FoodforMzansiandCropLife’s Palesa'sBraveDiscovery
AviolationofChildren’srights,rightsprotectedunderthe ConsumerProtectionAct,andseveralCodesofconduct
28 January 2024
Introduction
The South African People’s Tribunal on AgroToxins (SAPToA) is a coalition of vulnerable and affected peoples, civil society organisations (CSOs), trade unions, academics, and individuals working together to expose the harmful reality of pesticides in South Africa (SA) and to support those who work with agricultural toxins in their daily lives.
A description of the coalition partners can be found here
We submit herewith complaints regarding a comic book aimed at children, regarding the use of illegal or “street pesticides” titled, Palesa’s Brave Discovery. A guide to why children should not have access to hazardous substances, (hereinafter, called Palesa’s Brave Discovery).
The publication can be accessed here.
This is a joint publication of Food for Mzanzi and CropLife SA. SAPToA contends that this publication:
- amounts to advertising and marketing, thinly and disingenuously disguised as a children’s educational comic book;
- contains content inappropriate for children that may put them in danger;
- contravenes the rights of the child; and
- constitutes misleading and false advertising.
It is important to lay out the context in which Palesa’s Brave Discovery was released, as it explains the rationale for the particular message that the publication advances. The comic book was released at a very sensitive time for the agrochemical industry, following the highly publicised deaths of six children in Naledi, Soweto, who ingested a highly hazardous pesticide (HHP) called Terbufos.
This tragedy happened at a time when the international community had put in mechanisms for the phasing out of HHPs through several binding and non-binding international
agreements,1 which the chemical industry has been resisting.2 Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture has been grappling with the HHP issue, under the yoke of an antiquated national law made during the period when Prime Minister Verwoerd was in power in SA, facing challenges from civil society and experts in the field for abject regulatory failures.
Further to this, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Toxics, Dr Marcos A. Orellana, released damning findings in July 2024 from his visit to SA in August 2023 3
He found the South African government has been negligent in its duty to properly and adequately regulate the chemical industry, noting his concerns that the industry has an outsized and inappropriate influence in regulation and decision-making concerning the registration of toxic chemicals. Orellana specifically highlighted the problem of deaths from street pesticides such as Terbufos and attributed these deaths to regulatory failure, antiquated legislation, and corporate impunity.
A copy of Dr Orellana’s report can be found here.
We lay out our complaint below.
Background to the publication of Palesa’s Brave Discovery
In October 2024, news broke about the death of six primary school children in Naledi, Soweto. Monica Sebetwana, Ida Maama, Isago Mabote, Njabulo Msimanga, Katlego Olifant, and Karabo Rampou died by ingesting Terbufos
This highly toxic organophosphate insecticide and nematocide is slated for phasing out across the world, being classified as a class 1A compound by the World Health Organization (WHO) This is the most toxic category for any pesticide because it causes death in humans and severe central nervous system damage for those that survive Terbufos poisoning.
In the weeks that ensued, there were numerous reports of children being rushed to the emergency wards due to foodborne illnesses and poisoning. To date, the cause of at least 22 deaths has been confirmed as a result of the ingestion of HHPs including Terbufos.4
It came to our notice that the agrochemical industry body, CropLife, immediately shaped a narrative in the media to place the blame on spaza shops – the lifeblood of most communities in SA, especially in townships. CropLife also fanned xenophobic flames5 by publicly and falsely stating, without producing an iota of evidence, that the hazardous substance implicated in the deaths was a banned substance called aldicarb, which had been brought in
1 FAO. Reducing the Global Risk from Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) https://www.fao.org/pest-and-pesticide-management/pesticide-risk-reduction/reducing-global-risk-from-hhp/en/
2 The 346 pesticides that cause cancer, birth defects or worse and the fight to keep them https://amabhungane.org/the-346-pesticides-thatcause-cancer-birth-defects-or-worse-and-the-fight-to-keep-them/
3 Visit to South Africa. 17 July 2024. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, Marcos Orellana https://justshare.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Special-Rapporteur-toxics-and-human-rights_report.pdf
4 SA govt ignored warning about food contamination related to pesticides: Food safety expert https://www.ewn.co.za/sa-govt-ignoredwarning-about-food-contamination-related-to-pesticides-food-safety-expert/
5 Our press release on the matter: Civil society says: Heads must roll over Terbufos regulatory failure: https://acbio.org.za/corporateexpansion/heads-must-roll-for-terbufos-regulatory-failure
by foreigners over our borders.6 Then, on 28 October 2024, Health Minister Mr Motsoaledi held a press briefing in which he unequivocally declared that Terbufos, not aldicarb, was the cause of the deaths of the six children in Soweto 7
While aldicarb is a highly hazardous substance that was banned in SA in 2016,8 Terbufos is registered, albeit as a restricted agricultural “remedy”. It is both locally manufactured and imported and is widely available in SA at garden shops and co-ops. CropLife SA, as a defacto regulating body for the South African chemical industry, has a vested interest in exonerating itself from these and other similar deaths and poisonings, hence its scapegoating spaza shops and the illicit trade of restricted agricultural substances 9 SAPToA has appealed to the Department of Agriculture to focus on the upstream causes of these poisonings, rather than to scapegoat end-users for the Department’s regulatory failures. Indeed, SAPToA affiliates, as well as other civil society actors, have been petitioning the South African government for decades on these very issues.
