IMPACTS FROM COAL EXTRACTING
Siphamandla Khambule
15- 05-2024
Siphamandla Khambule
Kaalvakte Farm
Dannhauser Local Municipality
KwaZulu Natal
IMPACTS FROM COAL EXTRACTING
Sukumani Environmental Justice (S.E.J) is a NGO organization fighting against environment degradation, which is based in Northern of kwaZulu Natal, that area known as a source of coal mining.
The Kwezi coal mining company that is close to the community will bring many impacts to the community, Sukumani Environmental Justice with MACUA after they have conducted a social audit survey around the affected communities, which is Kliprand farm, Kaalvakte farm, Shepstone lake farm, Drangaan farm, Cloneen farm and Annandale farm which are most affected communities by Kwezi coal mining company. We have picked up many problems created by the Kwezi mining company but the biggest problem is the cracks in the houses caused by the explosion.
Kwezi coal mining uses a blasting method to extract a coal from the ground. The main way in which the coal mining companies operates is surface or open cast mining, which means they take a surface layer off and then use an explosive to blast in order to get the coal layers. Kwezi coal mining company conducts regular blasts, and sometimes they do big blasting in order to move significant amount of rocks to get the coal.
Houses of the community that are near Ikwezi coal mining are cracking caused by the big blasting from the mine, because the blasting shake the area covering 3 km around the blasted area. And the blasting noise itself is so strong and shocking that it affects many people and particularly old people, children and domesticated animals.
The dust that comes out during the blasting of the mine, which enters people’s houses including cattle pasture, often flows around the area where the community lives. Dust is constantly contaminating the water that the community relies on, as well as livestock, recently we have also noticed the water turning mysteriously orange/brown or red in the river.
