ISAN Magazine
July 31, 2025 | Source: IFOAM Organics International
Pesticides are violating human rights in South Africa.
“I speak with the pain of generations, pain that is personal, that is political, that is deliberately ignored by those who profit from our suffering.
My story begins with my grandfather, a man who gave his life to the farm only to be stolen by the very chemicals meant to increase productivity.
He was the sole breadwinner in our family. And when he fell ill to the pesticides still being used today, we were not met with compassion or care. Instead, we were illegally evicted. We were dumped in a township, stripped of our dignity, without sanitation, without basic services and without justice.”
— Deneco Dube, Secretary General, Commercial Stevedoring, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union, March 2025
Farmworkers, children, and rural communities continue to suffer from exposure to deadly agrotoxins. At the People’s Tribunal on AgroToxins in Stellenbosch, survivors laid bare how the state has failed to uphold the right to life, health, and a safe environment.
Led by former UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay, the Tribunal revealed widespread regulatory negligence and corporate impunity.
Despite overwhelming evidence, South Africa still permits the use of toxic agrochemicals long banned in other parts of the world. In response, Parliament now faces a critical six-month window to act.
The Tribunal’s official verdict is expected in late August 2025—a key moment that could shape the future of pesticide regulation and human rights protection in the country.