COAL MINING vs THE ENVIRONMENT

For some time now, coal mining companies and environmentalists have been at odds about mining in South Africa’s Mpumalanga Province. Due to the massive coal deposits in the Emalahleni (formerly Witbank) coal fields, Mpumalanga has up to now bore the brunt of coal mining activities in South Africa, and although continued largescale coal mining is crucial for the country’s embattled power utility, Eskom, it has come at a price for the environment in South Africa’s easternmost province.

The mining industry in South Africa is watched over by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), and there are DMR regional offices in every province of South Africa. These regional offices, each headed by a regional manager, have sweeping powers that include the respon

sibility of monitoring ongoing mining and prospecting operations for compliance with environmental regulations. The regional offices also have a deciding vote when it comes to the granting of new prospecting or mining rights within their areas of responsibility.

Since 2014, it has become abundantly clear that environmental damage brought about by mining operations has spiralled out of control in many areas of Mpumalanga. Vast areas surrounding towns such as Ermelo and Emalahleni have been transformed from agricultural areas into mining zones, and it is probably not too far-fetched to regard the environmental damage in some of these areas as irreversible.

The Minister of Mineral Resources has the power to declare environmentally sensitive areas as no-go areas and therefore offlimits from prospecting or mining operations, but this has yet to happen. When contemplating the damage already done to the sensitive Olifants River catchment area, to name but one, the DMR has much to do to fulfil their constitutional mandate of protecting our environment and securing it for future generations.