SUBMISSION ON THE APPLICATIONS FOR, AND DECISIONS ON, POSTPONEMENT/SUSPENSION OF MES COMPLIANCE TIMEFRAMES INCLUDING THE RELATED APPEALS AND APPLICATIONS FOR ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL AELS, TO THE MES NECA FORUM

The document challenges the National Air Quality Officer's (NAQO) decisions to allow Eskom to delay compliance with emission standards. It argues that such postponements are unlawful under the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (AQA) and the 2017 National Framework, particularly for plants in the Highveld Priority Area (HPA). The submission provides evidence of Eskom's extensive history of emission exceedances and the resulting health costs, including thousands of projected premature deaths. It further asserts that the technology to abate sulphur dioxide (SO2) is feasible and economically beneficial, contradicting Eskom's claims of impracticality.

• The submission argues that the NAQO's decisions to grant postponements to Majuba, Kendal, and Tutuka power stations, and suspensions to six 'old' stations, are unlawful because they violate the 2017 National Framework and the List of Activities, which require ambient air quality to comply with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) before such requests can be considered.
• Eskom's 15 power stations reported 2,309 exceedances of Air Emission Licence (AEL) limits between April 2021 and March 2022, with Particulate Matter (PM) being the most frequent pollutant (2,003 exceedances).
• Eskom's coal-fired power stations exhibit significantly higher emission intensity than international benchmarks; for example, the average PM emission intensity (0.33 g/kWh) is over three times higher than the 2015 Chinese fleet average (0.09 g/kWh).
• A report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) projects that under Eskom's planned retirement and retrofit schedule, emissions would cause 79,500 air pollution-related deaths from 2025 until end-of-life.
• The SO2 Panel Report concludes that it is technologically feasible and economically beneficial for all plants operating after 2030 to meet an MES of 1,000 mg/Nm3 or lower, and for most plants to meet limits of 250 or 500 mg/Nm3.
• The High Court in the 'Deadly Air' case confirmed that air pollution in the Highveld Priority Area is an ongoing violation of constitutional rights, contributing to premature deaths and various respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
• The submission rejects the use of air quality offsets as a substitute for regulatory compliance, arguing there is no legislative framework for offsets and that they fail to protect vulnerable communities living closest to pollution sources.
• The DFFE's Highveld Health Study estimated that meeting annual PM10 and PM2.5 NAAQS would result in a decrease of 5,125 and 4,881 attributable mortalities, respectively.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2023). SUBMISSION ON THE APPLICATIONS FOR, AND DECISIONS ON, POSTPONEMENT/SUSPENSION OF MES COMPLIANCE TIMEFRAMES INCLUDING THE RELATED APPEALS AND APPLICATIONS FOR ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL AELS, TO THE MES NECA FORUM. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/gw-and-ela-1.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. SUBMISSION ON THE APPLICATIONS FOR, AND DECISIONS ON, POSTPONEMENT/SUSPENSION OF MES COMPLIANCE TIMEFRAMES INCLUDING THE RELATED APPEALS AND APPLICATIONS FOR ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL AELS, TO THE MES NECA FORUM. 2023. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/gw-and-ela-1.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=SUBMISSION ON THE APPLICATIONS FOR, AND DECISIONS ON, POSTPONEMENT/SUSPENSION OF MES COMPLIANCE TIMEFRAMES INCLUDING THE RELATED APPEALS AND APPLICATIONS FOR ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL AELS, TO THE MES NECA FORUM |date=31 January 2023 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/gw-and-ela-1.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2023submission, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{SUBMISSION ON THE APPLICATIONS FOR, AND DECISIONS ON, POSTPONEMENT/SUSPENSION OF MES COMPLIANCE TIMEFRAMES INCLUDING THE RELATED APPEALS AND APPLICATIONS FOR ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL AELS, TO THE MES NECA FORUM}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/gw-and-ela-1.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }