Other demands include for the government to implement the 2010 Pesticide Policy and integrate this with food security plans that reduce reliance on chemicals for pest control. (Lindsay Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Governments should stop confusing food poisoning caused by highly toxic pesticides with food contaminated with food poisoning.
This is one of the demands of a petition issued by the South African Agricultural Toxins Tribunal, a coalition of civil society. Vulnerable and affected people. Labor union. Both academics and individuals.
“This led to the inappropriate solution of blaming spaza shops for the government's failures,” the petition said, accusing the government and South Africa's chemical industry of “recklessly exposing themselves to risk.” .
The petition called on the government to immediately ban the toxic pesticide terbufos and create a mechanism to outlaw all high-hazard pesticides (HHPs) within three months.
Last month, six children died after eating snacks bought at a spaza shop in Naledi, Soweto. The health department confirmed that the cause of death was caused by terbufos, an HHP from the organophosphate family. Last year, it was listed as a “restricted agricultural therapy” and special labeling was required.
Terbufos has been banned in the EU since 2009.
“There is no reason why it shouldn't be banned here. Both European and African groups have exactly the same reaction to poison. Moreover, given that it is banned elsewhere, there are alternatives available,” the coalition said. said.
Although President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a national disaster and issued an edict that all spaza shops must re-register within 21 days, these solutions do not address the root of the problem: “HHP in the local market.” The petition states that relevant departments have failed to fulfill their obligations to effectively regulate agrotoxins.
“We are alarmed that the chemical industry, CropLife, immediately went to the media to fan the flames of xenophobia by placing responsibility on spaza shops, which are the lifeblood of most communities in South Africa.” organizations said, noting that this was a bid. This is to distract from their responsibility for historic and ongoing tragedies.
“We are concerned that our government is supporting them in this effort.”
The group urges the Department of Agriculture to overhaul its pesticide registration system within 12 months, as recommended by Marcos Orellana, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Toxic Substances and Human Rights, after his visit to South Africa in 2023, and to ensure that aerial spraying of pesticides is not prohibited. calls for it to be banned. .
According to Orellana's report, regulatory gaps and poor enforcement have led to the emergence of street pesticides, which are widely available on the market and used to control rats and other pests in informal settlements. The situation was found to be exacerbated by the lack of good sanitation services.
“Street pesticides are legally registered for agricultural use, but are either decanted into unlabeled containers and used illegally for domestic pest control, or are unregistered products and probably illegally imported. Either you are there or you are.”
According to Orellana's report, there were 34 cases of poisoning in Gauteng in 2022, of which five people died due to the organophosphate “probably terbufos''.
Although the state responded to his report, it did not acknowledge his findings in this regard or “demonstrate any immediate need to remediate the regulatory problems he identified,” the coalition said.
The petition called on the government to ensure adequate funding for the government's Poisons Information Center and to establish an independent investigation into structural causes and the role of industry in cases of pesticide poisoning.
Other demands include for the government to implement the 2010 Pesticide Policy and integrate this with food security plans that reduce reliance on chemicals for pest control.
A fund must be established within one year to fairly and equitably compensate victims of pesticide poisoning.
“We call on the Ministry of Health to ensure access to quality healthcare for survivors of pesticide poisoning, especially children whose long-term development and health may be at risk due to poisoning. Masu.”
Terbufos is one of more than 9,000 toxic compounds registered for use in the country in various toxicity categories and is widely used on wine, corn, and citrus farms.
“Farmworkers and their children, farm residents, and people living adjacent to farms are also regularly exposed to these toxins.
“Spraying season has just begun, and farms and people who live adjacent to farms are exposed to a mixture of toxic pesticides in the air, which can cause symptoms such as asthma, sinus infections, watery eyes, mood swings, and headaches. They are experiencing familiar symptoms by the period that will affect their body for years to come.
This toxic form of food production is not inevitable, the group said. They rejected the “well-worn myth” that food security can only be achieved by spraying poisons from seed to production and storage.
“If the deaths of children from terbufos poisoning were an opportunity to avoid blame and responsibility, what would it take for our government to seriously consider alternative and safe ways to produce food?”
Lesley London, agrochemical expert at the University of Cape Town's School of Public Health, said the Faculty of Agriculture has long played a role in strengthening and supporting the needs of commercial agriculture.
“The agrochemical industry has been essential to the growth of commercial agriculture, so the agrochemical industry is now in the driver's seat when it comes to agricultural inputs. We believe that it should not be tampered with in any way.”
He pointed out that other countries also need to recognize the need for pesticide reduction policies and make integrated pest management a core principle of pest control.
“That is not the case in South Africa. South Africa continues to cling to the outdated idea that a treadmill of pesticides is the only way to ensure food security.
“This makes the obvious point that food security in South Africa has less to do with producing enough food, which we do, and distributing it equitably. That's a different story, because the inability to afford nutritious food is a feature of our incredibly unequal society, which has the undisputed highest Gini coefficient in the world. ”
Spraying herbicides and pesticides “is not the answer to putting food on the table of the poor,” London added.
