The honourable Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, MP, hailed the Minimata Convention on Mercury as a new beginning and a great milestone in the reduction of mercury usage and pollution.
Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi, who is also a co-chairperson of the Global Network of Women Ministers and Leaders for the Environment, was addressing a High Level Side Event on Women and Mercury in Artisanal Small Gold Mining (ASGM) alongside the Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Minamata Convention on Mercury in Kumamoto, Japan.
Ministers and government representatives from across the world have converged under the auspices of United Nations Environment Programme for the adoption of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The adoption of the Minamata Convention on Mercury heralds the culmination of the fierce battle waged by women within the different forums of the United Nations for the establishment of the dedicated Convention on Mercury.
More than fifty years ago the people in Minamata suffered a tragic and catastrophic Minamata disease outbreak caused by contamination from methyl mercury that was discharged into the sea. Thousands of people died as a result of this disease and many families were disenfranchised from the entire community due to this illness.
Minamata disease, sometimes referred to as Chisso-Minamata disease, is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Symptoms include numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, narrowing of the field of vision and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma and death follow within weeks of the onset of symptoms. A congenital form of the disease can also affect fetuses.
“Humans risk ingesting dangerous levels of mercury when they eat contaminated fish. Since mercury is odorless, invisible and accumulates in the meat of the fish, it is not easy to detect and can't be avoided by trimming off the skin or other parts. It is because of the tragedy of the mercury poisoning of women in Minamata, and the terrible birth defects it caused in their children and children’s children, that we are here this week to sign the Minamata Convention on ending the use of mercury,” said Mabudafhasi.
ASGM is a significant sector that employs and provides jobs to our people, not just to men who use their physical strength but also to women and children who have to perform critical but not physically demanding jobs within the sector. They are mainly exposed directly to the fumes of mercury or mercury vapour as they heat the mixture of gold and mercury to separate the gold.
Mabudafhasi further said that, “it is of utmost importance that we learn from the Minamata tragedy and draw lessons from the situation of mercury use in artisanal small scale gold mining sector. The mercury used in ASGM enters into the water ways and food chains, of the mining communities as well as those living downstream, and finally, spreading across the worldwide food chain.
Women Ministers and leaders for the Environment should look at what we and our governments – in partnerships with international organisations - can already do in the short-term, to try and reduce the health impacts on women and the next generations from the continued mercury use in ASGM.”
“As developing countries, we are often thrilled at the discovery of our natural resources, particularly precious metals, but oblivious to the negative effects of the processes we utilise as non-industrialized countries when we harness these natural resources. Mercury has been dubbed as one of those precious metals until lately, after its adverse effects had taken their toll across generations of human populations,” said Mabudafhasi.
Deputy Minister Mabudafhasi also committed that, “the Global Network of Women Ministers and Leaders for the Environment will hit the ground running as they develop an action plan for the implementation of this convention”.
Enquiries:
Peter Mbelengwa
Spokesperson for the Deputy Minister
Cell: 082 611 8197
Email: mbelengwap@dwa.gov.za
