Search Climate Insights Directory

A formal submission by the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA) and groundWork (gW) objecting to ArcelorMittal South Africa's (AMSA) application for postponements and alternative emission standards at its Vanderbijlpark Works facility.

The Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA) and groundWork (gW) submitted a formal objection on 11 March 2019 against ArcelorMittal South Africa’s (AMSA) application for the postponement and alternative plant standards of minimum emission standards (MES) at its Vanderbijlpark Works. The submitters argue that AMSA's requests are unlawful, fail to meet statutory requirements, and would violate the constitutional right to a healthy environment.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), acting for the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA) and groundWork (gW), submitted a statement to the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) on 1 March 2018. The statement outlines critical shortcomings in ArcelorMittal South Africa's (AMSA) Land Contamination Site Assessment Report for its Vanderbijlpark site, arguing that the report is non-compliant with the National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008 (NEMWA) and fails to adequately address serious contamination migrating off-site.

This research paper by GreenCape examines the use of Performance-Based Contracts (PBCs) to reduce Non-Revenue Water (NRW), drawing on international experiences from countries such as Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand, and Ireland. It outlines the technical, financial, and managerial challenges of NRW reduction and provides guidance on scoping, risk-reward balancing, and ensuring the sustainability of water savings for public utilities, with a particular focus on the South African context.

This research paper examines the evolution of public order policing in South Africa, tracing the transition from the repressive Internal Stability Division of the apartheid era to the current Area Crime Combating Units (ACCUs). The author questions whether the shift in focus toward general crime prevention has eroded the specialized capacity of the police to manage volatile crowd situations and service delivery protests.

The Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA) and groundWork have appealed a decision by the National Air Quality Officer (NAQO) to grant ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) postponements and alternative emission limits for Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) at its Vanderbijlpark facility. The appellants argue that the granted limits are unlawfully weaker than existing plant standards and that AMSA's history of environmental non-compliance makes it unfit to receive such leniency.

This 2019 Phase 1 Initial Impact Assessment, produced by the Department of Environment Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) for the South African Presidency's Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS), evaluates the need for regulations to enforce Air Quality Management Plans (AQMPs) in three priority areas. The document identifies a failure to meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) due to ineffective AQMP implementation and a lack of accountability for non-industrial stakeholders.