Clean Air Fund starts work in South Africa, led by Vumile Senene

Clean Air Fund has officially started working in South Africa, as we open a new office in Johannesburg. Our national grant making is led by Vumile Senene, former Director of Air Quality Management for the South African government. He is joined by Nokuthula Dubazane as Portfolio Manager for city-level programmes as part of the Breathe Cities initiative, which will initially focus on clean air in Johannesburg.

Vumile Senene is Country Lead for South Africa

Vumile is responsible for providing strategic and programmatic leadership for our activities in South Africa. He has over 17 years of experience in air quality management at national and local levels of South African government. He was previously Director of Air Quality Management for the South African Department of Environmental Affairs. He has facilitated the development and implementation of emission reduction strategies, as well as coordinated stakeholder engagements involving government, corporations, civil society and academia.

I am proud to work for an organisation that seeks to empower all stakeholders and sectors of society to make informed decisions, while highlighting that solutions to air pollution require strong partnerships and a commitment to sustainability.

– Vumile Senene, Country Lead for South Africa at Clean Air Fund

Nokuthula Dubazane joins our South African office after serving as Climate Change Specialist at the City of Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg. She brings her expertise in urban and environmental policy to Breathe Johannesburg, part of our global Breathe Cities initiative in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and C40 Cities.

How we’re tackling air pollution in South Africa

Air pollution was responsible for 25,800 premature deaths in South Africa in 2019. Nearly 100% of the population breathes air that exceeds the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality guideline levels. South Africa is the twelfth largest emitter of greenhouse gas in the world. One of the country’s pollution hotspots is Johannesburg, the largest city and economic capital, which is projected to attain official megacity status of 10 million by 2030.

Our programming in South Africa builds on our work in African cities, through our partnership with C40 Cities. Johannesburg is one of 11 cities to join our new Breathe Cities initiative. A locally-led and sustainable approach will help us to accelerate systemic change in a continent bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.