The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture dismissed the argument by the Department of Agriculture that a ban on highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) will affect the economy, stating that profits cannot be prioritised over human life.

On February 4, the committee was briefed by the department and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on the investigations into agricultural pesticides that have contaminated food products sold in some spaza shops leading to the deaths of several children, amid ongoing public calls for the complete ban of such HHPs.

The department proposed to review all agricultural pesticides and to research alternatives that were less harmful to the environment before implementing a complete ban.

Further, the Department of Agriculture has categorised pesticides that will be banned from this year - which are those that cause DNA mutation, affect fertility in humans, affect the development of unborn babies and that cause cancer - as part of the review process and move towards a possible total ban on all HHPs, the department told the committee.

However, the committee wanted to know why South Africa continued to use HHPs, such as Terbufos, when these products had been banned by other countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and the EU.

“If it is not good for the EU and SADC, and everyone feels it is not good for the soil, water and the people, why do we still use it?” committee chairperson Dina Pule asked.

Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen told the committee that, while the department acknowledged the harmfulness of the pesticides and the need to move to alternatives that were less harmful to humans and the environment, any abrupt ban on these products would have negative impact on the agricultural sector, the economy and the country’s food security.

However, the SAHRC believes the country cannot afford to wait too long to completely ban harmful pesticides that reportedly also expose farmworkers to cancer and neurological diseases.

South Africa could learn from countries that have banned the products on how long it takes to find safer replacements and completely remove HHPs, concurred Pule.

“This is a serious matter that we cannot take lightly. We can't wait for more deaths before taking a decision. We understand that we cannot wake up tomorrow and ban the products, but we need urgent solutions,” she emphasised.

The committee will continue to discuss the matter with other departments and more stakeholders in the sector to make an informed decision.