South African government on Sunday said the sea pollution linked to a spill from a chemical plant attacked during riots in July had caused a serious environmental catastrophe.

Rioters ran amok looting and setting structures ablaze in July after former president Jacob Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail for snubbing a corruption inquiry.

An agrochemical warehouse near the eastern port city of Durban storing chemicals used for making herbicides, pesticides and fungicides was one of the buildings torched.

Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said Sunday the "environmental impact of the chemical spill and fire incident... has caused the most serious environmental catastrophe in recent times".

Presenting the results of an investigation into the incident she said it "may take several years to recover from this incident".

Following the incident the local municipality closed beaches as a precautionary measure, and warned the public to refrain from fishing, surfing or picking up dead sea life. The beaches remain shut.

A criminal case has been opened against the company, UPL, who had no environmental permits to run their operations in the area, said the minister.

President Cyril Ramaphosa described the violence -- which claimed 354 lives and was the worst seen since the end of apartheid -- as an attempted insurrection.

Related Links
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

'Pollution-sniffing' plane scours Belgium's coast
Ostend, Belgium (AFP) Oct 1, 2021
Off Belgium's coast, a small twin-propeller plane swoops above giant freight ships, picking up traces of their exhausts and subjecting them to on-the-spot analyses of sulphur and nitrogen levels. Ships risk a fine if the reading comes out too high. The Coast Guard aircraft is fitted with an atmospheric pollution sensor that crews call the "sniffer". Developed by researchers at a Swedish university, it is a point of pride for Belgian authorities. "We're the only country to use this syste ... read more