The great Gauteng stench returns

NEWS

Johannesburg MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services Michael Sun said the air quality remains at acceptable levels after residents of the City of Gold were greeted by a horrid stench that wafted across large parts of the city on Wednesday morning, reportedly being blown in from Mpumalanga.

A preliminary probe established that the smell was not of a localised source, Sun said.

“The current weather system is conducive to the transportation of pollution from the Highveld Priority Area and the industrial complex of Mpumalanga, which run power generations and petrochemical industrial operations.”

“This ‘rotten egg’ smell observed by residents is commonly associated with hydrogen sulphide and could be likely associated with those type of operations,” he added.

In 2021, a similar stench was carried across Gauteng. At the time, the department of environment, forestry and fisheries said the Sasol plant in Secunda, Mpumalanga, was believed to be the source, and the smell was likely a combination of elevated levels of sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide.

Greenpeace Africa says that in most cases, especially towards the afternoon hours, there is an easterly wind that blows from the Mpumalanga area and could come from any direction that covers the power stations and the Sasol Secunda Plant.

Speaking to City Press, climate and energy campaigner Nhlanhla Sibisi said the smell had descended on Tshwane and Johannesburg.

“People living in those areas experience this smell on a monthly basis, and the effects can include continuous sore, itching and irritable eyes; dark eyelids which can become swollen and red; asthma,; frequent headaches; respiratory diseases; and cancer,” said Sibisi.

There are emission standards in place at every plant, but most do not adhere to them, Sibisi said.

READ: City of Johannesburg investigating foul smell enveloping parts of municipality

“The government, as custodians of our legislation, should make sure that they hire independent monitors of the emissions from these plants, but the opposite happens as all these plants have their own monitoring systems which they can easily manipulate.”

He said when the community complains to Sasol, it defends itself saying the smell is a “once-off thing” that is not above the standard of acceptable emissions.

The department of environment, forestry and fisheries is investigating the most recent foul stench blowing across parts of Gauteng.

“The department has noted concerns about the strong smell and is working with environmental and air quality officials in Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Limpopo and the North West to determine the cause of the stench,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

The department will investigate “whether prevailing wind and weather conditions have contributed to the smell travelling long distances”.

Sun said the situation would be monitored over the coming days, with experts working to identify the source of the smell.

Scores of residents took to social media to air their frustration.

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