----- Original Message -----From:Tatib Foundation To:sandra@tftrust.co.za Cc:Angela Andrews;leondt@nda.agric.za;leon du toit;AntonN Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011 4:01 PMSubject: Spray drift into Welgevonden Estate from Timberlea FarmOur Ref : SJTF/jls/21112011Date: 21 November 2011

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EMAIL TRANSMISSIONTO

Timberlea Farm Stellenbosch

ATT

Sandra JefferyEMAIL:sandra@tftrust.co.za

Dear Sandra Without Prejudice The TATIB Foundation has recently received a number of complaints fromresidents of Welgevonden Estate, Stellenbosch, in which they allege that theyhave been on the receiving end of spray drift of agricultural chemicals[pesticides, fungicides, herbicides] that are sprayed on Timberlea FarmStellenbosch.According to the information that we have on hand, large clouds of spray drifthave blown out of your vineyards/orchards, across the R44 and into theresidential area of Welgevonden Estate. One of the residents has alsoallegedly captured the spraying on his HandyCam and in this regard I amwaiting for him to convert and then email me the video footage.I used to live in Riebeek-Kasteel and work in Somerset West, and so on adaily basis would drive past Timberlea Farm . On numerous occasions I drovethrough large clouds of spray drift , discharged by your

tractor pulled

centrifugal mist blowers, as they sprayed the vineyards and orchards that areadjacent to the R44.

All agricultural chemicals that are used in South Africa, have to be registeredunder the Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural and Stock Remedies Act 36 of1947.Each and every agricultural chemical has a statutory Product Label, on whichthe special precautions and warnings, regarding safe and lawful use of theproduct are clearly displayed. There are specific warnings & precautionsalong the lines of "

Prevent spray drift onto other crops, grazing, rivers, dams or other areas not under treatment. "

I respectfully submit that by ignoring the directions for use of the substancesas contained on its labels, Timberlea Farm contravenes section 7[2][a][i] ofthe Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act36 of 1947.In addition, should Timberlea Farm not be a pest control operatorregistered in terms of the aforesaid Act, [which I assume to be the case], Ifurthermore respectively submit that Timberlea is also in contravention ofsection 7 [2] [a][ii] of the Act.There are number of other laws and acts that I feel are being contravened, butwill not at this stage make mention of them.I have been forwarded copies of correspondence between yourself and one ofthe complainants and in this regard would like to comment on your emaildated 18 November 2011, addressed to ********, a resident of Welgevondenand one of the complainants in the case that is being investigated againstTimberlea Farm. Whilst you have presented an array of very impressivedocuments, showing all your certifications, impact studies and protocols, thereality of the situation is that you are unable to control the clouds of spray drift,that result from your spraying your vineyards & orchards. I need to remindyou, that under Act 36 of 1947 spray drift, of agricultural chemicals across apublic road and into a residential area, is unlawful under the Act. No amountof EuroGap / Global Gap and Natures Choice Certification will make anydifference to the unlawfulness of spray drift. We have 6 years of research intothe legalities regarding spray drift and we have heard the same lame excusestime and time again!!You also seem to be of the opinion that Welgevonden is situated onAgricultural ground. You are incorrect in this regard. The land in question isactually zoned residential, and this has been confirmed under the WesternCape, Land Use Planning Ordinance, 15 of 1985 "LUPO", StellenboschZoning Scheme (July 1996) and the Stellenbosch Zoning Map. YesWelgevonden was built on land that was previously zoned "Agricultural", but

this does not make the alleged unlawful spray drift now lawful. In fact whetheror not Welgevonden is zoned Agricultural or Residential is not relevant in thiscase. When you spray your vineyards / orchards your "target area" is yourvineyards/orchards and not the residential houses and gardens ofWelgevonden. We can assure you that even if your target area wasWelgevonden, you will still be breaking the law with regards to spray drift.You then make yet another mistake, when you state and or imply thatbecause the residents have chosen to live in Welgevonden and thewinelands, they must accept that they will be sprayed with potentially toxicchemicals, and that this would make the spray drift lawful ?? You talk somuch about "regulating bodies" to which you adhere to. Clearly, if you arespraying in such a way that spray drift gets blown into Welgevonden, you arenot following the stringent guidelines set down by the so called "regulatingbodies".The reality of the situation is that more than often, its the un-skilled, un-educated farm worker who is doing the spraying, more than often in windyconditions, oblivious to the fact that he is poisoning not only himself but allwho come into contact with his spray drift. The majority of the farmers that wehave dealt with, turn a blind eye to all of this, and deny that there is in fact aproblem.I need to enlighten you to the facts of the matter and the precedent that hasbeen set. When we lived in Riebeek-Kasteel, the towns most prominentfarmer planted table grapes adjacent to our house and the residential area.He sprayed his precious grapes in the same manner that you spray yours, theresult of which was that clouds of toxic spray drift got blown into theresidential area. Respiratory and Sinus problems were the least of ourworries, as more serious illness took place that almost resulted in the deathof both myself and my 5 week old son.We approached the farmer in an attempt to find out what he had beenspraying, as tests conducted on my 5 week old son confirmed that his pre-natal and post natal exposure to pesticides was the cause of his illness. Thefarmer, as expected became extremely hostile and refused to supply us withthe names of the products he was using, and only after our attorneys steppedin did he furnish us with the names of the chemicals that he had beenspraying. Despite our pointing out the unlawfulness of his conduct, hecontinued to spray as he had always sprayed, stating that he wasEuroGap/Global Gap certified and could therefore not be breaking the law !!