URGENT STEPS NEEDED TO ADDRESS AIR POLLUTION IN THE HIGHVELD PRIORTY AREA

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing several environmental justice organizations, issued a formal letter to the Director-General of the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) on 26 February 2018. The letter demands urgent action to address air pollution in the Highveld Priority Area (HPA), specifically criticizing the DEA's handling of minimum emission standards (MES) compliance, its failure to respond to the 'Broken Promises' report, and the health impacts of emissions from Eskom and Sasol.

• Expert studies indicate that air pollution from Eskom's coal-fired power stations (CFPSs) causes significant mortality and economic loss. A report by Dr Mike Holland found 2,239 equivalent attributable deaths and an annual economic cost of approximately R33 billion, while 2014 research by Lauri Myllyvirta estimated 2,200 premature deaths per year, including 200 children, with a R30 billion annual cost.
• Internal Eskom health impact assessments from 2006 revealed that the company was aware that expanding its fleet of coal-fired power stations without sulphur dioxide (SO2) abatement equipment would lead to a sharp increase in deaths and respiratory illnesses. The study projected that future emissions would result in 617 non-accidental mortalities and 24,842 respiratory hospital admissions annually.
• The CER expressed concern over remarks made by the Director-General of the DEA at a Parliamentary Committee on Environmental Affairs (PCEA) meeting on 6 February 2018. The DG questioned the link between industrial emissions and specific health outcomes, suggesting it would be difficult to prove in court that a specific sick child's illness was directly caused by pollution from Eskom or Sasol.
• The DEA has failed to provide a substantive written response to the 'Broken Promises: the Failure of the Highveld Priority Area' report, which was launched on 2 October 2017. Despite a promised deadline of 30 January 2018 and a subsequent extension to 26 February 2018, the response remained outstanding as of the date of the letter.
• The CER urges the DEA to eliminate 'rolling postponements' of compliance with minimum emission standards (MES), arguing that such postponements are not the intent of the law. The CER notes that Eskom and Sasol have received widespread postponements and intend to apply for more, which sustains non-compliance with national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS).
• The CER questions the feasibility of achieving Goal 2 of the Highveld Priority Area (HPA) Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP), which aims for industrial emissions to be equitably reduced to achieve compliance with ambient air quality standards by 2020. This is due to relaxed emission limits in Atmospheric Emission Licences (AELs) for Eskom and Sasol. Additionally, Goal 1, which set a 2015 deadline for optimizing government organizational capacity, has not yet been met.
• The DEA has not published the final or revised version of the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the HPA AQMP. Although the MTR was dated December 2015 and comments were submitted by the CER in March 2017, the updated review promised by 25 June 2017 has not been released.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2018). URGENT STEPS NEEDED TO ADDRESS AIR POLLUTION IN THE HIGHVELD PRIORTY AREA. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CER-letter-to-DEA-DG_26-Feb-2018-Final.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. URGENT STEPS NEEDED TO ADDRESS AIR POLLUTION IN THE HIGHVELD PRIORTY AREA. 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CER-letter-to-DEA-DG_26-Feb-2018-Final.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=URGENT STEPS NEEDED TO ADDRESS AIR POLLUTION IN THE HIGHVELD PRIORTY AREA |date=26 February 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CER-letter-to-DEA-DG_26-Feb-2018-Final.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2018urgent, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{URGENT STEPS NEEDED TO ADDRESS AIR POLLUTION IN THE HIGHVELD PRIORTY AREA}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = feb, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CER-letter-to-DEA-DG_26-Feb-2018-Final.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }