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By Zimbabwean journalist Richard Kawazi. First published in The Climate Action Information Initiative.
Afrochine Chrome Smelting in Selous, Mashonaland West Province Chegutu implemented a waste management program in February 2022 to protect the lives of people in the Selous community.
Central to this investigation is how Afrochine Chrome Smelting responded in 2022 with an improved waste management plan following a mysterious foot rash outbreak that posed a health risk to the community.
Afrochine responded by procuring low-sulphur coking coal and repurposing chromite slag rubble for upcycling projects with Sunny YiFeng Tiles to produce tiling and roofing sheets.
However, before the interventions, the Selous community along with the residents of Scotsdale, Whaleman and Virginia farm compound, linked a mysterious foot rash illness to the chromite ore waste that had been disposed of on surface roads and fill potholes between 2016 and 2020.
In addition, former Afrochine contractor and supplier Lawrence Ngorima confirmed to the Zimbabwe Network for Citizen Journalists (zncj.org) that the coking coal used between 2012 to 2020 had a high sulphur content, making it highly likely that impurities remained in the waste after disposal.
Technically, high sulphur content in the cocking coal depletes product quality, so Afrochine was committed to procuring low-sulphur coking coal.
“The coking coal that was available at the time was high in sulphur and I was constantly engaged by Afrochine management to supply low sulphur coking coal”, Ngorima explained.
Ngorima further elaborated that silica is also part of the smelting process used as an agent to dense and bind to the impurities. Drawing on his technical expertise, Ngorima explained that the furnace does not fully eliminate the impurities in the waste, posing a significant risk.
“I am sure that silica which binds to the impurities retains a considerable amount of impurities that may cause allergic skin reactions workers are expected to wear protective clothing during the smelting processes”.
“It’s possible that some of the impurities found in ferrochrome chromite ore waste could trigger an allergic reaction if they come into contact with skin or open wounds. In particular, silica can be an irritant, and some people may react to aluminum oxide. It’s important to take precautions when handling these materials” Ngorima explained.
In an effort to manage the waste, Cosmas Svondo, a private ground transport contractor for Afrochine, said that Afrochine and Sunny YiFeng partnered on an upcycling project to produce roof tiles and paving.
“Today I transport more than 40 tonnes of chromite slug rubble to Sunny yiFeng tiles, where the rubble is further processed into high quality roofing tiles and paving”, said Svodo.
According to testimonies from the community, chromite slag rubble had been accumulating at a dedicated plant dumpsite since 2012. Then disposal on the roads began in 2016, when enough rubble had accumulated. The earliest cases of the foot rash were recorded in June 2019, as recalled by one of the interviewed sources.
Without knowledge, communities and nearby compounds would salvage dumped chromite waste materials to surface walkways and footpaths in the living compounds.
Before taking action on waste disposal, Afrochine Chrome Smelting would dispose of the rubble in the nearby outskirts of the smelting plant and occasionally fill gravel road potholes to create a smoother road surface.
However, this proved to be a double-edged sword, as it soon became unpopular when truck drivers noticed that the durability of their vehicle tires was deteriorating and the rubber was wearing off rapidly.
At the same time, rubble filling was welcomed by the community as it improved the road network, making travel easier, especially for ox-drawn scotch carts, which are the primary mode of transportation in rural areas in Zimbabwe.
Community members including women and children from the nearby Whaleman and Virginia areas, extending into parts of the Scottsdale farm compound, would walk barefoot, and sometimes children would play on the gravel roads surfaced with chromite ore waste.
Operations Manager at Afrochine Chrome Smelting, Frank Gao said the company has now implemented safety and health standards for waste disposal in compliance with environmental laws.
“All our operations are in compliance with Environmental Management Agency, including our health safety standards,” said Gao.
Gao added that Afrochine does not dispose of chromite waste to resurface roads anymore.
“ We do not endanger the lives of the community anymore by disposing of waste and exposing them to danger”, said Gao.
Despite efforts, ZNCJ was unable to reach comments from Munyaradzi Nhariswa, the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Mashonaland West Education and Publicity Officer, regarding the environmental harm posed by the chrome waste and any potential penalties imposed on Afrochine.
