Acid spill in river leaves KZN farmers high and dry
● Farmer Dennis Mncwabe should have already started planting the vegetables that feed his family and more than 100 residents of Sobantu, on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg. Instead he watches helplessly as cleanup crews work to contain a chemical spill that has contaminated the stream he uses for irrigation.
The river that Mncwabe and other smallscale farmers in the area use was contaminated when about 1,600t of sunflower oil and caustic acid spilt into Baynespruit after an industrial accident on August 13.
Two tanks containing the oil and acid collapsed at a facility run by the Willowton Group, whose brands include soaps and Sunshine margarine.
The spillage, one of the worst cases of environmental pollution yet in KwaZulu-Natal, seeped from Baynespruit into the Msunduzi (Dusi) River and affected the nearby Darvill wastewater treatment plant.
Umgeni Water said it had not affected Pietermaritzburg’s drinking water.
Mncwabe said: “We were supposed to start planting this month but we can’t because we don’t know how we are going to water our plants.”
If farmers had to delay much longer, their crops would not be ready for the December holidays and they would suffer financial losses, he said.
“This whole river situation has affected us. This isn’t the first time the water has been contaminated and Willowton is not the first company to do it.
“It happens regularly because our river is close to so many factories.”
Mncwabe, 58, said consumers would have concerns about the produce.
“This has been very harmful because … the people who buy from us will doubt our vegetables because we use this river as the main source of water.”
The river is also the main source of water for mother-of-six Bongekile Mtolo.
“[The chemical spill] has killed us … We can’t wash the children’s school clothes, water our plants or fix our houses, because this is the water we use for everything,” she said.
In a statement, Willowton said the “diluted caustic soda” involved in the spill was used for making soap.
“Willowton retains the highest safety and environmental standards and subscribes to the relevant industry audits, and all required operational inspections are conducted regularly by independent approved bodies.”
It said of the six workers who had been hospitalised following the accident, two remained in hospital in a stable condition.
The Msunduzi municipality said though most of the solids that contaminated the water have been recovered and pH levels have stabilised, it is unclear when people will be able to use water from the streams again.