Labourer gave killer chemical
2003-02-19 23:09
Craig Bishop
Pietermaritzburg - A 38-year-old Tweedie farm labourer faces a charge of culpable homicide after he allegedly supplied a deadly chemical to a Midlands family that caused the deaths of two young boys and several animals earlier this month.
Police are still baffled as to where the labourer obtained the chemical.
Zwelithini Mhlongo, 7, and his brother Siyabonga, 10, died within seconds of each other after absorbing the organochlorine pesticide Endosulfan.
The boys had entered an animal pen near the family homestead near
Ntabamhlohe to feed and water livestock when they suddenly collapsed.
Sixteen animals also died.
SAPS fingerprint officer Inspector Terence Singh, who arrived several hours later to investigate, collapsed after taking photographs inside the kraal and was admitted to the ICU at St Anne's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg. Three SABC journalists also fell ill after visiting the site and were admitted to hospital.
Police spokesperson Captain Joshua Gwala said police believe the pesticide, which is used to destroy insects on a variety of crops, including potatoes, cotton, fruit and other vegetables, was supplied by the labourer to the boys' father, traditional vet Robert Mhlongo, for use as a vaccination.
It is believed that the pesticide was decanted into another container, which is illegal under new regulations recently approved by Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza.
Although at the time of the deaths of the two boys, the community alleged that witchcraft was to blame, Gwala said police believed that a case of poisoning had taken place, whether deliberate or not.
However, the community insisted that a local tribal court failed several weeks beforehand to resolve a long-standing feud between the Mhlongo family and neighbours over land tenure and stock ownership.
According to Allerton Veterinary sources, Endosulfan, a brown, crystalline solid with an odour of sulphur dioxide, is listed in the same category as the anti-mosquito drug DDT and is extremely hard to come by.
A survey of state vets in the midlands area revealed that none of them has ever come across Endosulphan.
EMR paramedic Ravi Moodley said he has not come across the chemical although it is known to be used by farmers. NatalAgri also confirmed that they have never supplied Endosulphan.
- The Witness