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Zimbabwean immigrants speak out after Addo attacks
Zimbabwean immigrants speak out after Addo attacks

The South African

time3 days ago

  • The South African

Zimbabwean immigrants speak out after Addo attacks

In the wake of violence that left four dead and hundreds displaced in Addo in the Eastern Cape, the Zimbabwean immigrant community finds itself in mourning for their neighbours, their homes, and their sense of dignity. The chain of events began with a tavern fight between Zimbabwean nationals and South Africans, as reported by eNCA . One man, a local, died. Community members said anger started after local police released one of the murder suspects. On Sunday, 25 May, residents retaliated by attacking foreign nationals living in Valencia. In what police have called 'revenge attacks,' mobs descended on immigrant households, forcing entire families to flee in the dead of night. Mobs moved through immigrant homes in Valencia, forcing hundreds to flee. In the next days, police confirmed three foreign immigrants dead, others injured, and dozens more left homeless. Groundup reports that some immigrants are now sleeping at police stations. Others have relocated to a church hall in Gqeberha. According to the Zimbabwean Embassy, 30 citizens were injured and 17 remain hospitalised. Speaking to eNCA News, a Zimbabwean community leader issued a public apology. 'We Zimbabweans are the ones who started this by killing one of the South Africans,' he said. He asked for forgiveness, saying they are not in South Africa to commit crime, but only to find greener pastures and survive. According to GroundUp , Zimbabwean immigrant, Anyway Hlungwani, is still in severe pain after they attacked him with crowbars. 'The truth is that I don't want to hear anything about Valencia. I was beaten for nothing … Had it not been for my wife, who bravely intervened, I could be dead by now,' he told GroundUp . Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 . Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp , Facebook , X, and Bluesky for the latest news.

Big US-funded chicken project shuts down in Lesotho
Big US-funded chicken project shuts down in Lesotho

Eyewitness News

time5 days ago

  • Business
  • Eyewitness News

Big US-funded chicken project shuts down in Lesotho

A $31.4 million (about R562-million) United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) project aimed at transforming Lesotho's poultry sector has been terminated. The five-year initiative, launched under the American Food for Progress programme, planned to grow 28,000 poultry enterprises in Lesotho, boosting meat production by 40% and egg production by 30% by 2028. Dubbed the Sustainable Transformation of Enterprises in the Poultry Sector (STEPS), the project was also designed to reduce Lesotho's heavy dependence on imported poultry products by empowering local farmers through access to quality inputs, financial training, and market linkages. The broader aim was to improve food security and increase incomes along the value chain. Announcing the project, the USDA said in 2021 that Lesotho had imported poultry products worth $39-million, with more than 80% of poultry meat sourced from neighbouring countries. The country also imports inputs such as fertile eggs, day-old chicks, livestock feed, services, and veterinary products. In an October 2023 statement, the US Embassy in Maseru said Land O'Lakes Venture37, an American company, had been selected to implement the programme in Lesotho. It partnered with the International Research Institute, the World Poultry Foundation, and the locally based Rural Self-Help Development Association. But less than two years after its launch, the STEPS project has been terminated. Reuters reported earlier this month that the USDA had notified grantees on 14 May 2025 that their Food for Progress awards had been ended. Speaking to GroundUp, Rural Self-Help Managing Director 'Mampho Thulo confirmed the news, saying her organisation had been notified of the decision by its partner Land O'Lakes last week. Land O'Lakes technical advisor Tsoteli Kuleile told GroundUp that the company had been told to suspend the project and to refer all communication to the company's country director, Fidel O' Donovan. However, O' Donovan has not responded to questions sent to him by GroundUp . 'WE DIDN'T SEE IT COMING' Thulo said their association had been worried after the US withdrew funding from other initiatives, such as USAID and PEPFAR projects, and the recent R6-billion Millennium Challenge Account. However, she had believed agricultural projects would be spared. 'We still had our fears, but we were over 90% confident that it would not be terminated… We thought they would be careful not to cut agriculture grants, especially those that transform agricultural products,' Thulo said. She said the STEPS project was still in its early stages. A training curriculum for farmers was being finalised and tenders were being prepared for construction projects. According to Thulo, Rural Self-Help was responsible for a $1.2-million budget under the STEPS project. The sudden halt has left thousands of poultry farmers in limbo. While Land O'Lakes focused on national-level commercial farming, Rural Self-Help was actively engaged with grassroots farmers across seven districts, according to Thulo. The targeted districts were Botha Bothe, Leribe, Berea, Maseru, Mafeteng, Mohale's Hoek, and Quthing, with Rural Self-Help focusing on broiler and egg layer production. In those districts, Thulo said the organisation was working with farmers ranging from those raising chickens for subsistence to farmers keeping 500 chickens. 'The plan was to support 23,000 to 28,000 businesses by 2028,' she added. Thulo said she had to break the news to beneficiaries. 'This beautiful project, meant to transform your poultry enterprises, is no more. We are shocked, and the farmers are shocked too.' The association plans to meet with farmer representatives this week to chart a path forward. Thulo said more than 10 staff members had been sent home. Limpho Salai, chairperson of the Basotho Poultry Farmers Association, whose members were primary beneficiaries of the project, told GroundUp that Land O'Lakes technical advisor Kuleile had instructed him not to speak to the media and to refer all inquiries to him. GroundUp asked for comment from the US Embassy in Maseru but no response had been received by the time of publication. Previously, the Embassy has referred similar inquiries to the US foreign affairs administration in Washington.