During the early stages of the mysterious outbreak of foot rash, the compound dwellers used herbs and smeared their foot sores with animal fat, but it did not get better.
It took the courage of one, Luston Chiga — who took his six-year-old son to Martindale Mission Clinic for medical treatment.
The investigation reached out to Dr. Godwin Masocha, the former Mashonaland West Provincial Medical Director.
When contacted for comment, Dr Masocha said the Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital was still conducting clinical tests and investigations are still underway.
“Yes, our clinics have received patients from the Scotsdale, Whaleman and Virginia farm compounds reporting feet sores, that condition is still under investigation, and we are still conducting medical clinical tests”, said Dr Masocha.
This investigation by zncj.org will unpack stories told by affected families and testimonies from individuals narrating how they lived with the mysterious foot illness linked to improperly disposed chromite ore waste.
It was at a later stage that the community discovered that the foot rash affected only women and children who walked barefoot.
The community decided to remove the rubble using scotch carts, and Afrochine eventually stopped disposing of chromite waste in the area.
Laston is one of the displaced farm workers who lost his job as a farm worker at Virgina farm in 2001. After the land reform program, Laston resettled at the Wakefield farm compound where he was making a living as a brick molder.
As a norm and function of poverty, his six-year-old would go out and play barefoot in the road and pathways that had been patched with chromite ore rubble.
In December 2020, the boy’s mother discovered that her son had developed a foot rush that was worsening with sores under his feet.
Chiga described the foot rash and sores as something he had never seen before in his family history.
“The rash spread on top of the foot until it had little pockets of puss. The sore foot would harden and would gradually crack, Chiga described.
Chiga added that the mysterious foot rash did not respond to any remedies from traditional healers, despite his efforts to seek indigenous treatments.
More children and women started to report signs of the same foot rash and sores and sought help from local traditional herbalists.
“We realised that it was not only our son, but other children were also affected by the foot rash, which then I decided to take my soon to Martindale mission clinic to seek medical care and failed attempts to seek help from traditional healers”, said Chiga.
He added that, after using the cream prescribed at the clinic, the foot rash reappeared from time to time and had not completely gone away.
ZNCJ visited Martinadle clinic to confirm the case and the severity of the illness. A senior staff member at Martinadle clinic, who preferred to remain anonymous, told ZNCJ that they had treated more than five patients with a foot rash suspected to be linked to chromite rubble ore.
Unofficially, the senior staff member at Martinadle Clinic described the condition as causing excessive dehydration of the skin around the feet, suggesting that this could have been caused by reactive agents the skin came into contact with.
After a year of continued reappearance of the rash, Chiga was advised to take his son to the district hospital which he was reluctant to do.
To date, Chiga manages his son’s skin condition with applying petroleum jelly.
The ZNCJ had the opportunity to learn about the experience of Sharai Magwanza, a widowed single mother, who was 28-years-old when she first encountered the foot rash.
Magwanza is still showing signs of the foot rash, which has not healed or improved, as seen in the pictures below.
Magwanza said she always walked the roads wearing flip-flops and sometimes walked barefoot during the rainy season to avoid breaking the flip-flops on the muddy roads.
She added that the rash has not completely gone away since 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I used to walk all these roads in flip-flops and sometimes barefoot. I started noticing the rash and sores in 2021, but I never bothered to seek medical help because I could not afford it.”
“In late 2022, I heard others saying that it was the rubble waste that made us sick”, said Magwanza.
To date, Magwanza continues to manage the mysterious foot rush that is linked to the chromite ore waste.
To date, the Mashonaland West Provincial Medical Director’s office has not provided scientific findings to explain the foot rash cases. The office has been occupied by three different officials since the earliest reports.
Tshingshan group continues to expand its operations in Mvuma, breaking new ground for another ferrochrome plant operated by Afrochine. In November 2023, China – Zimbabwe relations relations led to a mega deal worth US$ 1.78 billion for the construction of Hwange power units 7 and 8.
