Gauteng Environmental Department to intensify compliance raids at factories, landfill sites

The Gauteng Department of Environment will intensify compliance raids at factories and landfill sites in a bid to deal with pollution.

The department said it has strengthened its cohort of environmental management inspectors, informally known as the ‘green scorpions’.

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It hosted a media briefing in Johannesburg on Thursday, where it outlined plans to tackle environmental crime.

As a densely populated province, some factories in Gauteng operate in close proximity to residential areas.

Environment MEC Ewan Botha said compliance for any business is not negotiable.

He said 56 enforcement notices have already been issued to businesses in this quarter.

“One of the ripe lying fruits are these areas where in which there is a lot of burning, non-compliance with your atmospheric licences. Industries and factories that have got those AEL’s [accessible emission limit], we need to monitor them very carefully. That’s why those green scorpions are as important as they are.”

The MEC has revealed Gauteng currently has 15 operational air quality monitoring stations out of 31.