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This document consists of a series of letters and a report summary from the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) addressed to the South African Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA). The CER, representing various environmental groups, argues that the Highveld Priority Area (HPA) has failed to improve air quality since its 2007 declaration. The CER demands the urgent implementation of regulations to enforce the 2012 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP), the elimination of 'rolling postponements' for emission standards granted to major polluters like Eskom and Sasol, and a formal response to the 'Broken Promises' report regarding the ongoing violation of constitutional rights to a healthy environment.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing several environmental justice organizations, formally opposes the Department of Environmental Affairs' (DEA) proposal to establish an expert panel to find solutions for sulphur dioxide (SO2) abatement. The CER argues that such a panel would unnecessarily delay compliance with Minimum Emission Standards (MES), duplicate previous multi-stakeholder processes, and potentially lead to an unlawful weakening of environmental standards for major polluters Eskom and Sasol.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), acting for Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and groundWork, submitted a formal request to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) regarding the proposed public hearings for the Khanyisa and Thabametsi coal-fired power stations. The CER argues that proceeding with hearings on 27 March 2018 would be premature and procedurally unfair unless all supplemental application information is disclosed and sufficient preparation time is granted.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) issued a statement to the Director-General of the Department of Environmental Affairs calling for the urgent public release of the 'Strategy to Address Air Pollution in Dense Low-Income Settlements'. The CER argues that the delay in publishing this strategy, which was a deliverable as far back as 2010, hinders the state's ability to protect the constitutional rights of residents in low-income settlements who suffer from severe health impacts due to industrial emissions and domestic fuel burning.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) submitted a letter to the Department of Environmental Affairs on 24 June 2014, arguing that Eskom failed to conduct necessary health impact assessments for its applications to postpone Minimum Emission Standards (MES). The CER highlights expert estimates of significant premature deaths and economic costs resulting from Eskom's emissions and notes that Eskom previously withheld its own internal health risk reports from the public.

This document is a confirmatory affidavit submitted by Poovalingum Moodley, executive director of Natural Justice, in a High Court of South Africa case opposing oil and gas exploration along the Wild Coast by BG International Limited, Shell Exploration and Production South Africa BV, and Impact Africa Limited.

This document is a supporting affidavit from Barbara Dallas Creecy, the Minister of the National Department for Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, seeking leave to appeal specific orders made by the High Court of South Africa on 18 March 2022 regarding air pollution in the Highveld Priority Area.

This document is an affidavit filed by Praveer Tripathi, Senior Vice President of Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd (now Uthaka Energy), in the High Court of South Africa. The affidavit responds to a filing by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), alleging that the CER and its attorney, Catherine Horsfield, have a conflict of interest because they are acting as both legal representatives for environmental groups and as activists with their own agenda to stop coal mining. Tripathi details a decade of litigation and media campaigns led by the CER to obstruct Atha-Africa's coal-mining project in the Mabola Protected Environment, arguing that these actions follow a global 'disrupt and delay' strategy used by environmental NGOs to make fossil fuel projects unviable.

This document is a confirmatory affidavit deposed to by Brandon Alexander Abdinor, an attorney at the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), regarding a legal review application involving the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance and GroundWork Trust against the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the National Air Quality Officer, and ArcelorMittal South Africa (Pty Ltd). The affidavit explains that a delay in launching the review application resulted from a "bona fide misunderstanding" concerning the deadline, which the responsible attorney believed was 14 August 2023.

This confirmatory affidavit, signed by Xolile Christopher George, CEO of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), supports the application by the Centre for Environmental Rights to be admitted as amicus curiae in a legal matter involving the City of Cape Town, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, and the Minister of Energy.

This document is a legal statement from the Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (representing the National Department) responding to an application by several parties regarding air quality management in the Highveld Priority Area (HPA). The Minister defends the implementation of the Highveld Plan, arguing that the government has substantially complied with its goals through a co-operative governance model involving national, provincial, and municipal spheres, as well as private industry. The statement rejects the demand for additional regulations under section 20 of the Air Quality Act, asserting that existing tools and the progressive realization of environmental rights are sufficient. It also details the Minister's refusal to grant emission exemptions to Eskom and Sasol.

This document is a statement from the Minister of the National Department (South Africa) responding to an application regarding air quality in the Highveld Priority Area. The Minister defends the government's environmental management tools, denies a lack of cooperation between national departments, and argues that non-compliance with air quality standards does not automatically constitute a constitutional breach.

The Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) submitted this supporting affidavit to the High Court of South Africa to be admitted as an amicus curiae in a case involving a water use licence for a proposed coal mine. The EELC argues that the second respondent's attempt to seek punitive costs against public interest lawyers creates a "chilling effect" that discourages the representation of marginalised actors and threatens access to justice.

This document is an answering affidavit filed by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) in the High Court of South Africa. NERSA opposes an application by the City of Cape Town, which seeks to allow Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to generate and sell electricity without a section 34 determination from the Minister of Energy, or alternatively, to have section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA) declared unconstitutional.

This document is an affidavit filed by Shaun Kraut, a Senior Legal Administrative Officer in the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, in a High Court case involving the City of Cape Town, NERSA, and the Minister of Energy. The affidavit outlines government measures to increase electricity generation capacity outside of Eskom, including draft regulations to allow municipalities to procure power from independent power producers and specific Ministerial Determinations for new capacity based on the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2019.

This document is an answering affidavit filed by Uthaka Energy (Pty) Ltd (the Second Respondent) in the High Court of South Africa, Mpumalanga Division. The affidavit opposes a review application brought by several environmental organizations (the Applicants) who seek to overturn a decision by the MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs of Mpumalanga to exclude four properties from the Mabola Protected Environment Area to allow for underground coal mining.

This affidavit, deposed by Dr Tsakani Ngomane, Deputy Director-General for Climate Change, Air Quality and Sustainable Development, addresses a request from the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) for access to greenhouse gas reporting records and pollution prevention plans under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000.

This affidavit, deposed by Dr Tsakanl Ngomane, Deputy Director-General for Climate Change, Air Quality and Sustainable Development, responds to a request from the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) for access to greenhouse gas reporting records and pollution prevention plans under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000.