Tik waste 'proving deadly'

2005-04-28 22:38

Johannes de Villiers

Cape Town - Secret factories that produce the new drug, tik, in city suburbs and country towns dump many tons of toxic waste which is so poisonous that spores have killed cattle grazing around a dump in Mpumalanga.

The drug laboratories - which have been found on farms, in industrial areas and even in suburbs such as affluent Plattekloof in the Cape Peninsula - dump chemicals in drains and gardens.

From there, they pollute subterranean water and even end up in drinking water, drug experts warned on Thursday.

There could be between 50 and 100 of these small factories in Cape Town in a year's time, they warned.

"Every kilogram tik (methamphetamine) that is manufactured, results in five to six kilograms of toxic waste.

Cape drug expert Sarah Fisher warned: "The excess chemicals are dumped in drains or stormwater systems, or just simply poured on the ground to get rid of them."

She said that at a private residence, such as the factory that was discovered in Plattekloof in December and where up to a ton of tik had been produced, between five and six tons of toxic waste could have been dumped.

Can burn eyes and nose

"These chemicals can affect the central nervous system, damage the liver and kidneys and burn the skin, eyes or nose."

André Koch, previously attached to a police laboratory, now works for a private firm that mops up drug factories on behalf of the police.

He said the most-serious danger was that the toxic waste could end up in subterranean water or the sewerage system and finally in streams and drinking water.

He said they mopped up a factory on a farm at Machadodorp in Mpumalanga where the waste was buried in a hole.

The waste was so toxic that cattle that grazed on the grass around the hole died of poisoning.

Substances such as iodine, sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid, paint thinners, carcinogenic tuolene and caustic soda (drain cleaner) are used in the manufacturing process.

Waste corroded the drainpipes

He said: "The biggest danger is that these can end up in domestic water supplies.

"We have cleaned up homes where the waste corroded the drainpipes and taps."

Although the Cape is still importing most of its tik from the northern provinces, the local market is growing to such an extent that Koch is expecting between 50 to 100 smaller factories to mushroom in the next year.

Earlier this month, the Medical Research Council announced that tik had now surpassed dagga as the most-popular drug in Cape Town.

- Die Burger