Paul Kirk Amid growing complaints about unchecked air pollution, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Mohammed Valli Moosa has vowed to crack down on one of the country’s worst offenders – Eskom – as part of wide-ranging plans to combat the problem. Moosa said: “It would be unfair for us to crack down on industry for polluting and not to target Eskom, who are after all a significant source of air pollution. Eskom have had a free hand for too long.” Eskom operates fossil fuel-burning power plants. The minister said his department would soon be enacting legislation to reduce the quantity of emissions that industry can emit. “We are aware that at the moment industry claims they pollute only as much as the present guidelines permit. However these emission guidelines are very old and have not kept up with current World Health Organisation [WHO] guidelines. We will soon be enacting legislation to reduce emission levels. The present guidelines are simply not realistic – they are outdated.” Moosa said his department was studying where the new levels should be set. “We have to consider some factors. For one, should we simply adopt the WHO guidelines, or should we go further? In heavily industrialised areas, should the emission levels be set lower than in less industrialised areas due to the presence of many more polluters? If we go for this model, then emission levels in areas like South Durban and the Sasolburg area may in fact be set much lower than current world standards.”
He said his department also planned to significantly increase spending next year on pollution monitoring. South Africa’s much-criticised existing legislation leaves it to industry to regulate itself. The penalties for breaking the existing guidelines, all of which were set more than 30 years ago, are restricted to small fines. The department has only seven officials to monitor factory emissions countrywide.