As a result of this powerful media narrative focusing on spaza shops and foreigners, on 15 November 2024, President Ramaphosa declared a national disaster and decreed that all spaza shops must re-register within 21 days 10 SAPToA was saddened to note how our government supported CropLife in its endeavour to scapegoat spaza owners and foreigners, attempting to exonerate the chemical industry. We are clear that these solutions do nothing to deal with the source of the issue: the unacceptable presence of HHPs on the South African market and the failure of the relevant government Departments to carry out their duty to effectively regulate agrotoxins and protect society, especially children, and our environment, by its Constitutional duties.
On 28 November 2024, we were particularly shocked to see that CropLife had taken a fresh turn in its public relations efforts – teaming up with Food for Mzanzi to advance its narrative through the medium of a comic book aimed at children. This publication inappropriately channels CropLife’s media message through the voice of a a young black urban girl, who, in real life, would not reasonably have access to the information and opinions put forward by CropLife in Palesa’s Brave New Discovery, neither to access nor share with her community.
Comic synopsis
From the illustrations, Palesa appears to be between six and eight years old. She lives happily in Orlando until a new illness begins to spread through the community, beginning with her Grandmother, who points out to the little girl that something is amiss in the community.
Palesa becomes aware that spaza shops are selling something that does not seem right and also overhears two men discussing a cheap poison that can be bought to deal with pests. She begins to ask questions, which leads to her learning that an unsafe poison is being sold in spaza shops. She discovers that while pesticides are important for the safety of homes and
6 How rat poison Aldicarb is killing our children. Lethal pesticide was banned but is brought into the country and distributed to spaza shops https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2024-10-28-how-rat-poison-aldicarb-is-killing-our-children/#google_vignette
7 Tragic deaths of six Soweto children linked to lethal organophosphate poisoning. investigation ongoing https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-10-28-naledi-childrens-deaths-caused-by-restricted-pesticide-ministers/
8 Agricultural remedies that are banned or restricted for use in the Republic of South Africa. https://www.thedtic.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/Agric-Remedies.pdf
9 Petition – Reckless endangerment: Hold South African government and chemical industry to account for deaths and serious illnesses from toxic pesticides on the farm and in food. Ban Terbufos with immediate effect, institute mechanisms for banning all HHPs within three months. https://t2m.io/PesticideTribunal_BanTerbufos
10 Committee Chairperson welcomes pronouncement by President on registration of spaza shops https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/committee-chairperson-welcomes-pronouncement-president-registration-spaza-shops
crops, some spaza shops are selling illegal pesticides, which are also unlabelled. She wonders if this is the cause of the community's illness and embarks on a journey to find out.
Together with her teacher, Palesa learns that pesticides are essential for managing pests and ensuring healthy crops, but poisons do not comply with safety regulations. They decide to stop these poisons from spreading by calling a community meeting.
At the meeting, Palesa informs those present that the poison sold in spazas is illegal and unlabelled. But pesticides are important to keep homes and crops safe. Her words help people understand that the illness wasn’t from a pesticide, but from a poison, and they needed to be careful about what they use in their homes.
On her way home from school, Palesa passes other children and explains that everyone should be using legal pesticides that are labelled, not illegal ones that are unlabelled or sold in containers like cooldrink bottles.
