Members further heard about the reluctance of companies to comply with legislation and contraventions involving water. They asked the Department about the magnitude of the impact of air pollution on human health and about the utilisation of the money generated from fines and the consideration of administrative penalties in dealing with air pollution offences, as successful prosecution of offenders seemed to be a slow process, and hence may not resolve the urgency needed to respond to certain air pollution incidents. In addition, a number of civil society organisations concerned about prevailing air quality made very short presentations. GroundWork, the Centre for Environmental Rights, the Highveld Environmental Justice Alliance, the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance and the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, were represented in the briefing. The lack of information from companies and government authorities, the lack of enforcement and monitoring, and government's insufficient response, were the concerns raised by these organisations and lamented the effects of air pollution on people's health in hotspot areas. The civil society organisations at the meeting made passionate pleas to the members of the Committee to seriously consider the impact of air pollution on vulnerable communities; and highlighted the need for the relevant industries to meet the most stringent emission standards. The Acting Chairperson of the Committee assured the members of the civil society organisations that the Committee would visit them and engage them more on the concerns that they had raised. It was against this background that the members of the Portfolio Committee decided to go on an oversight visit to the Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces to interact more fully with the representatives of the affected communities during the course of the visit; and also make site visits to Sasol's Secunda Plant and Eskom's Kendal Power Station, respectively.