“Hamba, voetsak, go home UPL, down with UPL who are poisoning our fish, beaches and food.”
These were some of the words used by protestors as they demonstrated along Beach Road in Umdloti, on Heritage Day, 24 September. The protest was to draw attention to the impact the chemical spill from international agrochemical company United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) continues to have on subsistence fisherfolk and communities.
The demonstration was led by Desmond D’Sa of South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) who drew people from all walks of life, especially fisherfolk families from Phoenix and the community of Blackburn who live close to the warehouse and have been affected the most. The protestors called for compensation, a health clinic for the people of Blackburn and for UPL to be held accountable.
The UPL Cornubia warehouse was set alight during the July unrest. The plant housed a range of chemicals used in the manufacture of herbicides, pesticides, and other agro processing chemicals. “The contamination arose from the toxic substances from the drain-off on dousing the fire at the warehouse. Marine life were affected with many species washing out dead on the beaches as far as Umdloti, uMhlanga and Durban North. The fishermen have been told by eThekwini Municipality and KZN Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) not to fish in the waters,” said Suren Beeprajh – senior official representing Phoenix under the KZN Subsistence Fishing Forum, and South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA). “There must be reparation for the affected families as government and communities were not aware that the chemicals were stored in the warehouse. One thousand and five hundred chemicals stored in the UPL warehouse affected the communities of Phoenix, Blackburn, Durban North, uMhlanga Rocks and the tourism industry. Government said that a criminal case has been opened against the company. We have not heard anything since. The inventory list from UPL has still not been submitted to government,” said D’Sa.
D’Sa said that nothing much has changed since The Durban North News reported on the story two weeks ago. “Government said that a joint operational command has been set up which the community representatives will be on. We have submitted 10 names consisting of fishermen and technical expertise. We have not had a response from government. We want to see the managing director of UPL handcuffed then we will know that government
is serious. Information should be accessible to us. We want compensation for the fishermen
and a health clinic set up for the people of Blackburn. The health of the people is important. UPL needs to be held responsible,” said D’Sa.
EThekwini Municipality said all beaches north of the Umgeni River, up to Salt Rock, remain closed. “The city is appealing to the public not to embark on any activity until the water quality has been determined as safe and an official communication from the city has been issued in this regard. EThekwini is awaiting the final and signed-off report from UPL’s specialists. This requirement came out of a workshop with UPL and their specialists on 8 September,” said the city’s spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela.
“The submissions received prior to this workshop were inadequate. They did not reference the spill or site in question and were riddled with errors about the concentrations of toxins. In some cases, the submissions were unsigned and as a result they were unacceptable and rejected on that basis. A consolidated report is expected early next week after
which an independent peer review process will take place. The final report on beach opening will be made available to the public at the same time it is sent for peer review. The public are asked to be patient and comply with requests from authorities. Any inconvenience is regretted, however, the safety of the public is
of utmost importance,” added Mayisela.
Jan Botha, the commercial director of UPL SA said that the company has made extensive progress over the last weeks regarding the spillage.
“A team of hazardous waste management companies and environmental experts including air quality, toxicology, human health, water, wetlands and environmental engineering, biomonitoring and forensic ecology specialists appointed by UPL have been working around the clock to mitigate the impact of the chemical spill that resulted from the arson attack, and no expense has been spared with over R177 million spent by the company to date to address the consequences of the violent looting that took place.
“We provided a list of all chemicals in the warehouse a few days after the incident. In addition, we have been engaging with the relevant authorities in the eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal government and national government since the attack including reporting on the extent of the spill and regular reporting on the clean-up operations. The final report, which is signed, has already been submitted,” said Botha.
