Eskom kills 2,000 people per year

A study by the South African Medical Research Council showed that air pollution in South Africa boosts the annual number of deaths by 6% in communities living near coal-fired power plants.

The study, the first in Africa to use actual data rather than modeling the effects of air pollution on health, analyzed death certificates, cases of pneumonia in children under five and government air-quality information.

The review is the latest attempt to understand the health impact of the country’s fleet of 14 large coal-fired power plants that supply more than 80% of the nation’s power.

South Africa’s coal dependence means its 63 million people have the most carbon-intensive economy of any nation with a population of more than four million.

“Cardiovascular diseases are a major concern” in municipalities where the plants, run by state utility Eskom, are sited, the SAMRC said in a statement. “Children under five are particularly vulnerable as there is a direct increase in pneumonia cases.”

Previous studies have modeled the annual number of deaths caused by pollution from the state power company at more than 2,000, while the utility’s own research puts the toll at 330.

Fatalities are caused by a range of pollutants, including particulate matter as well as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

The study was led by Caradee Wright, head of the Climate Change and Health Research Programme at the state-linked council.

It was funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as part of a $9.3 billion climate finance pact between South Africa and some of the world’s wealthiest nations.

Other ailments attributed to air pollution from burning coal include pulmonary disease and tuberculosis.

About 60% more babies were born with cleft lips and palate birth anomalies in the regions near the plants, according to the study, which analyzed 14 years of data up to 2020.

The researchers recommended that the coal-fired plants be closed and replaced with renewable energy, awareness of health risks should be increased, and air quality management by the government improved.

South Africa is in the midst of a program to transition away from the use of coal for power production, but the pace of plant closures has been the subject of acrimonious debate among politicians.

Almost all of them are in the eastern province of Mpumalanga, where coal-mining supports 90,000 jobs.