Our Comment UR recent front page article (Port pollution problem, 15 September 2025) referred to the Transnet Integrated Report stating that dust pollution at the Port of Richards Bay had reached serious levels.

TNPA admitted that its present operations and future expansion plans were at risk due to potential non-compliance issues which could have legal and punitive implications.

Worryingly, the report said the aim was to reduce complaints – not emissions! – by 30%. The fact of the matter is that people have become tired of logging official complaints as a perceived waste of time, since the situation remains unchanged. Richards Bay residents, particularly in Alton and Arboretum, have all but given up on seeing any change in the amount of coal dust generated, which they are forced to sweep and clean a few times a day. They see ever more permits being issued for uncovered stockpiles of coal adjacent to roads and businesses, and suffer contamination of their own products.

Read the Article from the Zululand Observer by clicking the button below.