Challenges to compliance

The revelations were made by the company at the second day of the South African Human Rights Commission's (SAHRC) inquiry into the contamination of the Vaal river on Tuesday.
"Our discharge compliance [has] been good... we may have had challenges here and there, but we have been improving how we discharge our waste as per the stringent licence regulations from the sanitation department", Sasol's environmental affairs manager Bob Kleynjan said.
Kleynjan told News24 on the sidelines of the inquiry, that Sasol would rather close shop than deliberately fail to comply with set regulations.
Sustainable water manager Martin Ginster, also from Sasol, submitted that frequent amendments to waste management licences also hindered compliance.

Sasol said it had agreed, together with the DWS, to research a "better tool" for the discharge licence so that there was better understanding and compliance.
Ekurhuleni also at the inquiry
The City of Ekurhuleni also made submissions on Tuesday, after the Emfuleni Local Municipality fingered it at the first session of the inquiry in September as a contributor to the pollution.

Despite being the industrial hub of Gauteng, the municipality said that its discharge into streams leading into the Vaal were as per regulations, and that all companies within its parameters complied.
"All those who do not comply face stringent steps from the municipality, and we hold them to account.. but as far as we are now concerned, everybody is complying as they should," Environmental Affairs head Daniel Masemola said.

Source: News24