Air Pollution Petition for Attention of SA Public Protector

We, the undersigned residents of Northern Ekurhuleni (inclusive of the various estates in Midstream, also Clayville and Olifantsfontein), North Eastern Johannesburg (inclusive of Glen Austin and Randjiesfontein) and Centurion in Tswane, request the assistance of the Public Protector of South Africa to resolve the issue of severe air pollution in our area, noting that:

1. Our suburbs are experiencing high levels of air pollution, particularly at night and early morning, which includes smog/smoke visible from parts of these suburbs and both smoke and chemical smells (sulphur or similar). In some areas this has been going on in excess of a year.

2. An increase in medical problems related to air pollution, including allergies, sinusitis, asthma, coughs and other respiratory problems.

3. We call upon Chapter 2 of the Bill of Rights in South Africa's Constition, which deals with our Constitutional Rights rearding the environment: Everyone has the right—

(a) to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing; and

(b) to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that— (i) prevent pollution and ecological degradation;

(ii) promote conservation; and

(iii) secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.

We note that our Constitutional Rights in this regard have been breached for a long time now and are requesting the Public Protector's assistance to resolve this issue.

We have attempted to resolve this problem via other channels and have been unsuccessful so far. The problem is getting worse and we now put our hope in the Public Protector to help us.

 

Other attempts by Government Departments have failed to resolve the issue. This issue is taking a long time with no or very limited communication to residents and citizens while the perpetrators are allowed to continue with their harmful business practices at the expense of residents in the affected areas.

The question arises why this situation has been allowed to advance to this point.

The Public Protector is also requested to investigate this as well and to address failures in the process followed to ensure future fail-safes are put in place to avoid a re-occurrence of the same problem.

Health should weigh more than profit and this principal should always apply.

The submission will be done confidentially to the SA Public Prosecutor ONLY and all personal information will be kept confidential and will not be used for any other purpose whatsoever.

PLEASE complete all the fields.

Thank you for trying to make a difference.