Air pollution is responsible for more than R4-billion in health costs, the Department of Environmental Affairs said on Monday.  "Healthcare costs associated with the burning of fossil fuels amount to R4-billion," the department's national air quality officer Peter Lukey told reporters in Vanderbijlpark at the Air Quality Governance Lekgotla. He also stated that the poor were disproportionally affected by air pollution. "They carry a double burden because firstly they are poor and secondly they are sick."

The poor often live in poorly ventilated areas and use coal fires for heat and cooking. He also added that in apartheid times the poor were often given area’s downwind from industrial areas as nobody else wanted to live there due to the pollution. "That's a legacy we have to manage," said Lukey.
A report was released by The Department of Environmental Affairs stating that a “baseline” for progress in the future needed to be put in place.

"What we are doing is creating a baseline of air quality," said Lukey.
In 2005 a tougher legislation was bought in, the Air Quality Act, the report was to be used to access whether the government was doing enough to improve air quality.
"Anybody, and everybody should, compare how we progress to what was there in 2005," he said.

"We're creating a tool so the public can see how we perform.

"In essence, what we have done is create a rod for our own backs."

Rejoice Mabudafhasi, The department's Deputy Minister, said that the report would go beyond research on standards and would analyse the state of air quality in South Africa.

"Not only does it explain the state of air quality using the year 2005 as a baseline, but it also provides a detailed and in-depth analysis," she said.

"The report showcases cost-effective air quality monitoring systems, the alignment of air quality to sustainable development, flexible approaches to reducing the impact of air pollution and a cost benefit analysis of strategies used to reduce emissions."

The 2005 legislation was written with industry to ensure the government could take strong action against them if they did not meet the standards drawn up between them said Mabudafhasi.
"We will do arrests and make all kinds of fines," she said.

"Those who do not follow the [Air Quality Act] will face the law. Finish and klaar."

Sedibeng executive mayor Mahole Simon Mofokeng said monitors were already at work and a "fully-fledged" task force would be in place by 2011.

Sedibeng includes the Vaal Triangle, home to many of South Africa's largest industries and one of the places with the worst air quality in the country.
According to the report, pollution can be managed in a way that does not impede development but assists it.