CAPE TOWN The suggestion that 517ha of land will be sold by ammunitions manufacturer Swartklip, part of the Denel stable, has raised environmental concerns among communities next to the munitions factory.

A meeting of concerned residents has been called for tonight in Khayelitsha, which borders Swartklip on the one side, to "consider appropriate action".

The factory is near Mitchell's Plain, with about a million people living in the vicinity.

Terry Crawford-Browne, head of Economists Allied For Arms Reduction-SA, said land was earmarked for residential, commercial and industrial development and concerns have been expressed that no water, soil or air tests had been conducted on the land, despite "the international reputation of ammunition factories being major contaminators of the environment".

Denel Properties MD James Mphahlele said yesterday there was not yet a for-sale sign up outside the Swartklip property, although there were "possibilities".

Crawford-Browne said the environmental affairs department acknowledged that Swartklip was an environmental hazard.

"Former Swartklip workers and people living in the vicinity suffer abnormally high incidences of asthma, heart disease, arthritis and other health consequences of exposure to toxic materials associated with the armaments industry.

"Politicians and civil servants prefer not to rock the boat, although they acknowledge that post-apartheid SA has inherited an environmental nightmare."

He said: "As confirmed by the Caltex oil refinery experiences over many years, pressure by civil society organisations and the media is the only means to achieve the constitutional right of a safe environment. An ammunition factory is estimated to produce two-and-a-half times the contamination of an oil refinery."

Source: Business Day