Sustainability Conversations ... Pesticides, Banks, Bots & the Auctioneer

Destiny is a journey.... And sometimes I get scared.... But mostly I get excited, inspired and taken aback when people with passion conspire and choose to make different outcomes come true.... These small acts of courage and belief give meaning and greatness to this paradoxical thing we call life...

On the iStart2 Show this week we focus on two stories:

Simone's story about bots:

(Definition of Bots: the larvae of the botfly, which is an internal parasite of animals. It lives typically in the stomach, finally passing through the host's dung and pupating on the ground).

Simone got cancer and lost her job. The bank (bots) moved in and sold her property on an auction. "Simone, the victim, struggling with cancer was subjected to numerous illegalities in the selling of her property, says Douglas J Shaw, an Advocate of the Supreme Court. "For a number of reasons the bank acted illegally:

- Firstly, an appeal for leave to Appeal was pending;
- Should the Appeal have been in some way defective, then the bank's remedy would be an exception or Rule 30;
- Secondly, the notice of sale in execution was only served three days before the auction and not 30 days as the rues provide:
- Thirdly, the property was auctioned twice despite the first buyer not agreeing thereto;
- The first auction was defective in that the wrong figure was given for municipal rates;
- The second auction was also for a lower amount than the first bidder;
-  This is without going into the unconstitutionality of the process itself"

Tune in on Thursday at 17h30 and hear a brave woman tell her story.

David's story about pesticide:  

(Definition of Pesticide: a substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals).

Artist, scientist, designer and environmentalist, David Bellamy is inspired by almost everything in the natural world .. "and by ferocity, kindness, generosity, ambition, valour."

David's textile designs and oil paintings refer to the natural world, out of which we evolved and upon which we depend. “We should be making everything last for as long as possible, every object should have nine lives, so we should always live with old and new things,” he opines.

Rooted in the disciplines of science and art, his work reflects deeply held philosophical perspectives on humanity’s place in nature, ie a biocentrism that extends value to all living things and the environment in which they flourish.

Before he was an artist he was a war resistor, leaving South Africa for the UK in 1983. As a conscientious objector, he worked for the Committee on South African War Resistance (COSAWR) in London, later serving part-time in the public housing sector, while he completed a BA Honours degree at Central St Martins School of Art.

In 2001 he returned to South Africa, setting up the Cape Francolin Art Hotel in Riebeeck Kasteel. However after only three years running the hotel, he became ill as a consequence of pesticide drift exposure from the vineyards.

He campaigned against this issue and appeared on Carte Blanche, in Noseweek and in the Cape Times. This activism attracted harassment from the local farmers and a series of court cases flowed. David was partially represented by Angela Andrews of the Legal Resources Centre, UCT.

This drew her attention to the fact that chronic pesticide drift poisoning is ubiquitous and she turned her attention to getting regulations around agricultural remedies updated. Agricultural remedies are a euphemism for pesticides. Pesticide spraying is regulated by the Department of Agriculture pursuant to the Fertilizer, Farm Feeds and Agricultural Remeddies Act, 1947 (Act No. 36 of 1947)

Design meets Biodiversity
Litigation costs prompted David to start marketing a range of what he calls "the cushions of the revolution" via his design house, bbellamy & bbellamy. Starting off as a means of funding legal costs, the company now markets these inhouse textiles as a way to address issues of biodiversity, focussing, too on water conservation and opposition to fracking, which requires urgent attention, believes Bellamy.

Keitu Gwangwa & Pierre du Toit host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485 MW (AM) in greater Johannesburg and countrywide on ‪#‎DStv‬ audio channel 869. 

 

Radio Today also streams globally on www.1485.org.za. 

Something to think about ...
"I am the people, I am not the pig. You got to make a distinction. And the people are going to have to attack the pigs. The people are going to have to stand up against the pigs"

- Fred Hampton