'We can't buy another planet'
2008-08-20 13:34
Middelburg - South Africans must not live their lives at the expense of future generations, says deputy minister for environmental affairs and tourism Rejoice Mabudafhasi.
She reminded delegates at the launch of the Highveld Priority Area Monitoring Network in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, on Tuesday of the message that children gave at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.
"They said that we must remember that we cannot buy another planet. Their lives and that of generations to come depend on our activities today," she said.
"Let us remember that sustainable development means not living at the expense of future generations."
The monitoring network aims to address air pollution on the Highveld, which is caused mainly by the coal industry. Their air over the Highveld is considered the most polluted in South Africa.
Mabudafhasi said her department's mandate was to help make policies that protect the environment from degradation and pollution.
She said education and public awareness were highly needed and that South Africans needed to revive indigenous knowledge systems.
Report pollution
"Our people who lived in eastern Southern Africa built their homesteads on east-facing slopes because they knew that prevailing winds that blew from north-east and south-east provided a cooling evening breeze," she said.
She urged all South Africans not to burn rubbish, but recycle it, and to protect trees and plant more indigenous trees where possible.
She also urged them to report pollution to the authorities.
"When there is a strange smell, we shouldn't just accept it, but investigate it, as it could be harmful to people and the environment," she said.
Mabudafhasi said it was imperative for the three spheres of government, national provincial and local, to develop an Air Quality Management Plan to address air pollution at all sources in the Highveld.
"The reason this area was targeted was because of health concerns of communities," Mabudafhasi said.
She said a study commissioned by her department to map out air pollution hot spots through an aerial survey identified the area stretching from the mining town of Emalahleni (formerly Witbank) to Secunda in Mpumalanga and the Ekurhuleni Metro in Gauteng, as being the worst.
"The study revealed that the areas needed focused air quality management, to ensure that people living in these areas were not exposed to an environment that is harmful to their health and well-being," she said.
She said schools would monitor the amount of pollution in the air through monitoring stations.
She said the stations would help teachers and pupils to gain an understanding and appreciation of the importance of science and mathematics as tools for promoting health, well-being and environment protection.
Responsible management
"We need to take precautionary action now for the future generations to survive. We must invest in future orientated, sustainable ways of living, including the use of safer technologies," she said.
She said industries should also be able to manage their own businesses in a responsible way.
Spokesperson for the provincial agriculture and land administration department, David Tshabalala, said the polluted areas on the Highveld included industry, mining and agriculture.
"It includes power stations, timber and related industries, metal smelters, petrochemical plants, brick and stone works, mines, fertiliser and chemical producers, explosives producers and charcoal producers," said Tshabalala.