World leaders are in South Africa this week to seek agreement on combating climate change. According to local environmentalists the host city, Durban, is a chemical cauldron.

By Miriam Mannak, Durban

While the authorities of Durban are hosting the 17th UN Climate Change Convention (COP17), communities in the southern part of South Africa’s largest harbour city are busy doing what they have been doing for many years: coping with the soil, water, and air pollution caused by the region’s heavy industry.

Living in the southern part of Durban is not a walk in the park. This area is home to the country’s largest concentration of petrochemical companies. In addition, over 120 different heavy industries including refineries, paper millers, major chemical manufacturers, chemical storage facilities are in the same region, making the air thick with chemicals.

According to the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), the southern part of Durban also hosts toxic landfills.

Respiratory problems
The chemicals that are escaping into the atmosphere, soil and water on a daily basis include benzene, sulphur dioxide, toluene, xylene, and CO2, all of which will play the lead role in next week’s climate change talks.

“The pollution affects about 500,000 people living in close vicinity of these industrial and landfill sites,” said Lushindrie Naidu, SDCEA’s Project Officer.

“Respiratory problems among school children in the south is for instance much more prevalent when compared to northern parts of Durban,” she explained.

“One particular study showed that less than 10% of school kids in the north had asthma, compared to 52% in the south. Clinics in the southern Durban are overflowing with patients suffering from all sorts of health issues,” Naidu continued.

The incidence of cancer in southern Durban is also higher when compared to other parts of the city, she added.

“We are not saying that the refineries and other industry are the sole culprits. Some cancers can be hereditary,” Naidu stressed. “However, what is a fact is that poor living conditions, excessive pollution, and long-term exposure to certain chemicals can increase the risk of certain cancers.”

Greenhouse gases
While long-term benzene exposure in particular has been linked to hereditary leukaemia, other studies have found that continuous contact with sulphur dioxide may be related to higher levels of lung cancer.

Sulphur dioxide is a by-product of the oil refining and paper industry. The south of Durban has two paper production plants and two refineries.

South Africa has put in place regulations when it comes to the emission of chemicals and greenhouse gases like CO2, but according to Naidu they are relatively new: “In addition it is difficult for ordinary people or civil society to find out what these regulations are, due to the Key Points and Strategic Installations Act.”

This particular Act aims to protect areas of strategic interest, including refineries, from sabotage and attacks. Once an area has been so declared a place of strategic interest, the government is allowed to undertake whatever steps to protect it.

“As a result, it is difficult to obtain information with regards to the chemicals emitted,” Naidu added.

Complete disregard
This means that private companies and governments don’t care a great deal about ordinary people, she pointed out.

“Three weeks ago, a fire occurred at the Engen refinery. Leaked crude caught alight and caused a massive fire and billowing smoke. There were, however, no alarms to notify the community, no sirens, and no other warnings,” Naidu recalled. “It gives us the impression that multi-million rand companies,” referring to a fire at one of the refineries three weeks ago, “have a complete disregard for people’s lives.”

The same goess for governments, she concluded. “Civil society organisations like the SDEAC are not hopeful for an agreement regarding emission reductions and targets during COP17. Governments are greedy and want to serve their own interests. They only worry about filling their pockets, not about communities.”