Ultimately, Palesa and community leaders work in partnership with CropLife to train the community on the safe use of legal pesticides and organise a clean-up to remove illegal pesticides, leading to the recovery of the community. The government takes notice of Palesa’s efforts, prompting them to enforce regulations on the use of these chemicals.
SAPToA’s concerns
The following concerns arise from the format of this comic book:
• Palesa is given a task that is not appropriate for her age: uncovering the trade of illicit substances in her community, informing about them, cleaning up this illicit trade and usage, and inspiring the government to enforce already existing regulations. This is a burden and a fear that should not be placed on children, and this message to children to take on such a role is dangerous and inappropriate.
• Throughout the text, Palesa gives the audience the message that pesticides are not inherently dangerous; they only become poisons when they are used illegally and when they are not labelled. This is dangerous and misleading information to give children (and society at large) and factually false. Anyone ingesting highly hazardous substances, whether labelled or not, is at risk of serious illness or death. Children should be taught that all pesticides are dangerous and must be avoided. In the case of Terbufos, which was purchased by community members to deal with a massive pest infestation in their communities because of abject service delivery failure, merely touching the Terbufos granules causes a serious adverse reaction. Ingestion, as we have seen, causes death.
• Throughout the text, the idea that pesticides are essential in society is promoted. This is a highly contested notion that CropLife and Food for Mzanzi advance through a character who has little capability to proffer such an opinion. This blatant public relations message was released at the exact time when highly hazardous substances have come under the spotlight for phase-out in both SA’s international and national law obligations, and at a time when CropLife was experiencing a public relations disaster in the shape of multiple deaths from such substances. There is also
growing pressure to transform SA’s chemically based food production system into socially just and ecologically sustainable systems.
• Palesa is given the task of advancing the narrative that spaza shops and illicit trade of highly hazardous substances are the source of the tragedy, not the pesticide itself and certainly not the companies that produce and sell them or the government’s utter failure at regulating these substances. With at least 22 people confirmed dead due to ingestion of highly hazardous chemicals – with at least six of them children – the possibility of criminal charges is very real. Deflecting the blame through the voice of a child in this comic book is callous, exploitative, and highly inappropriate.
• Educating children to identify dangerous substances in their homes and environment and how to handle them is useful and appropriate. (This is done in some measure in the exercises that appear after the story, which follow a completely different logic to the narrative.) However, educating children that it is their role to uncover illicit trade and clean their community of highly hazardous poisons, and lobby government to transform – the narrative of the comic book – is neither safe nor appropriate. For this reason, we do not consider this comic book to be educational material, but rather a public relations exercise carried out by CropLife in partnership with Food for Mzanzi to sanitise and promote its toxic products.
SAPToA contends that:
1. The narrative of this comic book calls on children to take on an inappropriate role in society that may also put children at risk of violating the rights of the child. It also conveys a confusing and potentially lethal message that legal, labelled pesticides are safe but illegal, unlabelled pesticides are dangerous poisons. It is important that children understand that all pesticides are potentially lethal and are taught how to handle them appropriately. We point to section 28 of the Constitution:
Children’s Rights
28.1.f. (f) not to be required or permitted to perform work or provide services that 1. (i) are inappropriate for a person of that child’s age; or 2. (ii) place at risk the child’s well-being, education, physical or mental health or spiritual, moral or social development;
28.2 A child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.
2. Palesa’s message that pesticides are not poisons but only become poisons when unlabelled and illicitly used contradicts SA’s Pesticide Management Policy of 2010, which lays out the many problems with pesticide regulation in SA, the inherent risks associated with pesticides and measures to begin phasing out especially HHPs, with Terbufos categorised as one 11
3. This comic book amounts to advertising and spreading pro-pesticide propaganda, thinly disguised as educational material, released at a time of crisis for the agrochemical industry. It promotes the general use of pesticides, falsely implying that there is factual consensus on this approach; falsely characterises legal, labelled pesticides as safe (despite the fact that Terbufos is classified as a class 1A compound by the WHO); and falsely contends that only illegal pesticides are implicated in poisonings and fatalities. Advertising pesticides to children and the adults that this comic book may reach through their children, also contravenes the advertising code:
The Advertising Code:
- advertising should be legal, informative, factual, decent and honest.