South Africa's polluted rivers pose food contamination risk
South Africa's polluted rivers pose food contamination risk

Zawya

time6 days ago

  • Business
  • Zawya

South Africa's polluted rivers pose food contamination risk

Quality of irrigation water should be a national priority, says scientist. Scientists at the University of Pretoria have found that fresh vegetables are being contaminated by disease-causing bacteria through irrigation from polluted rivers and boreholes. Photos: Steve Kretzmann / GroundUp - Researchers at the University of Pretoria have found pathogens on leafy vegetables from both commercial and small-scale, informal farms. - The researchers have linked the pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria to irrigation water from rivers and boreholes. - Almost half the samples analysed were resistant to at least three different types of antibiotics. - One of the main sources of river pollution in South Africa is failing sewage treatment works, with 81% of our sewage treatment works not meeting minimum standards. As billions of litres of untreated or partially treated sewage are released into South Africa's watercourses every day, scientists have found our vegetables are being contaminated by irrigation from rivers and boreholes. Professor Lise Korsten of the University of Pretoria told Parliament's portfolio committee on agriculture in January that irrigation water was 'not fit-for-purpose' for food production and that fixing the quality of irrigation water should be a national priority. The 'crisis of our water' was one of several elements impacting food safety and human health, she said. The daily sewage pollution of our rivers is contaminating irrigation water with disease-causing bacteria, known as pathogens. In many cases, these pathogens are resistant to antibiotics, which is an extremely serious health concern. Contaminated spinach At least six studies by scientists at the University of Pretoria link irrigation water to contamination of fresh vegetables in Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, and the Western Cape. Contamination by pathogens has been found in both large commercial and informal small-scale supply chains. One of the studies from the university's Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, co-authored by Korsten and published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology in November 2021, found 80 different types of E. coli (Escherichia coli – a type of bacteria found in the human gut) as well as Salmonella species in the irrigation water and on the produce at three commercial spinach farms in Gauteng. Although E. coli bacteria are common and naturally occurring, many of which are harmless or even beneficial, there are types that are pathogenic and can cause serious food poisoning. E. coli is also an indicator species revealing larger faecal contamination. The scientists tested for E. coli and Salmonella on 288 samples collected from the farms. Of the samples, 192 were from the spinach and 42 were taken from the irrigation water. The remaining samples were from soil, water used for washing during processing, and from work surfaces. Of the 288 samples, 65 tested positive for E. coli, with 80 different types of E. coli found. Some samples had more than one type. One of the E. coli types found contained the stx2 virulence gene that releases a toxin that can cause severe stomach cramps, diarrhoea, bloody stools, vomiting, fever, and kidney failure in severe cases. The stx2 virulence gene was found in the irrigation holding dam fed by river water. Salmonella species were found in nine of the 288 samples. Of the 80 E. coli types, 76 (95%) were resistant to at least one antibiotic and 35 (44%) to three or more. The paper notes that contamination of fresh vegetables with human pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria such as E. coli and species of Salmonella can come from manure in the soil or from processing facilities. But contaminated irrigation water 'is regarded as one of the primary reservoirs, and routes of transmission, of human pathogenic bacteria onto fresh produce during primary production', state the authors. In a 2021 report to the Water Research Commission, the study's authors stated: 'A clear link was established between contaminants isolated from the irrigation water and the associated fresh produce.' Untreated sewage leaks from a sewage treatment works in Standerton, Mpumalanga, into the Vaal River which is visible in the background. Open sewers South Africa's sewage quality guidelines measure microbiological compliance (levels of faecal bacteria), chemical compliance, which refers to 'Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates, Ortho-Phosphates, etc.', and physical compliance, which refers to pH, suspended solids and electrical conductivity. To comply with minimum microbiological standards, effluent released into the environment should contain less than 1,000 faecal coliforms (such as E. coli) per 100ml. There are 144 municipalities responsible for sewage treatment in South Africa. The Department of Water and Sanitation Integrated Regulatory Information System shows 86 of these achieve microbiological compliance scores of less than 50%. A further 31 are 'Poor', achieving compliance scores of between 50 – 70%. This means 81% of our sewage works are failing microbiological compliance. But