Search Climate Insights Directory

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing several environmental justice organisations, submitted comments on the 2016 Draft Strategy to Address Air Pollution in Dense Low Income Settlements. While welcoming the document, the CER argues that it lacks measurable plans, adequate baseline data, and a strategy for community consultation to effectively address the health impacts of domestic fuel burning in South Africa.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, representing several environmental justice organisations and community groups, submitted comments to the Department of Environmental Affairs regarding the declaration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) as priority air pollutants. The submission specifically argues that natural ecosystems should be excluded from the requirement to submit pollution prevention plans.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing groundWork, the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), and the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA), submitted comments on 16 April 2013 regarding the draft 2012 National Framework for Air Quality Management in South Africa. The CER argues that the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) failed to follow prescribed review processes, ignored legislative obligations from the 2007 Framework, and provided insufficient support to municipalities for air quality management.

Unofficial minutes from a May 8, 2013, meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs regarding public hearings on Section 21 listed activities of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (No. 39 of 2004). The session involved submissions from industry bodies and civil society organizations concerning emission standards, the fairness of the amendment process, and the health impacts of air pollution on local communities.

This fact sheet from the Centre for Environmental Rights documents a chronological list of industrial incidents, accidents, and pollution events associated with the Engen and SAPREF refineries in South Durban between 1994 and 2011.

This document consists of a final project report (2006) and a related academic paper (2013) regarding the South Durban Health Study. The research, funded by the eThekwini Municipality as part of the Multipoint Plan, assessed the impact of industrial pollution on the respiratory health of schoolchildren and adults in south Durban compared to a non-industrial northern control area. The study found that children in the industrial south had a significantly higher risk of persistent asthma and marked airway hyperreactivity, with evidence that ambient pollutants like SO2, NO2, and particulate matter contributed to decrements in lung function, particularly in sensitive subpopulations.

Natural Justice submitted comments to the South African Department of Transport regarding the Marine Pollution (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Amendment Bill (B5-2022). The organization argues that the Bill should implement stronger penalties, increase local government and police involvement in enforcement, and remove broad exemptions for ship trials and offshore mineral processing to align with South Africa's Paris Agreement commitments.