M van Schalkwyk: Inaugural Air Quality Governance Lekgotla

16 October 2006

Today's inaugural Annual Air Quality Governance Lekgotla is a momentous
occasion. Today's lekgotla shows that we are leading by example, taking a
progressive stance on an issue of global importance and setting precedents for
governance within our own country. Today we are gearing up for the
implementation of the Air Quality Act, a piece of legislation that gives effect
to a clause in our Constitution which makes us world leaders on issues of
social and environmental justice. This clause says that all people have the
right to "an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being". It
goes further to say that we have the right "to have the environment protected,
for the benefit of present and future generations through legislative and other
measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation."

Our Air Quality Act which came into effect in September last year was
heralded as a "breath of fresh air" for the many South Africans who have been
breathing polluted air for years. The Act provides for an implementation plan
that shows we are serious about delivery. This lekgotla is a milestone that
marks the first national gathering of government air quality managers. You will
be working together as a team across all three spheres of government, across
the municipal and provincial boundaries that are never recognised by air
pollution.

It is also fitting that on Wednesday you as government officials will engage
with your peers from industry and civil society to develop the roadmap for air
quality management for the next five years, namely the National Air Quality
Management Framework (NAQMF). This framework will be published on the second
anniversary of the Act coming into effect in September next year.

It is also particularly important that this lekgotla has been organised back
to back with the annual conference of the National Association for Clean Air.
It provides an opportunity for all of you to interact with your peers from
industry, academia and civil society. You will have the chance to debate issues
of common interest around air quality and also to learn about new approaches,
new ideas and best practice in this complex field of air quality
management.

There are few people in this room that will deny the challenges before us
and many of you may be asking yourselves, "where do we start?"

I believe we need to start by establishing the extent of the problem and
focusing our attention on current and emerging threats to air quality. To this
end, in the very next session, you will be presented with the results of the
South African Weather Service - Wits University Aerial Survey. This exciting
collaboration gives us a snapshot of air quality in South Africa allowing us to
identify current and future air pollution hotspots and take appropriate action.
At a glance it is clear that Secunda and the general Witbank area are cause for
concern. However, the Department will study this report and make
recommendations with a view to the identification of the second national
priority area in November. Furthermore, it is also clear from the survey that
the levels of volatile organic compounds in the general Highveld area need
further investigation and confirmation at ground level.

Notwithstanding these initial findings, this snapshot will be further
enriched by detailed information that will be contained in our "State of the
Air Report" which will be published later this year. At this lekgotla the first
draft of this document will be circulated for your comment and recommendations.
This document will ultimately identify exactly where we need to focus our
efforts. It will also be used as the baseline against which we will measure the
effectiveness of our efforts in the coming years.

Furthermore, I have published a new set of ambient air quality standards for
public comment and I have received numerous responses. These comments will be
used to inform the final standards and once published they will provide the
objectives for all of our air quality interventions.

As such we have a clear starting point and a clear end point. However, it is
the "joining of the dots" that will be our work now and into the future. Given
the focus of this lekgotla, it is clear that everyone has recognised our air
quality governance capacity constraints. The science and practise of
"cutting-edge" air quality management has been on the decline for several
years. As a result, highly skilled and experienced air quality managers are
extremely rare. But skilled personnel are only one component of our capacity
challenge and it will be necessary to address all the components of effective
capacity for effective service delivery.

In the short-term the Department's Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act
(APPA) Registration Certificate Review project, the so-called "Top 50 Polluter"
project has two specific objectives. The first is to provide short to
medium-term improvements in air quality through reduced industrial emissions.
The second is to build capacity in provincial and local spheres of government
through "learning by doing". As such I encourage all affected provinces and
municipalities to fully and actively participate in this project over the next
18 months.

In this regard, I am expecting the Department's recommendations on the
initial set of industries to be the subject of the review within the next few
weeks and once I have approved this list the Department will immediately get
into contact with all the affected provinces and municipalities.

I have noticed a slogan on the banners around these walls proclaiming that
"an investment in air quality management is an investment in public health". It
has been estimated that the health impacts of pollution from fossil fuel
burning alone costs our fiscus R4 billion every year. By way of comparison the
cost of implementing the Air Quality Act is only R80 million. This does not
only make economic sense it also gives us the opportunity to fulfil our primary
function as government, improving the quality of life for the citizens of our
country.

Finally we need to combat the idea that tighter air quality management will
restrict development. It is poor air quality that does this. Good air quality
management is good for business and communities as it provides a basis for all
stakeholders to engage constructively as good neighbours.

With these few words I wish you a successful and productive lekgotla and I
urge you to fully exploit this precious opportunity to strengthen the
relationships you have so far established through the various Air Quality
Officers' Forums, and actively share your experiences and common problems as
equal partners in air quality governance.

Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
16 October 2006