Ban on toxic pesticide is 'a victory'

The ban on the importation and use of Terbufos is a shift toward safer, people-centred agriculture

- Sheree Bega

Civil society groups have welcomed the cabinet's approval of the ban on the use and importation of the highly hazardous pesticide Terbufos as a “significant victory”.

In October last year, six children died after eating snacks from a spaza shop in Naledi, Soweto believed to be tainted with the organophospate.

Also known as Halephirimi, Terbufos is a chemical compound classified as an organophosphate and is used as an insecticide and pesticide.

Last Thursday, the cabinet said it had received a report from the interministerial committee on foodborne illnesses with a special focus on organophosphate pesticides. The committee was advised by a ministerial advisory council on foodborne illnesses appointed by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

The committee said the department of agriculture would lead the consultation process on the ban in line with its 2010 plan to eradicate poisonous insecticides and pesticides over a period of time and also work on identifying safer alternatives to Terbufos.

The banning of Terbufos signals the beginning of the transformation of an agriculture system that is “riven with conflict of interest, inequity, abuse of worker rights and the unchallenged hegemony of toxic chemicals,” the South African People's Tribunal on AgroToxins (SAPTOA) said.