{"id":633044,"date":"2026-03-12T11:39:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T09:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=633044"},"modified":"2026-03-12T11:48:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T09:48:21","slug":"gauteng-stink-explained-with-an-app-to-track-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/internet\/633044-gauteng-stink-explained-with-an-app-to-track-it.html","title":{"rendered":"Gauteng stink explained with an app to track it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Residents of South Africa’s most populous province have been complaining about a foul smell in the air during the past week. There is a way to check their air quality in real-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People in Johannesburg and Pretoria have reported that the air in parts of Gauteng smells like rotten eggs, with experts attributing it to the underlying levels of hydrogen sulphide settling over the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chemical was blown into Gauteng suburbs when wind conditions intensified last weekend, and settled when the weather conditions changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is according to Rebecca Garland, an atmospheric scientist specialising in air quality at the University of Pretoria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It comes from many different sources. Some of them are more local, but also there are different industries; gas mines, coal-fired power plants,” Garland explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Huge treatment plants are the ones we find affect more locally.” This likely includes the massive Sasol treatment facility in Secunda, Mpumalanga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, she did say that it was difficult to trace the exact origin of the hydrogen sulphide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When all of Johannesburg can smell it, that generally means that it is being transported,” she said, adding that sudden weather condition changes exacerbate the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It traps the pollution close to the surface, so it stays there longer as well. From what we can see, these are the causes for the smell.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garland was speaking to Bongani Bingwa on 702<\/a> on Thursday morning about the health impacts of the hydrogen sulphide levels in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garland explained that, on average, South Africans are exposed to high levels of air pollution, and it will very rarely have a noticeable smell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our [air] can be quite high of polutants that can affect our health negatively, but we are aware of it when we get this hydrogen sulphide.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns are growing that the hydrogen sulphide in Gauteng’s atmosphere will have ramifications for people with respiratory conditions, such as asthma, as well as the young and elderly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hydrogen sulphide has to be in really high levels to have a direct health effect on us,” she said, explaining that the compound only makes the air smell foul when at lower levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, although it has an unpleasant odour, the hydrogen sulphide levels in the air currently do not represent a health risk to South Africans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garland said that the hydrogen sulphide levels and overall air pollution in Gauteng have been increasing since the beginning of the week, pointing to data from SAAQIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, other rising pollutants in the atmosphere that residents will likely not notice do have negative health impacts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africans with respiratory issues are advised to reduce outdoor physical activity during periods of particularly poor air quality, such as the one currently being experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also poured water on rumours that Gauteng and Mpumalanga have some of the worst air quality in the world, saying that conditions are nowhere near as bad as areas in India and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highveld air pollution levels do exceed government air quality safety standards during the winter months in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She suggested that South Africans interested in seeing the air quality in their cities and homes in real time should visit the South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africans can check their air quality in real-time on this app<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Screenshot of real-time air quality data from SAAQIS over Gauteng. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Garland says residents can check both the SAAQIS app <\/a>and website for current air quality information, which is supplied by the South African Weather Service<\/a> (SAWS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the data from SAWS updates hourly, there are a significant number of locations that are currently missing information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have found that citizen-run air quality maps<\/a>, using real-time data from SAAQIS, provide better representations than official government-run platforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The worst-affected area in Gauteng is Mamelodi, where air quality is rated “unhealthy” for homes; meanwhile, the average air quality in the City of Johannesburg is “moderate.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Per SAAQIS, the worst air quality in South Africa is found in the Wonderkop Sibanye region, the location of many significant mining projects operated by conglomerate Sibanye-Stillwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The air quality here is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups” with a rating of 121.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People who live in Gauteng can use several online apps to track the air quality over their city or town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341213,"featured_media":633077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,17934],"tags":[9365,103744,20769,103743,7421,103745,99720],"class_list":["post-633044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet","category-smartphones","tag-gauteng","tag-hydrogen-sulphide","tag-johannesburg","tag-rebecca-garland","tag-sasol","tag-south-african-air-quality-information-system","tag-south-african-weather-service"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633044"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633044"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":633090,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633044\/revisions\/633090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}