of the sewage works that have good microbiological compliance, many fail on chemical compliance, meaning they are releasing high levels of nitrates, ortho-phosphates, and ammonia into rivers. And it is often the case that the large sewage works, which release millions of litres daily into rivers, are the ones failing, whereas small sewage works that release thousands of litres daily, are meeting minimum standards. An example of this is in Cape Town, where Philadelphia sewage works, which achieves a 100% compliance score, releases up to 86,000 litres of effluent into the environment per day. But the Athlone sewage works, which currently has a 4% microbiological compliance rate, turns the Black River into little more than an open sewer as it releases up to 105-million litres of largely untreated effluent into it daily. Similarly, the Klip River in Gauteng, which is a river used to irrigate produce analysed by the University of Pretoria researchers, receives about 260-million litres of effluent from failing sewage works per day. In Vereeniging, where the Klip joins the Vaal River, dead fish regularly float past. Other rivers used to irrigate the crops analysed by the University of Pretoria researchers were the Olifants, which receives 18-million litres of effluent per day, and the Crocodile River, which receives about 68-million litres of effluent per day. Superbugs Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, Professor Marc Mendelson, in a four-part series for GroundUp, said the global increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a major health problem. Mendelson wrote that since the discovery of penicillin 83 years ago, 'miraculous antibiotics have become less and less effective as the bacteria that they are used to treat become resistant'. Antibiotics are not only needed to treat infections, but they are also needed to prevent infections in cancer treatment and surgery. 'Losing these antibiotics is a big deal,' he stated. He stated he had seen a continuous rise in antibiotic resistance over the last 15 years at Groote Schuur Hospital, which was 'now culminating in the end game, with an increasing number of untreatable infections'. 'We have had to use dire measures to save lives, such as amputation of infected limbs, because no antibiotic options are left, something unthinkable 20 years ago.' Speaking to GroundUp, he said we are seeing 'the coming together of poor sanitation systems and the overuse of antibiotics', with the result being that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are being found on food. But he said even if sewage treatment plants were run properly, they would not remove all antibiotic-resistant bacteria, as they were not designed to do so. Nonetheless, he said if South Africa were able to meet the goal of universal provision of clean water, it would have 'major impacts' on reducing mortality and infection rates, as well as secondary impacts such as improving education outcomes. Pathogens, particularly those which are antibiotic-resistant, in tap water sourced from dams polluted by failing sewage treatment works, increased diarrhoeal outbreaks, he said. The small thing people could do was to properly wash fruit and vegetables before eating or preparing them (or cook them). The 'bigger thing' was the provision of clean water and sanitation systems, along with environmental surveillance of antibiotic resistance. A dysfunctional sewage treatment works in Winburg, Free Stage, from which sewage flows untreated into the dam from which drinking water for the town is extracted. Economic threat ActionSA chief whip and MP Athol Trollip told GroundUp the contamination of fruit and vegetables from contaminated irrigation water could harm South Africa's significant export market. Trollip was particularly concerned about citrus, which last brought in R33bn from exports to Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and the USA. He said European competitors such as Spain were looking for ways to prevent South Africa – which is the second largest citrus exporter after Egypt – from muscling into the highly regulated European market. For instance, new European Union regulations, which Citrus Growers' Association chief executive Justin Chadwick called 'discriminatory' and 'unscientific', regarding citrus black spot and false codling moth, posed a challenge to exporters last year. The last thing you want is a consignment of citrus from the Eastern Cape to be riddled with E. coli, as it would set off a high alert and put our exports in danger, said Trollip. He said losing the European market due to such an incident would be 'devastating'. Besides affecting the farmers, it would have 'massive employment consequences' and reduce the country's access to foreign currency. The state of South Africa's sewage treatment and resultant pollution of rivers is 'of great concern' as it also affects local produce and livestock. That many municipalities extracted drinking water from dams polluted by untreated, or partially treated effluent, meant a cholera outbreak — such as occurred in Hammanskraal in 2023 — was 'waiting to happen', he said. 'My concern is we're not doing enough to hold municipalities to account for [sewage treatment] dysfunction. It seems a case of out of sight, out of mind, but the downstream impact is immense.'

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