Rusteburg — Air pollution is still a scourge confronting South Africa, says Water and Environmental Affairs Deputy Minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi.

“It’s a serious challenge. We know we are a developing country. Industrially, South Africa is developing very fast and all of this is polluting our air and that is why we need to have measures in place to control all of this,” Mabudafhasi told SANews on Monday on the side-lines of the annual air quality governance lekgotla in Rustenburg, North West.

Government, she stressed, needed to be tough on air polluters.”

Mining and industrial regions such as the North West and Gauteng are developing very fast and that’s why we are targeting them.”

Mabudafhasi said government used the lekgotla in various provinces to raise awareness on the importance of air quality, something she said was in line with the country’s climate response policy approved by Cabinet earlier this year.

South Africans, particularly those living in urban areas, needed to know the importance of clean air and the consequences of air pollution.

via allAfrica.com: South Africa: Govt Needs to Be Tough on Air Polluters – Mabudafhasi.