Pesticide poisoning has far reaching effects

The "dop" system of providing part of the wages for workers on wine farms in the form of cheap wine existed in South Africa ever since the abolition of slavery. Despite being outlawed, the practice persists in some areas. There is widespread acknowledgement of the horrific consequences in terms of chronic alcoholism and foetal alcohol syndrome among children.

Yet it took generations before this was recognised. By the time it was recognised, it had become a major tragedy, especially in the wine land areas of the Western Cape. One of the reasons that the situation was allowed to grow to almost epidemic proportions was that it affected only workers on the farms. The consequences of the dop system could be seen, and would often be rationalised in racist terms, but did not directly affect those outside the farms.

Now a potentially much more widespread tragedy could be in the making, not only on the farms, but also in the surrounding towns of rural South Africa.

For decades, citrus orchards, vineyards, wheat fields and other crops have been sprayed with a variety of toxic chemicals. In the case of grapes and citrus, farmers admit the spraying is for "cosmetic reasons"; to produce good looking fruit for export.

Fifty years ago it was only farmers and their workers who were exposed to relatively small amounts of pesticides that were sprayed by hand pump.

Then improved chemicals were developed. The organophosphate pesticides now being used are derived from nerve poisons that were developed originally as nerve gases for use in chemical warfare - along with newer, faster and more efficient ways of spreading them across thousands of hectares at a time. Crop dusting aircraft became a feature of the rural environment, along with tractor-borne sprayers, sending jets of spray many metres into the air.

Organisations such as the Food and Allied Workers' Union (Fawu) complained from time to time and did ensure in a few cases that farm workers dealing with these chemicals were given protective clothing. "But mostly the farmers don't listen and we don't have the resources to monitor the farms," says Fawu media officer Dominique Swartz. She admits that it is not uncommon to see a farm worker driving a tractor and all but obscured by toxic spray, wearing nothing more than "shorts, a T-shirt and a cap".

There are requirements that workers using these chemicals be provided with protective clothing, but the legislation regarding the use of pesticides dates back to 1947. "The technology has long outstripped the legal requirements," says University of Cape Town public health professor, Leslie London.

Not only has the manner of delivery changed, so too has the rural landscape. More and more often, affluent and well-educated city dwellers are retreating to the relative tranquillity of life in rural towns or to cluster homes in the midst of vineyards or citrus groves. At the same time, the suburban outskirts of smaller towns have encroached steadily on the fringes of farmlands. In almost all cases, these migrants are being subjected to slow and possibly cumulative poisoning every time the "spraying season" dawns.

Especially in areas such as the Western Cape where strong winds are common, aerial spraying can result in "pesticide drift" over many kilometres. But, as London points out, exposure to such toxins may not have an acute or immediate effect; the effects can accumulate over many years.
"Over time you become ill and you do not necessarily link that to pesticides," he says.

But now townsfolk such as medical doctor Johan Minnaar in Groblersdal and Riebeeck Kasteel residents Jurgen Schirmacher and David Bellamy have taken up the fight against pesticide poisoning.

The labour movement has also pledged support, especially since the campaign highlights the plight of the poorly organised farm workers - the ones who are in the "most at risk" group.

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