MEDIA ALERT: The South African People’s Tribunal on Agrotoxins to brief Parliament on Pesticides and other Agrotoxins

On Tuesday, 20 May 2025, the South African People’s Tribunal on AgroToxins (SAPToA) and

the South African Human Rights Commission will make representations on Highly Hazardous

Pesticides and other Agrotoxins to the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture.

The parliamentary briefing follows public hearings convened by The People’s Tribunal on

AgroToxins over two days in March 2025. The jury heard live testimony from survivors of

pesticide poisoning and exposure on farms and factories, from trade unions, farm workers and

dwellers, researchers and experts on the types of pesticides used by big corporations in South

Africa and their impact on the health, mainly of poor and marginalised communities. The jury

also heard testimony on international obligations that are being flouted by our government,

their connivance with corporations bent on profiteering at the expense of health and general

secrecy and withholding of information from the public relating to the pesticides being used in

agriculture – many of them classified as Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs).

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