The dark side of Durban

By Meindert Korevaar
When you visit South-Africa, Durban is a must see for many reasons. Durban offers great opportunities for tourism, like fishing and whale watching. The mixture of all kinds of people, black, white and the Indian community, makes Durban to a melting pot of cultures and therefor a very vibrant place. Combined with its relaxed beaches and the nice climate this city is really a good place to stay. At least, that's what I thought.

Together with my colleagues from NiZA /Fatal Transactions, I attended a strategy meeting of somewhat 20 civil society organisations from all over Southern Africa, to discuss our work on natural resource exploitation in Africa. Our joint vision is that natural resource exploitation should contribute to peace and development, instead of fuelling conflicts and human rights violations.
The issue is this: although Africa has a tremendous wealth of natural resources, like diamonds, oil, coltan, etc. there is another side, which is a very dark one. Some examples are the harsh circumstances in open diamonds mines in Congo, under which people, even children, are working in. For very low wages, sometimes debt-bondage, these miners risk their lives in searching that one material: diamonds. Not only because of collapsing pits, but also because of the violence security people are using to protect the mine, not the people.
Comparable situations are those in Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, and yes, also in South Africa. Companies and governments are making big profits, while communities are suffering, only because of the treasure in their soil.
What's the story of Durban? There are no substantial quantities of natural resources in the soil. But there is a money-making business: chemical industry. And that one is affecting the community. Desmond D'Sa, leading the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) took us on a toxic tour, to show us the impact of Durban's industry. On top of some dikes we overviewed the situation: big refineries on the one side, shacks on the other side. Nothing to bother, if not those refineries really make the lives of surrounding communities to a true hell. Leaking pipelines, bad flaring, explosions and other incidents. Big clouds of polluted air often cover the area.

The facts speak for itself: the rate of people in South Durban suffering from asthma and leukaemia is twice is a high as in other communities. A concrete example: 52% of children at Settlers Primary School are asthma sufferers.
Besides refineries, Durban hosts many other industries, which contribute to this awful situation just as much the refineries do. Chrome leaks, dumping grounds of hazardous chemicals, big trucks causing serious accidents in the streets: the community of South Durban is facing it all. And we've witnessed this during the toxic tour. Together with South Africa's "usual problems", like HIV/ Aids, unemployment, corruption and discrimination, the inhabitants of South Durban are constantly living in danger. When entering the shacks of Umlazi a sign warns the people: walala wasala!; "When you sleep, you loose!".

SDCEA is protecting people who are on the step of "losing" their rights. The organisation is very active in South Durban, mobilising people, making them aware of the dangerous situation they're living in, pointing their rights and offering possibilities to stand up.
The "bucket brigade" regular takes soil samples to gather evidence of the pollution. SDCEA and the South Durban community take care of monitoring of environmental air pollution and incidents. These results are being published and used for lobby towards government and companies to take action and improve their behaviour. The work SDCEA is doing gives the community members at least some grip on their situation.

In the end we can say that Durban has more to offer then tourists attractions alone. It's industry makes sure there's also a dark side of Durban. SDCEA tries to bring back the sun again. Go on toxic tour, and you'll face it.