COLONIAL EXPLOITATION IN THE BRICS WORLD

The developed world is outsourcing even the catastrophes that ruin the environment to Third World countries.

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(Photograph: This image taken from video Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, shows a breach at a tailing dam at a Sino-Metals Leach Zambia mine near Kitwe. (Photo/Richard Kille)

On February 18, 2025, the main waterway in Zambia—the Kafue River—quite literally died overnight. Prior to this date, it was a vibrant and alive river; now everything is dead. The catastrophe, caused by an acid spill at a Chinese-owned mine, could potentially affect millions of people—signs of pollution were detected at least 100 kilometers downstream. So, what exactly happened? A tailings dam that holds acidic waste from a copper mine collapsed, and some 50 million liters of waste containing concentrated acid, dissolved solids, and heavy metals flowed into a stream that links to the Kafue River. About 60% of Zambia's 20 million people live in the Kafue River basin and depend on it in some way as a source of fishing, irrigation for agriculture, and water for industry.¹

In short, it is a nightmare difficult to imagine for us in the West, where, despite all the talk about crises, life goes on in a relatively comfortable way. The lesson is that the developed world is outsourcing even the catastrophes that ruin the environment to Third World countries, where people live in a much more unspoiled "natural" world. If you want to enjoy unspoiled nature, go to a German or Norwegian forest; if you want to see the ecological catastrophes caused by modern technology, go to an unspoiled African country. Poor Third World countries thus combine two opposite features: they either serve as unspoiled destinations for tourists from industrialized countries or (often just around the corner from pristine natural beauty) contain the poisonous litter of industrialized nations at its worst.

Disasters caused by the collapse of a tailings dam happen often all around the world², but the case of Zambia is quite specific. Although the Kafue River spill was a shock, it is just the most blatant example of how China's actions in Africa and South Asia are ultimately another form of economic neocolonialism combined with problematic political choices. China likes to portray its collaboration with and investments in African nations as substantially different from the neocolonialist practices of the "imperialist" West; however, after Chinese companies bought copper mines in Zambia, the level of exploitation was too much for local people.

"'If someone dies, he can be replaced tomorrow, and if you report the problem, you'll lose your job,'" a Zambian copper miner said, describing the downside of the growing investment of Chinese companies in Africa over the last decade. Several Chinese-run copper mining companies require miners to work brutally long hours—72-hour workweeks for some, 365 days without an off day for others—in an environment with acid, noxious fumes, and a heavy concentration of dust. Chinese-run companies generally refuse to replace protective equipment damaged during work; a glove with a hole means an acid burn the next time acid splashes up.³