South Africa’s power utility is back at it again.

In November 2018, Eskom and the department of environmental affairs, responsible for keeping air quality in South Africa at healthy levels, were grilled by members of the portfolio committee in parliament. Sipho Kings reported that they got Eskom to admit that its air pollution was responsible for the deaths of, on average, 333 people each year.

The Mail & Guardian had previously tried to get these numbers from the utility. It refused, saying they were of “limited use”. We then used figures obtained by the Centre for Environmental Rights through a Promotion of Access to Information Act request. The M&G then published a story stating that between 20 and 600 people die each year as a result of air pollution.

Now, Sheree Bega reports that Eskom faces fines of up to R5-million under South Africa’s air-quality legislation for supplying blatantly false and misleading information about its toxic pollution at the Kendal coal-fired power station to authorities.

On 28 January, the state-owned energy utility will appear in the eMalahleni regional court on four counts of environmental transgressions.

On Friday, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Barbara Creecy notified Eskom of the decision by the National Prosecuting Authority to pursue criminal prosecution.

The four counts, according to her department, related to the emission of air pollutants at concentrations exceeding emission limits set in Kendal’s atmospheric emission licence (AEL); failure to comply with the conditions and/or the requirements of the AEL; committing an act likely to cause significant pollution of the environment; and supplying false and/or misleading information to an air quality officer.

Air-quality laws, which came into effect in 2015 and which the utility was part of drafting, were meant to force companies to lower their levels of pollution. At Kendal, Eskom promised it was reducing the plant’s pollution. But the compliance notice says otherwise. Obtained through a Promotion of Access to Information Act request by the Centre for Environmental Rights, its details were shared by energy expert Chris Yelland.

Eskom is responsible for 40% of South Africa’s carbon emissions. It’s the biggest polluter in Africa. In the past, it has promised action, but then threatened to shut down the grid. It resorted to blackmail and threatened our future. And then lied. How this goes from here is crucial.

Article by Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham