More than 300 families in the Mpumalanga settlements of Emaphepheni and Emalayinini face a silent, relentless threat – corrosive fumes from a nearby Mondi paper production plant and Mpact paper mill.
The fumes from both factories are eroding zinc roofs and crumbling shacks and leaving residents in despair, with fears mounting over potential health hazards.
Residents are also worried the fumes could be contaminating their water sources.
“We are living in hell,” said William Ngwenya, a resident of Emaphepheni who moved to the area in 2014.
“The smoke eats away at our roofs,” said Ngwenya.
So desperate is the situation that the government is planning to bring in experts to assess the quality of the air in the area and its impact on people’s health.
“We are bringing in engineering laboratory consultants to assess whether the chemical is harmful to the wellbeing of the residents,” Freddy Ngobe of the Mpumalanga department of cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs told Sunday World.
“Once the assessment is concluded, we’ll advise on necessary interventions,” said Ngobe.
He confirmed that the metal roofing in the area is being destroyed by some chemical
substance(s) from the paper operations.
The settlements were built more than 10 years ago but both factories have been there for much longer.
In 2019, Ngwenya installed new sheets of zinc roofing after the old ones were damaged.
“I have had to replace my roof every year, and I thought, ‘this time, I’ll buy the best I can’. But the new roof didn’t even last a year,” he said.
In desperation, he even tried building a zinc shack on a new plot and painted the sheets himself to prevent corrosion.
“I might as well have been burning money. The entire shack crumbled into rust. Only the wooden poles were left standing,” he said.
Ngwenya calls the chemical fumes from the plants a “merciless demon”.
“It doesn’t just destroy zinc – it feasts on iron. Even the nails holding the roof together rot away,” he said.
The relentless damage forced him to give away his car.
“First, the paintwork on the car started swelling. Then the steel pipes in the engine began to corrode. I had no choice but to give it away before it was completely ruined,” he said.
He now relies on a bakkie that requires constant repairs due to the same corrosion.
Zanele Sangweni, a resident of Emalayinini, shared similar frustrations.
“The smoke is a nightmare. I’ve stopped buying washing machines and microwaves because they don’t last. The fumes destroy everything,” said Sangweni.
But beyond the destruction of property, residents are growing increasingly concerned about their health. They say several neighbours have reported respiratory issues.
“We don’t know if it’s harmful to us but if it’s doing this to our homes, we must be walking corpses,” Sangweni said.
Mpumalanga MEC for cooperative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs Speedy Mashilo recently acknowledged the pollution issue but offered little hope.
“We built a beautiful area in Ward 8, but the smoke is destroying everything. People can’t even install satellite dishes,” he said.
Mashilo revealed plans to relocate the community but said many residents were refusing to leave the area.
“I’m told they are refusing to leave. If experts say the fumes don’t affect their health, we’ll re-roof the houses with tiles,” he stated at a recent gathering in Piet Retief.
According to Pulp and Paper Technology, the pulping process in the paper-making industry is a source of air pollution, water pollution and deforestation.
The organisation notes that “most of the time, during the pulping process in papermaking, the sulphur compounds escape the process and are released into the atmosphere.
Sulphur compounds such as hydrogen sulphide, and dimethyl sulphide, which are emitted during the pulping process of paper, have a pungent odour.
“These harmful emissions escape into the atmosphere, as paper and pulp mills do not have odour-control devices.
“These pollutants emitted from the pulping process in paper-making industries are highly inflammable and cause health hazards like irritation in the eyes and infections on the skin,” the organisation noted.
Executive assistant at Mondi Group, Yollande Hutchinson, said the company will respond to our request for comment, but they had not done so by the time of going to print.
Communication manager at Mpact Group, Penny Ntuli, did not respond to our inquiry that was sent to her.
Mkhondo local municipality mayor Ngelosi Ndlovu did not respond to requests for comment.
