Environmental alliance opposes plans to revive chemical companies

THE SOUTH Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) has vowed to legally oppose eThekwini Municipality’s plans to support closed chemical companies to bring them back to life.

This comes after eThekwini’s Economic Development and Planning Committee requested a renewal of the memorandum of agreement between eThekwini and the Durban Chemical Cluster (DCC) for the implementation of the Chemical Industry Development Programme to help closed chemical companies make a meaningful contribution to the economy of the city again.

Some of these closed companies include Engen and Sapref, which are both in the south of Durban.

Founder of SDCEA, Desmond D’Sa, said at this present time, the people of south Durban at long last are breathing in clean air, not fouled with toxic chemicals all the time.

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“The refineries are past their sell by date and in other parts of the world they would be shut. None of these hazardous and dangerous companies should be granted permission to reopen and endanger the societies quality of life and properties. The both refineries are over 65 years old and if allowed to restart, the situation of pollution and ill-health effects will be far worse.

“We, as a civil society, will legally oppose the granting of permission to these companies which pollute our air and cause illnesses among our people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) stated pollution is the biggest killer of humans, especially the vulnerable, youth and elderly. To the people of south Durban, it was a relief when the petro-chemical and chemical companies closed during Covid-19 and the floods.

“The heavy rains in April last year, proofed that climate change is real and we must act now to address the crisis. After being negatively impacted by explosions and the floods, the plants have closed and must remain closed for the safety of residents,” D’Sa said.

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This request to support closed chemical companies was tabled at the most recent full eThekwini council sitting. The Economic Development and Planning Committee requested R9.57 million to be released by the municipality to the DCC over three years and to be released in tranches.

According to the minutes of the Economic Development and Planning Committee meeting, the DCC will use the funds to implement the Chemical Industry Development Programme, whose main aim is to act as a business accelerator, develop youth in the chemical industry, the development of black-owned suppliers in the industry, and enterprise development support, with export-oriented programmes.

“The Durban Chemicals Cluster Programme has been specifically devised to stimulate economic growth in the chemical sector through investment and growth, operational excellence as well as skills development and transformation activities. Chemical manufacturing is a significant contributor to the city’s revenue. In just one month, manufacturing contributes 64% or R128,” read the minutes of the meeting.

The DCC has 74 member companies, which include large employers like AECI, Mondi, and South African Breweries. The Economic Development and Planning Committee said endeavours are currently being made to support Engen and Sapref through the Durban Invest Unit to ensure they recover.

No decision was taken on the committee’s request and was deferred to another meeting.

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