Agriculture minister bans toxic pesticide tied to Soweto child deaths

Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has banned the sale, acquisition, use and disposal of agricultural remedies containing terbufos, a highly toxic pesticide linked to the deaths of six Soweto children in 2024. The prohibition notice, published in the Government Gazette on 8 May under the Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act of 1947, bars the acquisition, disposal, sale and use of agricultural remedies containing terbufos as an active ingredient. A March 2025 report by the ministerial advisory committee on foodborne illness said it remained unclear exactly how the children were exposed to the pesticide, although investigators suspected they might have consumed food contaminated with terbufos granules bought from a spaza shop. The committee said residues of terbufos were found inside and outside a packet of crisps but the exact pathway of contamination remained uncertain. The incident exposed the widespread use of highly toxic agricultural pesticides in urban communities battling rat and pest infestations caused by poor municipal waste management. “These pesticides are illegally sold in informal street markets and from spaza shops in the poorest communities,” the report stated. Terbufos is classified by the World Health Organisation as a Class 1a pesticide — the most toxic category of pesticides globally. It is banned in the European Union, restricted in the US and prohibited in most African countries. The committee noted in its report that its acute toxicity was similar to or greater than several other organophosphate and carbamate pesticides withdrawn in South Africa. The advisory committee reported high mortality rates linked to terbufos, including 375 deaths between 2023 and 2024. It estimated the pesticide causes at least 175 deaths annually in South Africa, with children accounting for about 35% of fatalities. Child deaths linked to terbufos have been reported for at least 15 years. Civil society organisations welcomed the ban