- Problematic advertising plays on fears without justification
- clause 14.1 (Children and safety), which provides as a general principle that any such advertising should not contain statements or visual representation that might harm children mentally, morally, physically or emotionally (14.1.1.1 of section II);
- clause 14.2 (Children's credulity and lack of experience), which prohibits advertisements that seek to exploit the credulity of children or their lack of experience or strain their sense of loyalty (14.2.1 of section II)
False, misleading, and problematic statements
Positing deaths from street pesticides as a new problem
“People were suddenly falling ill” (p 1)
Misleading: The issue of street pesticides is not a new one
SA’s townships have long experienced problems with massive pest infestations and the selling of pesticides on streets and in informal markets. Street pesticides are poisonous substances that are legally registered for agricultural uses but are decanted illegally into unlabelled beverage bottles or packets for home use. Or, they might be illegally packaged pesticides imported into SA and not registered for use. Typically, they are acquired from agricultural cooperatives, garden shops, and hardware stores.
There is research going back to 2008 concerning street pesticides in townships in Cape Town. Several research papers have been published, with evidence presented to the government that children are dying from the ingestion of pesticides, including organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids.12 This points to the reality that access to HHPs is a major problem in SA.
In 2023, experts published a paper showing that in one Cape Town mortuary, out of 50 children whose cause of death was suspected to be due to pesticides and for whom toxicological tests were conducted, 29 had died from Terbufos poisoning.13 Four others had died from the organophosphates methamidophos and diazinon. Of these deaths, 42.6% were children under five years and 40.7% were adolescents between 15 and 18. We also found that in SA, before the Naledi tragedy, access to comprehensive and quick toxicological results for pesticide deaths was limited. Pesticide mortuary data is not required by those regulating
12 https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC121291; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-023-15652-5; and https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/107735210799160264
13 https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-023-15652-5
agricultural pesticides. Government laboratories are also stretched and cannot quickly test the cause of these deaths. This means we do not have a true picture of how many deaths have been linked to pesticides. It could well be in the thousands.
Furthermore, data collected by the Poison Information Centre makes it clear that children are being poisoned by both legal and street pesticides, at an alarming rate. At the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, 10% of general poisoning cases were linked to pesticides. Of that 10%, a third were caused by organophosphates, a third by anticoagulant rodenticides that contain chemicals like brodifacoum, and a third by unidentified chemicals.14
Throughout his visit, Special Rapporteur Dr Orellana directly engaged with, among others, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, as well as technical experts from various government departments including Justice and Constitutional Development; Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development; and Employment and Labour.
In July 2024, Dr Orellana released his final report and the state penned a response, in which the seriousness of the issues of HHPs, street pesticides, and corporate impunity were not addressed 15 The state has been warned for decades: there is no argument to be made that this is a new issue or to engage in speculation regarding where the responsibility lies for addressing it.
Pest infestation in SA’s townships is a manifestation of socio-economic inequities and the failure of the state to ensure that everyone has access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and essential services, including solid waste removal. These systemic issues cannot be resolved by clamping down on spaza shops and continuing to allow the hopelessly inadequate regulatory system concerning HHPs to continue. These HHPs require urgent attention, as indicated above. Least of all, they cannot be addressed by putting the onus on vulnerable children, which is the intention of Palesa’s Brave Discovery
Furthermore, a broad range of CSOs and academics have been calling for the phase-out of extremely hazardous and HHPs for the last two decades.16 This matter was explicitly referred to by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in its Pesticide Management Policy published in 2010, which stated the Department’s intention to phase out certain pesticides:17
The Policy takes into cognisance the fact that special attention should be given to pesticides that pose an unmanageable risk, with an understanding that such pesticides should be considered for phaseout, severe restriction, and bans. These include those with Endocrine Disrupting Properties (EDP), Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), carcinogenic and immunotoxic potential, formulations classified by WHO as Extremely Hazardous (class 1a) and Highly Hazardous (class 1b), as well as pesticides associated with frequent and severe poisoning incidents. Movement on these issues has been extremely slow, in part due to strenuous pushback from the chemical industry.
