The South African People’s Tribunal on AgroToxins will put the government on trial in the court of public opinion "for gross dereliction of its constitutional duties to protect the right to life".
Farm workers and community members will share their testimonies.
They will testify to how the government has persistently, decade after decade, failed to protect farm workers and their families, especially children living in low-resource communities in both urban and rural areas, from the catastrophic consequence of exposure to highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs).
These HHPs include the notorious pesticide, Terbufos, fingered in the deaths of primary school children at the end of 2024.
The Tribunal will be adjudicated by a panel of three influential South African women who have remarkable track records in ensuring justice for the voiceless – Judge Navi Pillay, Dr Sophia Kisting-Cairncross, and Human Rights Commissioner Philile Ntuli.
The aim of the public opinion trial is to break the isolation and invisibility of farm workers and "expose the inhumane and slave-like working and living conditions they endure".
South Africa is the largest consumer of agrotoxins in Africa, with over 9,000 toxic chemical compounds registered for use in our chemically based industrial farming, including approximately 192 HHPs – many of which are banned in the European Union.
Haidee Swanby, People’s Tribunal coordinator explained: “We see a complete regulatory breakdown and a ‘free-for-all’ for the agrochemical industrial complex that is symptomatic of a dismantled and dysfunctional state.
“It also links back to a long history of extraction and colonisation in South Africa, resulting in gross human rights violations and environmental calamity.”
Deneco Dube the General Secretary of the Commercial, Stevedoring, Agriculture and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU) explains that many farm workers are forced to work with poisons that have been banned in Europe and many countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
“It is difficult to live on our wages or access good health care. If we get ill then we must hear it’s because of alcohol and drugs. When we become too ill to work, we can just be evicted from farms where we have been working and living all our lives.”
The judges will also hear testimonies from community members who bore the brunt of the devastation when a chemical warehouse was torched in Cornubia City in KwaZulu-Natal in 2021.
This has led to the loss of life, chronic illness, loss of livelihoods, and widespread environmental degradation and pollution.
According to the People’s Tribunal on Agrotoxins, abject regulatory failure was at the heart of this disaster.
The Tribunal explained that similarly, regulatory failure routinely results in toxins that are restricted for agricultural use in South Africa finding their way into domestic urban settings when people buy ‘street pesticides’ to deal with pest infestations resulting from chronic lack of service delivery and food systems collapse.
Children are most at risk of death, and acute and chronic poisoning from these street pesticides. The Tribunal will hear both community and expert testimonies on these issues.
The use of pesticides like Mevinphos, which is linked to neurological defects leading to long-term health complications, Carbofuran, associated with reproductive and developmental defects, and Terbufos, a neurotoxic insecticide recently implicated in the deaths of children in low-resource urban areas, will also be discussed.
Terbufos is banned in 12 out of 16 countries in the SADC, yet remains in use in South Africa, exposing communities to further risks.
Ahead of the tribunal, Elriza Theron, Advocacy and Communications Manager for CropLife South Africa, highlighted that the government is committed to phasing out Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) by 2035, with many chemicals set to be banned by June 2024.
She assured that both industry and government are working together to ensure a safe transition while maintaining food security, with existing laws, such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act, govern the safe use of hazardous chemicals.
Theron emphasised the importance of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which combines methods like mechanical, cultural, and biological techniques to control pests.
The aim is to prevent issues early and use the most appropriate methods when intervention is necessary.
South Africa’s unique agricultural conditions require different solutions, which is why some pesticides banned in Europe are still in use here.
However, many local regulations align with EU standards, and farmers are required to comply with sustainability practices.
Theron stressed that ensuring compliance with safety measures, such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), is crucial.
Weekend Argus