Ex-Thor Chemicals Worker Protest and Demand Worker Justice

Since the late 80s, the UK based Thor Chemicals plant, situated in Cato Ridge, 30 kilometers outside Durban has been the source of mercury contaminating people’s environment and which poisoned workers.  At least four workers died in the 90’s as a result of mercury poisoning.  Many more were injured and Leigh Day, a legal firm from the UK, represented 42 Thor Chemicals workers in the UK who had been poisoned by mercury. According to Leigh Day this was the first multinational human rights case in the UK and it was a key case in the demands for Corporate Accountability at the United Nations.

Sadly, since 2000, many other workers affected by the mercury poisoning never received justice, despite various promises made by the government that they will assist in getting justice for workers. More than 2 decades later, ex-workers of Thor Chemicals are still seeking justice and demanding corporate and government accountability.

While the Ministry and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has taken urgent action since August 2019 to ensure the removal of the waste from Thor Chemicals site in Cato Ridge, the Department of Labour, and government in general have ignored the plight of the ex-workers who have never received compensation.

groundWork and the community welcome the fact that the site is being decontaminated and the waste is being shipped off to Europe, an environmental justice demand since environmental and human rights failures was discovered in the late 80’s, but disappointingly, the Ministry and Department of Labour have ignored the plight of the workers.  Environmental justice and worker justice is one.  Government must be held accountable for allowing workers to be injured by corporates and face early graves because of poor working conditions and the inability of the government to hold the powerful to account.  

The fight for worker justice at Thor Chemicals is a fight for all workers across South Africa who still have to work in conditions that cause injury and in thousands of cases early death.

A protest march will take place as follows:

Date: Monday, 28th February 2022
Time: 10am to 2pm
Venue:  Eddie Hagen Drive to Durban Old Main Rd to the Thor Chemicals Gate

For more information:

Convenor 
Vincent Mkhize
065 894 7560

Musa Chamane 
082 380 2237
musa@groundwork.org.za