14 Chemicals and pesticides could be behind Gauteng's surge in food poisoning https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/chemicals-and-pesticides-could-be-behind-gautengs-surge-in-food-poisoning-20240909
15 State response
16 See for example: https://www.dffe.gov.za/sites/default/files/docs/pesticides_usage_health_consequencesfor_women_0.pdf; https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-08-30-women-farmworkers-demand-an-end-to-use-of-harmfulpesticides/;https://www.news24.com/news24/community-newspaper/paarlpost/stop-the-double-standards-20240904
17 Notice 1120 Of 2010 No.33899 37 Department Of Agriculture, Forestry And Fisheries Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies And Stock Remedies Act, 1947 (Act No. 36 F 1947) Adoption Of Pesticide Management Policy For South Africa, at page 4 see https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/338991120.pdf
Contrived use of a child’s voice to cement blame on spaza belies use of comic as public relations tool
“Palesa didn’t take long to notice something strange in the air. Many families in the neighbourhood relied on spaza shops for affordable products, but some of these shops were selling things that didn’t seem right.” (p. 2)
Problematic: This requires a big leap for a small child to make. This deeply contrived plot serves to put CropLife’s narrative in a child’s mouth. This is not educational but rather disguised public relations that normalises the scapegoating of spaza shops for the government and CropLife’s regulatory failure.
Advancing fallacious notion that a pesticide is not a poison, with a message that pesticides are essential products
“While pesticides are important for keeping homes and crops healthy, certain spaza shops sold poison which is illegal. It didn’t have the right labelling, safety instructions or warnings.” (p. 2)
“They found that although pesticides are essential for managing pests and promoting healthy crops, poisons do not comply with safety regulations” (p. 3)
“Everyone needs to know that this poison is illegal," she said “Pesticides are important to keep our homes and farms safe, but this is a poison that is dangerous. It doesn’t have proper labelling or safety instructions, and it is being sold without the proper controls. We need to make sure we’re using legal, safe products.” (p. 4)
“Her words struck a chord … They began to understand that the sickness wasn’t actually from a pesticide – it was from a poison that was being sold without regulation.” (p 4)
“So what should we use instead?” “Legal safe products,” Palesa said. “Not poison that is sold illegally or without proper labels” (p 5)
False, misleading and problematic: These repeated refrains promote the fallacious notion that pesticides are not poisons, that pesticides are not inherently dangerous but only become so when unlabelled and sold illegally. This is patently false according to a number of laws, policies and treaties, including the Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act (Act 36 of 1947), the Pesticide Management Policy of 2010, the Rotterdam Convention on the prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade, and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
Importantly, this is a dangerous, potentially life-threatening concept to promote to children, who can neither discern which substances are legal or illegal, nor understand the complicated labelling required to accompany restricted-use pesticides. Both labelled and unlabelled hazardous substances are dangerous to children and adults alike – if a child puts a product that has a toxic warning label in their mouth, the label will not save them from harm. Educational material should teach children how to identify hazardous substances (regardless of their legal status) and to stay away from such substances and the packaging they come in.
This convoluted message emerges from CropLife’s desire to promote their product, rather than to keep children safe from poisoning.
This is a very confusing and very dangerous message for a comic book. The exercises that appear after the story do begin to address this issue in some way, informing children that touching all toxins is dangerous and to stay away from them all. This, however, does not follow the logic of the narrative, which has a message to sell: pesticides are beneficial to society, are safe – when labelled – and illicit use is the root cause of harm.
Placing onus on children for the safety of their foods and homes
• Palesa realises that there is an illicit trade in poisons in her community “Curious and concerned, Palesa started asking more questions” … “She didn’t know much about it yet, but she was sure it wasn’t right. And she was determined to find out more.” (p 2)
• At the community meeting that she and her teacher organise, “Palesa bravely stood up to speak ‘Everyone needs to know that this poison is illegal’ she said.” (p 4)
• “With the help of Mrs Mthembu and other local leaders, Palesa continued to work hard to raise awareness about the poison. They partnered with CropLife SA and health officials to teach the community how to use pest control products safely and properly. They also organised clean-ups to remove the illegal chemicals from people’s homes and gardens.” (p. 6)
This narrative is simply absurd. No child should be made to feel fear about the safety of their food and environment and be called upon to monitor illicit activities to stay safe. It is the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture to regulate these substances, along with CropLife, which has defacto taken over this function, and it is the responsibility of the police/law enforcement agencies to confiscate illegal substances.
Our analysis shows how this story is contrived to advance a narrative where CropLife is a responsible purveyor of vital and safe products and where the actions of a young girl are needed to prompt the government to do their legislated duty. In no way does it serve to teach children how to stay safe from highly hazardous substances that they may come across in domestic settings.
Going so far as to evoke Madiba (p 1), in this story of a heroic child saving her community from criminals, whose product is causing death, is propaganda, aimed at children with the full knowledge that this information is discussed with adults too.