The poisoning of children linked to the pesticide terbufos underscores a serious public health crisis in SA. The tragic deaths of six children in Naledi, Soweto, and others in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, have shown the grave consequences of systemic neglect and government failures to protect vulnerable communities.
Terbufos is a pesticide designed to protect crops such as maize and sugar cane from pests. In wealthier countries, such as the US and across the EU, its use is tightly controlled, if not banned outright. The reason is simple: it is a potent neurotoxin, particularly dangerous to children, whose developing bodies are ill-equipped to cope with its harmful effects. Even small exposures can cause respiratory distress, seizures or long-term neurological damage.
In SA terbufos remains widely accessible, its use unregulated, and its dangers largely unknown to the public. For many poor communities battling rat infestations — often a direct consequence of municipal neglect — it has become a desperate tool in an unwinnable fight.
Without proper labelling or education on its safe use, terbufos has transformed from a pest control solution into a poison, lurking in homes and endangering lives. The deaths of six children in Naledi earlier this year have become a grim symbol of these dynamics.
Professors Leslie London and Andrea Rother of the environmental health division of the University of Cape Town’s School of Public Health captured the broader truth in the Mail & Guardian recently: “To characterise the 2024 deaths of six children in Naledi from terbufos poisoning as a ‘spaza mystery’ is to miss the point. This was the result of deep structural injustice. If we don’t tackle the upstream causes, we will almost certainly see more poisonings in future.”
London has gone further, pinpointing the root of the crisis: “The problem of chemical toxicity has really arisen because of the failure of municipal waste removal in our townships. People resort to toxic measures to control pests, and those toxins get into food or are consumed by children by accident.”
These tragedies were entirely predictable. For years warnings have been issued about the dangerous cocktail of uncollected refuse, rat infestations and the reliance on hazardous chemicals to manage them. As far back as 2008 Abahlali baseMjondolo, the shack dwellers’ movement, noted that “the problem of rats is closely linked to the problems with refuse collection. Most settlements still do not have refuse removal.”
Recent reports confirm the persistence of these failures. In 2022 the Asivikelane shack dwellers NGO revealed that 42% of residents in informal settlements reported no refuse collection at all. Meanwhile, organisations such as UnPoison have long called for the regulation of dangerous pesticides such as terbufos and advocated for sustainable, non-toxic alternatives.
The 2021 riots in SA showed that even those who don’t have to use highly toxic pesticides in our homes are at risk. Terbufos was one of the chemical pesticides legally produced at the UPL factory in Durban, which was set alight during the riots, causing extensive chemical pollution, with devastating effects on local communities and the environment.
SA’s failure to regulate toxic substances is systemic. Acid mine drainage from abandoned and operational mines contaminates water systems with heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic and lead, affecting communities in Gauteng and Limpopo, where enforcement of environmental standards remains inadequate.
Similarly, the continued use of lead-based paint, despite restrictions, exposes children in low-income areas to lead poisoning, leading to developmental delays and long-term health problems. Coal-fired power plants emit mercury pollution, particularly in Mpumalanga, with Eskom frequently delaying compliance with pollution control standards, endangering nearby communities.
The use of persistent organic pollutants, such as DDT for malaria control, continues despite international conventions raising concerns about its broader health and environmental impacts. Industrial air pollution in hotspots such as the Vaal Triangle continues to cause respiratory illnesses and premature deaths, as weak enforcement of air quality standards allows industries to operate with limited oversight.
Rather than confront the real and systemic issues, some political leaders have cynically seized on the recent deaths of children to push a Trump-style xenophobic agenda. PA leader Gayton McKenzie declared: “We need to close all these shops... What more do we want to see? More children dying?” ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba went further, demanding a state of emergency and military intervention.
These statements are not only false but inflammatory. Blaming migrants for a crisis rooted in state failure is as preposterous as the medieval myth that Jews poisoned wells during the Black Plague. Such rhetoric is dangerous, deflecting accountability and fanning the flames of division.
Regrettably, sections of the media have echoed these harmful narratives. Instead of scrutinising systemic failures, they have amplified the xenophobic slander, framing the crisis as a problem of migrant-owned spaza shops. This approach has legitimised scapegoating and distracted from the urgent need for systemic reform.
At its best, journalism challenges power and lays bare uncomfortable truths. When it fails, as it has here, it not only fails the profession but also those most in need of justice. The SA National Editors’ Forum and media academics must reflect deeply on how and why parts of the press failed so profoundly in their response to this crisis.
The terbufos poisoning tragedy is part of a broader pattern of contempt for SA’s poor, a pattern that includes Life Esidimeni, Marikana, the endless shack fires and more. Minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni’s recent comments about illegal miners — the so-called zama zamas — “We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out” — epitomised the cruelty of some of our elites and a worldview that places blame on victims while absolving the powerful.
The way forward is not complicated. Hazardous pesticides such as terbufos must be banned, safer alternatives regulated, and proper refuse collection services provided to every community. These are basic, achievable demands that require only the will to act.
Accountability is equally important. The government must answer for its failures, and those who exploited this tragedy to spread xenophobia must face public censure. The media must consider its role, ensuring that future coverage prioritises truth over sensationalism.
SA cannot continue to treat its poorest citizens as an afterthought. The poisoning crisis is a stark reminder that systemic failures have real, often fatal, consequences. The question now is whether we will choose to act, or allow this to become yet another tragedy that fades into the background of a country that is all too familiar with grief.
• Dr Buccus is a senior research associate at the Auwal Socioeconomic Research Institute and postdoctoral fellow at Durban University of Technology.
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