The air in South Africa’s richest province is so polluted that residents risk dizziness, headaches, nausea, and respiratory problems

Gauteng Provincial Legislature member Leanne De Jager warned that the health of the province’s residents is at risk due to poor air quality.

She said that many residents in the province face a persistent bad smell resembling rotten eggs.

The stench, which is due to hydrogen sulphide (H₂S), can cause dizziness, headaches, nausea, and worsen respiratory problems such as asthma.

“It is difficult to determine the source because the air quality monitors are not functioning,” she said.

De Jager said that the MEC for Environment, Ewan Botha, should intervene to ensure that all air quality monitors are functioning properly.

“Over the weekend, residents of Blairgowrie said that all City-owned stations measuring H₂S were offline,” she said.

“These include Buccleuch, Alexandra, Diepsloot, Ivory Park, Orange Farm, Davidsonville, Diepkloof, and Jabavu. Kliprivier was the only station transmitting data.”

The only working H₂S readings came from the Springs Girls High School station, which SAAQIS lists as Sasol-owned.

Hourly averages stayed above the 5.02 parts per billion (ppb) odour threshold cited by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) from 03:00 to 08:00.

At 14:00, the wind direction changed, and readings jumped roughly tenfold to 28.22 ppb in the 15:00 hour. A one-minute peak of 36.2 ppb was recorded at 14:39.

“These numbers affect residents’ health, particularly children and the elderly. This issue is not new. Our pleas for intervention have fallen on deaf ears,” she said.

She said that Botha’s department is meant to oversee air quality management in the province, yet no one can say where this gas comes from.

“We do not know how much of it reaches Johannesburg homes, schools and clinics, or whether it is safe to breathe. This is a failure of provincial oversight,” she said.

De Jager said she will submit questions to Botha in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature regarding nonfunctional air quality monitoring.

“We will also liaise with our counterparts in national government to ensure that all monitoring stations in the province are working,” she said.

“Air quality monitoring is not optional. Section 24 of the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health.”

The National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act obliges the government to monitor, report, and enforce.

“A monitoring network that has been dark for weeks or months fails that duty, and the MEC is answerable for that failure,” she said.

Air quality problem