More than 1.9 million Cape Town residents at risk from severe air pollution
Early morning smog hangs in the air as dawn breaks over Cape Town.
Image: Reuters
For many residents in Cape Town’s townships, the air they breathe every day is not just polluted, but poses a significant health risk.
Nearly 1.9 million people in Cape Town, more than 40% of the population, are exposed to high or very high levels of air pollution, with the greatest risk concentrated in poorer communities, a new study has found.
Hotspots include Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Philippi and Crossroads, where high pollution exposure overlaps with severe social vulnerability, with risk extending across parts of the Cape Flats, Mitchells Plain and industrial areas near the airport and Cape Farms. In contrast, the central city and coastal suburbs along Table Bay show significantly lower risk, reflecting stark inequalities in both exposure and living conditions.
The research, led by Dr Meryl Jagarnath from the University of Cape Town, shows that the highest-risk areas are concentrated in informal settlements and historically disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
Published in the GeoHealth, the study provides the first high-resolution map of air pollution risk across the Cape Town metropolitan area, combining satellite data with a social vulnerability index.
The findings reveal that 40.3% of Cape Town’s population lives in areas classified as high to very high risk, where pollution exposure coincides with factors such as poverty, inadequate housing and limited access to healthcare.
Jagarnath said conventional air quality assessments often fail to capture these realities.
“Conventional approaches to air quality assessment focus primarily on pollutant concentrations, often overlooking the social and structural conditions that shape exposure and health outcomes,” she said.
Using satellite observations from Sentinel-5P and atmospheric data, researchers constructed an air quality index incorporating pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone and particulate matter. These were overlaid with indicators including income, education, housing quality and access to services to identify “hotspots” of compounded risk.
“These areas are concentrated in informal settlements and historically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, where residents face compounded challenges such as poor housing conditions, limited access to healthcare and proximity to pollution sources,” Jagarnath said.
The study notes that many of these communities are located near busy roads, industrial activity or rely on domestic fuel burning for cooking and heating, increasing their exposure.
She said Cape Town’s entrenched inequality continues to shape environmental risk.
“As one of the most unequal cities in South Africa, Cape Town’s spatial patterns of segregation and deprivation continue to shape both exposure to environmental hazards and the capacity of communities to respond to them,” she said.
The study, conducted in collaboration with the South African National Space Agency, highlights the value of satellite data in filling gaps left by limited ground-based monitoring, particularly in under-resourced areas.
According to the research, pollution in the city is driven by a mix of sources, including vehicle emissions, industrial activity, domestic fuel burning, and seasonal wildfires, with some pollutants exceeding recommended health guidelines over time.
The findings raise concerns about current air quality management strategies, which often apply uniform approaches across the city without accounting for localised differences in exposure and vulnerability.
Jagarnath said the detailed risk maps could help guide targeted interventions, including reducing emissions in high-risk areas, improving housing and infrastructure, expanding access to healthcare and increasing urban green spaces.
Such measures could help reduce health inequalities linked to air pollution, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
“By making visible the spatial distribution of air pollution risk and its intersection with social vulnerability, this study provides critical evidence base for advancing environmental justice in South Africa,” Jagarnath said.