure to radiation with the potential for occupational disease”.
Maqubela described Earthlife’s research as ”shooting blanks”. In the past 10 years, Necsa had had one work-related fatality, that of Motha.
”There has never been a nuclear incident or accident involving radioactive material resulting in the death of a Necsa employee,” he said.