South Africa

The residents of Aloes area of Port Elizabeth city, South Africa, will no longer live in the vicinity of a hazardous medical waste incinerator and one of country's largest waste sites. For years the incinerator and the waste site were polluting the area, thanks to the apartheid government. "The pollution resulted in many cases of cancer, tuberculosis and asthma, leading to the death of a number of people," said Daniel Pienaar, a resident of the area. But now, the residents, helped by the Human Rights Commission, will be relocated four kilometres away from their present dwelling. The commission will also take action against the country's department of water affairs and forestry for letting the emissions of pollutants to continue for so many years.