Deadly Air and the Misinterpretation of the Section 24 Environmental Right: The Groundwork Trust Case
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2023/v26i0a15833Keywords:
Section 24, progressive realisation, limitation, air pollutionAbstract
The judgment in Trustees for the Time Being of the Groundwork Trust v Minister of Environmental Affairs rests on a finding that
the right in section 24 of the Constitution consists of two separate rights in subsections (a) and (b), and that the right in section 24(a) is immediately realisable. I argue in this article that this approach is incorrect and that a logical and contextual interpretation of section 24 cannot justify the conclusion that the court reached. I argue that section 24(b) is a qualifying "internal modifier" to section 24(a), and that, in practical terms and due to the modifier in section 24(b), in many situations section 24 would have to be regarded as implementable over time, and not immediately. Such implementation would have to be reasonable. The article also considers the use of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act to address the unacceptable level of air pollution in the area known as the
Highveld Priority Area.
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BP Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd v MEC for Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs 2004 5 SA 124 (W)
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Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
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GN 1210 in GG 32816 of 24 December 2009
GN 144 in GG 35072 of 2 March 2012
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GN 1207 in GG 42013 of 31 October 2018
GN 2076 in GG 46355 of 12 May 2022
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