Speech on National Environmental Management Air Quality Bill by Lance Greyling (Environmental Spokesperson)
2004-09-07. It was a great honour for me to have been part of the environmental committee that finalized this bill. It was an honour because I truly believe that this is a revolutionary piece of legislation that will for the first introduce a proper regulatory regime for air quality in South Africa.
At the same time, however, I am
saddened that it took so long for this parliament to enact such a piece
of legislation. During our study tour of pollution hotspots, we were
shown communities that have for many decades been powerless to prevent
the pollution from industries. This pollution is not just an
environmental issue but as we vividly saw, a health issue as well. Many
families have had to see their children contracting leukemia and deadly
respiratory conditions. One feels a certain amount of shame that
justice was not brought to these families at an earlier stage of our
democracy.
I also feel a sense of injustice that this piece of legislation is not retrospective in its scope and that communities will not be able to use it to claim liability from past polluters. These communities will now need to resort to the legal realm to bring class action suits against those companies who for many decades exceeded international emission standards with disastrous effects on people's health. This piece of legislation does, however, have a clause in it which obligates the government to perform health studies so that the precise causes and extent of these health conditions can be documented. I would therefore urge the department of health to work closely with the department of environmental affairs and tourism to undertake such studies in the pollution hotspots of South Africa. These health studies will be vital if communities are wanting to obtain legal compensation.
I would also urge the department of environmental affairs and tourism to use this legislation to strictly enforce the new air standards and ensure that polluting industries comply with all the stipulations. It was clear to me on the study tour that many industries will only enact measures that government forces them to.
ID would also like to see strong action finally been taken against companies that have a record of industrial actions that affect the lives of surrounding communities. In some cases, like Foskor in Richards Bay, families and individuals have been left destitute and incapacitated by these accidents with very little in the way of compensation being paid to them. These companies must be made to understand that negligence on their part will be severely dealt with and ID is confident that the department has now been given the teeth to do precisely that.
The Independent Democrats supports this bill.
I also feel a sense of injustice that this piece of legislation is not retrospective in its scope and that communities will not be able to use it to claim liability from past polluters. These communities will now need to resort to the legal realm to bring class action suits against those companies who for many decades exceeded international emission standards with disastrous effects on people's health. This piece of legislation does, however, have a clause in it which obligates the government to perform health studies so that the precise causes and extent of these health conditions can be documented. I would therefore urge the department of health to work closely with the department of environmental affairs and tourism to undertake such studies in the pollution hotspots of South Africa. These health studies will be vital if communities are wanting to obtain legal compensation.
I would also urge the department of environmental affairs and tourism to use this legislation to strictly enforce the new air standards and ensure that polluting industries comply with all the stipulations. It was clear to me on the study tour that many industries will only enact measures that government forces them to.
ID would also like to see strong action finally been taken against companies that have a record of industrial actions that affect the lives of surrounding communities. In some cases, like Foskor in Richards Bay, families and individuals have been left destitute and incapacitated by these accidents with very little in the way of compensation being paid to them. These companies must be made to understand that negligence on their part will be severely dealt with and ID is confident that the department has now been given the teeth to do precisely that.
The Independent Democrats supports this bill.
