MPUMLANGA PROVINCE ADRESSES SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SDG’s FORMS

Over the past decades, Mpumalanga province, by sentimental viewed practice, has been acknowledged as the natural golden estate province of beautiful natural environment features.

However, despite such lauded recognition, the province has been named as one of the most heavily dirty provinces intra the Republic of South Africa- due to air pollution.

A research assessment conducted recently outlined that a major contribution of the air pollution were underpinned sub the following economic, social and environmental factors contributed by citizens and organizations combined, these factors:

Economic factors:

·        Heavy industrial processing institutions: power stations, commodity& chemical processing and automobile assembly plants;

·        Coal and Platinum Group Metals(PGMs) mining extraction, processing and transporting activities;

·        Chemical  industry: production and processing plants;

·        Negligent agricultural activities-overgrazing, intolerant cultivations and toxic chemicals usage;

Social factors:

·        Toxic waste pollution dumping and burning;

·        Non-biodegradable material burning and negligent segregation;

·        Burning  indigenous trees and fossil fuels components(steelbins, plastic and paper waste, car(black) tyres) throughout winter seasons, protests etc;

·        Waste (grey) sewage water dumping;

·        Toxic substance farming fertilizer material elements.

Environmental factors:

·        Climate change phenomena’s such as erosion, degradation and dust storms;

·        Environmental resource change intolerances.

The Members Committee on Environment of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature coordinated a facilitated oversight monitoring visit to these respective province municipalities prone were a thorough environmental study and analysis was produced in order to understand and account accurate understanding thereof.

Certain key aspects of environmental intolerance and disregard were found. However more negligence conducted by big corporates especially those of mining: gold and coal aswel as petroleum were underpinned as main contributors to atmospheric pollution. Thus, stringent action and measures in addressing the plight was ‘called-upon forward as proactive steps. Therefore, the Mpumalanga province Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land Reform and Environmental Affairs (Dardlea) established a joint inter-ministerial concomitant with the Department of Social Development (DSD), Department of Human Settlements (DHS) and Department of Water and Sanitation provincial regional office to host and offer a consultative engagement forum with bilateral talks of in plans to mitigate the risk of such a challenge.

In the stride to ensure a positive inter-governmental approach and foster fastened integration towards climate change particularly atmospheric pollution, The Hon Premier of the Mpumalanga Provincial Government Mpumalanga(MPG) as enshrined intra the 2019 official State of The Province Address earlier this year, commitment the speech through the creation of the ‘said’ Environmental  Assessment Forum: a body to advise, oversee, and consult upon credible and representable panacea towards environment management sets. Also local governments(municipalities)as enshrined within the Constitution(Section 3) bolstered this strategy as embarked an approach through  establishment of the Environmental Management Forum (EMF) hosted by Umjindi Municipality recent  over the past week in Barberton-home of the renowned greenstone belt, the Makhonjwa Mountain, Mpumalanga’s first declared World Heritage Site. A consultation engagement was held with ideas and knowledge being exchanged: hoe to take such phenomenon. Thus, strategies and mechanism to drive towards a free-pollution atmosphere were discussed and interconnected with a base of legislation and policy framework. With education to Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs): Sustainable cities and communities, Innovation, Partnership, Life on Land, and climate action, were passed.  Here so even  the Ambassador of The City of Mbombela Local Municipality(CMLM) under the theme: “An Clean City, A Hygienic Citizen”,had  educated and advised all stakeholders and participants from children, to the youth and elders encouraging them to account on active actions from saving water to energy, extended to responsible waste management and with  measures of steering an active citizenry in combatting  anti-climate change; from relatively miniscule decisive decisions to bigger practical actions to ensure a free and transparent atmosphere from atmospheric pollution in the World but mostly in Mpumalanga.