A decade later, highveld residents are still breathing deadly air
A new report says air quality in the Mpumalanga Highveld Priority Area has not improved — and monitoring has deteriorated
Ten years since 31‚000km² of the heavily polluted Mpumalanga highveld was declared a priority area‚ air quality in the area remains poor, a new report says.The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), Groundwork and the Highveld Environmental Justice Network published a report on the issue this week.In 2007‚ Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the minister of environmental affairs and tourism at the time, declared the Mpumalanga highveld‚ then home to about 3.6-million people‚ a "priority area" in terms of the Air Quality Act. The department said at the time that "people living and working in these areas do not enjoy air quality that is not harmful to their health and wellbeing"‚ as required by section 24 of the Constitution.The CER said its conclusions were that‚ a decade after the declaration‚ air quality in the area remained poor and did not comply with health-based national ambient air quality standards.Major towns like eMalahleni‚ Middelburg‚ Secunda‚ Standerton‚ Edenvale‚ Boksburg and Beno...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.