South Africa's Most Deadly Province for Air Pollution, With 16,000 Deaths a Year

• Research by the Centre for Energy and Clean Air (CREA) linked air pollution to an estimated 42,000 deaths per year in South Africa
• Gauteng recorded the highest provincial death toll, driven by urban, industrial and cross-border emissions from Mpumalanga
• CREA warned that plans to extend coal power operations could cause an additional 32,000 premature deaths by 2050

Gauteng is South Africa's most deadly province when it comes to air pollution, recording an estimated 16,000 deaths each year, according to new research from Finland-based environmental research organisation the Centre for Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Nationally, exposure to fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 contributes to roughly 42,000 deaths annually.

That figure includes around 1,300 deaths of children under the age of five. CREA also calculated that the total economic cost of air pollution-related health impacts reaches approximately R960 billion per year, equivalent to about 14% of South Africa's GDP. According to Business Tech, that cost covers lost working days, medical expenses and unrealised investments in children's futures, such as education.

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Gauteng and the Highveld bear the heaviest burden

Health impacts from poor air quality are not spread evenly across South Africa. Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga account for the majority of deaths. KZN records around 7,000 deaths annually, while Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo each record approximately 3,600.

The Highveld Priority Area, which straddles Gauteng and Mpumalanga and is home to multiple coal-fired power stations and Sasol operations, accounts for 5,600 deaths on its own. CREA's Kamie Kelly, who leads the organisation's Health Impact Assessment team, noted that the concentration of polluting industry in a single corridor makes South Africa's situation unusual by global standards. The toxic levels of nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide emitted in the Highveld are so severe, Kelly said, that they can be detected from space.

Coal extension plans raise alarm

Gauteng would bear the largest share, with an estimated 15,200 additional deaths. KZN and Mpumalanga would see 5,600 and 4,800 additional deaths respectively. Children face a disproportionate risk, with projections pointing to 41,000 more pre-term births, 17,000 new childhood asthma cases and 370 additional deaths of children under five. The economic cost attached to these outcomes is estimated at R721 billion.

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3 Other Briefly News stories about pollution

• Gauteng’s rivers are facing severe pollution as untreated sewage, industrial waste and illegal dumping contaminate major waterways across the province.
• A viral Facebook video showing piles of floating rubbish in Hartbeespoort Dam has left South Africans outraged.
• Electric cars are widely hailed as the future of transport, but even though they eliminate the issue of fuel emissions from tailpipes, the problem of particle pollution as a result of tyre wear hasn't been resolved.

Source: Briefly News