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Article

22 Apr 2019

Author:
Ciaran Ryan, GroundUp (So. Africa)

So. Africa: Coal mines accused of causing diseases and cracks in houses; Anglo American & South32 comment

‘South Africa: Disease Haunts Mpumalanga Coal Town’ 

"The blasting happens every day and you can feel the houses shaking" Last week Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe visited Phola, in Mpumalanga, to hear complaints that blasting from nearby coal mines was causing cracks in houses and broken windows. The visit concluded with an undertaking to determine whether the cracks were caused by blasting from mines already in operation or from other activities. The minister may be uncertain of the cause, but the residents of Phola are not. The blasting happens every day and you can feel the houses shaking," says Goodwell Matala, who once worked for the coal mines but lost his job several years ago. He points to windows at the front of his house which he says were broken by the ferocious shudder of coal mine blasts. The pattern is repeated up and down the street where Matala lives. Houses have shed their plaster coatings and internal cracks are clearly visible. In one house, the blast shock was so severe it brought down the ceiling, according to residents.

…Many of the residents complain that they are breathing dust stirred up by the blasting and ash dumps from Eskom power stations, creating respiratory conditions for those living nearby. Margaret Nkambule, a Phola resident, has been diagnosed with TB, and her three-year-old son Sbonokuhle has damaged hearing which she says is a result of the blasting. "The blasting sometimes happens when we are sleeping and dust falls down from the ceiling and goes into our lungs," says Margaret's husband, Shorty. Kate Kobe is a pensioner and she wanted a chance to speak to Mantashe at the Phola Community Hall about the damage caused to her modest home by the blasting. Like Goodwell Matala, she has stories of her own: blasting has disfigured her home and broken several windows. "Who's going to pay for this?" she wants to know.

Anglo American and South32 are the mining houses most residents blame for the blasting, but the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) says their mines have not yet started blasting. South32 spokesperson Jenny White says the group's nearby Klipspruit coal extension project was one of three sites visited by Mantashe last week. "The Klipspruit Extension is under construction and not yet operational and no blasting activity has taken place at the site. "White says an independent environmental control officer reporting to the DMR confirmed that construction activities at the Klipspruit Extension project are carried out in line with approvals. Anglo American's Moeketsi Mofokeng said the Zibulo colliery near Ogies adheres to the "highest environmental management standards". The company has a "community complaints and grievance procedure". Measurements of dust from the Anglo colliery show that it is not the source of the dust fallout in the area, Mofokeng said. There is blasting from the colliery from time to time but, says Mofokeng, these activities are regulated and within legal requirements.