This is a really bad infestation of Black Scale. I discovered this by fluke, as its in an area that we only need to maintain a couple of times a year and its not normally me who maintains it. Scale is a type of really small insect. It settles on the leaf and forms a protective coating over itself, then lives inside this coating feeding on the plant, sucking sap. There are several different types, this one as I mentioned is called Black Scale, for obvious reasons. Scale is a tricky bugger to kill. When infestations are this bad, its easier to just dig up the plant and toss it. Unfortunately it isnt an option in this case. If your dealing with small dose of the pest, then it is easily treated but it seems to be one of these pests that are hard to get rid of. You can try soapy water with garlic as it coats them and they cant breathe. This is occasionally successful. I find I get better results with spraying Confidor on the plant. If you are using an aerosol, please spray the plant from at least 30cm away or you will burn the leaves and kill the plant, that is why I prefer the spray bottles or mixing from concentrate. You will also find, even with small infestations of scale, you will need to do a couple of repeat applications over a couple of months to get it under control. Good luck.
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