Kriel: ‘Like signing the death certificate for our kids’
A heartbroken resident of Kriel has laid the deaths of family members firmly at the door of the air pollution gripping Mpumalanga.
“All of us have bought houses for our children one day in this place. It’s like signing our death certificate for our children,” said the woman, who only wants to be known as Priscilla.
Priscilla’s father died in 2012 after being diagnosed with sinus passage cancer. Her daughter is suffering from Lymphoma, while her son has been diagnosed with autism.
“I’m not saying its all due that [the pollution] but I feel the environmental factors have definitely had a place in all of this.”
Jacaranda FM News visited the little town on Tuesday to gain first-hand experience into what is being widely described a crisis.
A Greenpeace study has found that Kriel in is the second-largest sulphur dioxide emissions (SO2) hotspot in the world.
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During the visit it became clear that the town’s residents are divided over the effects of the pollution in the area.
Some are downplaying the effects, fearing they might lose their livelihoods, whilst others are pleading with government for urgent intervention.
“I think we are too reliant on the mines. I understand that the mines are good to us but is it really worth our children dying, our family dying?” asked Priscilla.