In Steel Valley, residents say cats are born without heads, a piglet had sexual organs growing out of its anus, and a cow born hermaphrodite had to be put down. Vegetables grow in strange shapes and even the rats are ill.
These alleged monstrosities, compounded by fears about human cancers and diseases, have prompted diehard residents of Vanderbijlpark, south-west of Johannesburg, to launch fresh legal action against South Africa’s steel giant, Mittal Steel.
Government interest in the pollution claims appears to have been aroused by a separate Constitutional Court action launched against President Thabo Mbeki and various officials. A representative of Mbeki’s office was expected to visit Steel Valley last week, but did not turn up.
However, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk visited the area on Monday to declare Steel Valley and the surrounding Vaal Triangle a ”pollution hot spot”.
Among the residents who went to meet Van Schalkwyk was Strike Matsepo, a Steel Valley farmer who is sickly and whose sister died while she was living with him last year. Blood tests showed she had high levels of cadmium, a heavy metal that can cause kidney failure.
The Steel Valley residents claim water, land and air pollution caused by Mittal Steel, formerly Iscor, is giving them cancers, skin infections and kidney diseases. They also tell numerous horror stories of deformities among animals.
Matsepo cashed in his pension to buy a two-hectare smallholding in Steel Valley in 1993, but has lost most of his livestock. ”It used to be a good place, but my 26 cows, five sheep and six goats have died, together with a number of dogs and cats.”
Motsepo and his neighbour, Johan Dewing, are suing Mittal Steel for about R6-million in damages as a result of their alleged loss of health and livelihood. The case is set to be heard in the Johannesburg High Court in October.
Last month another resident, Johan de Kock, lodged papers in the Constitutional Court in a bid to force the government to meet its responsibilities in policing pollution by the steel giant. Mittal Steel South Africa is now part of the world’s largest steel company, chaired by the world’s third-richest man, Lakshmi Mittal.
The three residents pursuing legal action are the last of a group of 16 Steel Valley landowners and residents who tried to obtain court interdicts to stop Iscor polluting their valley in 2001. The interdict proceedings were dismissed in 2003 and all the other applicants withdrew after Iscor bought their properties.
Last week Judge Meyer Joffe ordered Matsepo, Dewing and Dewing’s ex-wife each to pay about R230 000 towards the cost of the interdict proceedings. An angry Dewing told the Mail & Guardian the steel company had offered to buy his property for R50 000, but he was now expected to pay more than four times that amount in legal costs.
The diehards are being assisted by the Friends of Steel Valley, a small group of academics, lawyers and activists. In research published late last year, the group says the steel company has turned the area into a wasteland.
The steel factory has slimes dams covering about 140 hectares that are not lined, and polluted water is seeping into aquifers, the research report states. The dust from slag heaps at the perimeter of the property blows off and settles kilometres away. Low-grade coal used for power generation and the smelting of iron ore release sulphurous compounds into the air.
Nearly 40% of 100 residents who underwent medical tests had traces of cadmium in their blood, according to the Friends of Steel Valley. Some children have learning problems, are chronically fatigued and suffer from memory loss and lung ailments.
Tami Didiza, general manager of Mittal Steel South Africa said the company would spend ”in excess of R960-million” on implementing ”environmental-related improvement projects”. The target dates for completing a ”master plan dealing with issues concerning the environment” vary from 2005 to 2007. Didiza added that Mittal Steel had a dedicated forum to address the concerns of local communities.
During his visit, which focused mainly on air pollution, Van Schalkwyk admitted that legal requirements had not forced the industries to clean up. The health costs of respiratory diseases caused by burning fuels in the Vaal Triangle were estimated to be more than R274-million every year.
”But I want to assure you, from government’s side, we mean business,” he said. ”We are saying to polluters, you have until September to get your house in order. There will be no favouritism – the polluter will pay.” The new Air Quality Act gave the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism powers to clamp down on polluters.
Van Schalkwyk advised the Steel Valley residents to refer their case against Mittal Steel to the ”Green Scorpions”, a specialised enforcement unit in his department.
Dewing told the M&G after the meeting that for the first time in six years he was optimistic that the government would do something for the valley. ”But only time will tell,” he shrugged.