Press releases Press Release: Earthlife Africa Jhb to March on Sasol’s AGM November 20, 2014 Sello Earthlife Africa Jhb Johannesburg – Pollution profiteer Sasol will be holding its Annual General Meeting on the 21st of November at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosebank Johannesburg. Earthlife Africa Jhb, and its partner community-based organisations, will march to the meeting in a bid to tell Sasol and its shareholders that non-compliance with South African air quality laws is a crime against the South African people. Earthlife Africa Jhb will march from the Sasol headquarters, located at 1 Sturdee Avenue in Rosebank Johannesburg, to the Rosebank Hyatt Regency Hotel at 191 Oxford Road, from 10:00 am to 13:00 pm. Earthlife Africa Jhb and community representatives will be sending a strong message to the chemical giant that its applications for postponement from the minimum emission standards (MES) of the Air Quality Act are unacceptable, especially because Sasol reached record profits this year. Earthlife Africa Jhb and its community-based partners further wish to impress on the company that its court application against the Minister and the National Air Quality Officer to have the MES for big industry set aside will spell disaster for the health of affected communities and future generations. According to Earthlife Africa Jhb’s Tristen Taylor, “If Sasol is successful in its application, it will enable all other polluting companies to follow suit; a future which the fragile South African environment will be unable to tolerate. Sasol owes it to the South African people, after decades of environmental degradation, to be the business leader in and – at the very – least comply with South African environmental law.” Earthlife Africa Jhb and its partner organisations demand that Sasol withdraws its application to have the South African MES, which it negotiated, set aside, and that it tenders the legal fees incurred by the State in defending this application. Moreover, Earthlife Africa Jhb and communities demand that Sasol make effective use of their profits and take the necessary steps to comply with the MES through installing pollution-reducing technologies at its facilities. Sasol’s operations are located in areas already declared priority areas in terms of air quality because pollution levels exceed ambient air quality standards with devastating impacts on the respiratory health of those who are subjected to it. Energy Policy Officer at Earthlife Africa Jhb, Dominique Doyle, claims that: “If Sasol were to heed Earthlife Africa Jhb’s demands, it would show a real commitment towards the long-term sustainability of the South African economy and real investment in the future of the South African people.”
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 09:04:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015