Under the repressive apartheid regime, black South Africans were forced to live in overcrowded homelands and townships located downwind or downstream from industrial complexes. When coupled with extreme poverty, the socio-economic living and working conditions of black South Africans is distressing. Thousands of miners die annually because of hazardous conditions. Over 42,000 have died in mining accidents since the mining industry began in South Africa. Farm workers spray banned pesticides like DDT on crops with no protective clothing.
Rural women walk approximately six miles daily for fuel-wood and fresh water.
Children play among landfills and swim in heavily contaminated waters. This is the ugly face of environmental injustice. This small community is directly affected by a medical waste incinerator and two hazardous waste sites. All of these facilities are just a few hundred yards away from this informal settlement in which generations have lived. About 20 years ago, a medical waste incinerator and a hazardous waste site were built at Aloes' doorstep.