Air pollution in the Highveld Priority Area threatens lives and violates environmental rights, as hydrogen sulphide levels recently spiked over Johannesburg

Activists say the deaths of vulnerable people is too high a price to pay for electricity when alternatives are available

The exemption will have a major effect on people’s health, say environmental justice groups

Eskom alone spews more sulphur dioxide into the air than the entire combined power sector emissions of any country except for India

Analysis of Nasa data shows that although SO₂ emissions around the world have fallen by about 6%, the levels are high enough to harm the health of billions of people.