Support for claims of unacceptably high radiation levels at an old nuclear calibration site near Pelindaba has come from an unexpected quarter: the government’s Land Claims Commission.
Green activist lobby Earthlife Africa triggered a public debate last week when it claimed there were high levels of radiation at the site, a kilometre from Pelindaba. In a surprise outburst, President Thabo Mbeki attacked the claims as ”reckless” and ”totally impermissible”, while Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka indicated that the government would explore ”anti-panic” legislation to prevent such statements being made in future.
However, Blessing Mphela, Gauteng and North West Regional Land Claims Commissioner, told the Mail & Guardian this week that local people had lodged claims on land including the controversial Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) calibration site.
After an in loco inspection, the comÂÂmission had advised land claimants against living on the land, in part because of its exposure to radiation.
”The claimed area could not support high-density residential areas such as those the Mekgaleng community were interested in,” he said. ”It would have been unsafe.”
The Mekgaleng land claim document makes it clear that farmers in the Pelindaba area had alerted the community to the radiation levels at the calibration site as far back as 1998. The farmers warned them that radiation could make them ill, Mphela said.
However, the community did not trust the farmers because they believed they had ulterior motives. The Mekgaleng were dispossessed of land around Pelindaba in the 1950s, and are now scattered across Gauteng. Earthlife’s Mashile Phalane said the government’s vehement reaction showed it had something to hide. ”There is more nastiness in that area and we will not hesitate to expose it. People’s lives have been affected,” he said, referring to the investigation Necsa has launched into ex-employees’ illnesses. Pressure from Earthlife prompted the investigation.
Phalane said Earthlife had consulted the Mekgaleng community on their options and possible resettlement. He said he believed settlement in the area was possible, if the government purged it of nuclear waste.
The calibration site, which Earthlife tested, showed radiation levels of between 20 and 30 microsieverts an hour. Necsa’s measurements match Earthlife’s, but it denies that they pose a threat to humans. Necsa spokesperson Nomsa Sithole said the levels were acceptable for areas with sparse human habitation.
The National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) has also confirmed that the site was used for calibrating radioactive devices during the apartheid years.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said this week the government would investigate legislation, making it a criminal offence to spread allegations or false rumours amounting to incitement. Her department would drive the legislation and she would meet with the justice and communication departments on the issue.
Jane Duncan, executive director of the Freedom of Expression Institute, said the government’s threat to legislate was ”deeply alarming”.
As the NNR had vindicated Earthlife’s allegations, ”if any institution can be accused of making baseless statements, it is the government itself”.
Duncan said such a law would inevitably be used to censor individuals, organisations and media that attempÂÂted to raise issues of pressing public concern. Resulting self-censorship would also have a ”chilling” effect on outspoken expression, she said.