South Durban pollution

FOR years, Desmond D’Sa of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance has championed the cause for residents in south Durban – acting as a thorn in the side of the local municipality and large corporations in demanding answers.

“It’s simple, we want to know what they are putting out into the air. Our people are getting sick and big business makes a profit,” he said.

The recent fire in south Durban, which blazed through a huge warehouse, once again highlighted the problems the community faced, he said.

“Why was there was no water source, why were there broken air-monitoring stations and how can we be assured this matter won’t be swept under the carpet?

“Who knows what we had to breathe in those few days of the fire,” said D’Sa.

Professor Rajen Naidoo, of University of KwaZuluNatal’s occupational and environmental health department, said he was part of a study in 2005 in which modelling data was produced indicating that residents in some areas in south Durban had a possibility of a higher risk of cancers.

“We suggested that a cancer registry be created for this area to document cases. It’s been more than a decade and nothing has been done.

“The pollutants the residents are exposed to could theoretically cause cancer,” he said.