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REGULATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTING AND ENFORCING THE HIGHVELD PRIORITY AREA AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN (2012)
The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) argues that the Highveld Priority Area (HPA) has failed to improve air quality since its 2007 declaration, leaving residents in breach of their constitutional right to a healthy environment. The CER highlights that the 2012 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) remains a mere guideline due to a lack of implementing regulations and the granting of 'rolling postponements' for minimum emission standards to major polluters like Eskom and Sasol. The CER demands the publication of enforcement regulations, a final Mid-Term Review of the AQMP, and a cessation of emission standard postponements to meet the 2020 goal of reducing industrial emissions.
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Document type: Statement
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN RESPECT OF THE DRAFT INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY 2018
The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing several environmental and community organisations, sent a letter to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) on 19 November 2018. The letter demands that NERSA conduct a formal public participation process regarding the draft Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity 2018 (draft IRP 2018), arguing that NERSA is legally required to do so before concurring with the Minister of Energy.
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Document type: Statement
URGENT STEPS NEEDED TO ADDRESS AIR POLLUTION IN THE HIGHVELD PRIORTY AREA
The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) has called on the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to take urgent action against air pollution in the Highveld Priority Area (HPA). The letter criticizes the DEA's dismissal of health impact studies linking Eskom and Sasol emissions to thousands of deaths and respiratory illnesses. It further demands an end to 'rolling postponements' of minimum emission standards (MES), a response to the 'Broken Promises' report, and updates on the Highveld Priority Area Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) goals and its Mid-Term Review.
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Document type: Statement
SALE OF ANGLO AMERICANS ESKOM MINES TO SERITI RESOURCES
The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) has called on Anglo American to act transparently in the sale of three operational and four closed coal mines to Seriti Resources. The CER argues that the trend of large mining companies selling assets with significant environmental liabilities to smaller companies often leads to a failure to comply with rehabilitation obligations. The CER requests that Anglo American publicly disclose mining licences, environmental management programmes, social and labour plans, and assessments of environmental liability and financial provision for rehabilitation to ensure these obligations are not ultimately shifted to the South African state and public.
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Document type: Statement
JOINT LETTER TO THE MINISTER: PERMISSION TO CONDUCT COMMERCIAL PROSPECTING, MINING, EXPLORATION, PRODUCTION OR RELATED ACTIVITIES INSIDE PROTECTED ENVIRONMENTS: SECTION 48(1)(B) OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: PROTECTED AREAS ACT, 2003
Environmental organisations are challenging the Minister of Environmental Affairs' decision to permit commercial mining in the Mabola Protected Environment, arguing it sets a dangerous precedent. They demand that the Minister adhere to constitutional rights, environmental management principles under NEMA, and procedural fairness requirements under PAJA for all current and future applications to conduct commercial activities in protected areas.
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Document type: Statement
THE INTER MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE ON ACID MINE DRAINAGE: RELEASE OF HEAVILY POLLUTED, TOXIC ACID MINE DRAINAGE INTO OUR STREAMS AND RIVERS
The document is a formal letter from a coalition of civil society organisations to the co-chairs of the Inter Ministerial Committee on Acid Mine Drainage (IMC), expressing alarm over the uncontrolled decant of untreated acid mine drainage (AMD) in the Witwatersrand Basin. The authors argue that the State has failed its constitutional obligations to protect the environment and public health, citing a lack of transparency, the exclusion of civil society, and unreasonable delays in implementing treatment solutions. They specifically criticize the preference for 'neutralisation' as an inadequate short-term fix and highlight ecological crises such as fish kills in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and pollution at the Grootvlei mine. The letter demands the public release of expert reports and a decision on treatment proposals by 2 February 2011, threatening legal action if these demands are not met.
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Document type: Statement