Chemical alert

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟮 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭. It’s banned in several countries and at the heart of multi-million rand legal claims by people in the United States claiming it causes cancer. A growing body of evidence internationally is suggesting that glyphosate, the active ingredient in some weedkillers, may be responsible for certain cancers. Nonetheless, South Africans use it widely in agriculture and its even on supermarket shelves for use in home gardens. Carte Blanche investigates why legislation allowing the chemical has not been updated since 1947 to account for the right to a clean and healthy environment promoted in our Constitution.