The harshness of coal mining in Emalahleni
Sbongile Masina
Date: June 2024
Name:Sibongile Prudence Masina
Municipality:eMalahleni
Provence:Mpumalanga
The harshness of coal mining in Emalahleni
Empumelelweni, Emalahleni is part of the unspoken of areas, neglected because of the so-called “social classes. People can’t afford to navigate through the day, because of the harshness of our living conditions. We are surrounded by 22 mines excluding illegal ones.
As a coal-affected community, it has not only deprived the people right to dignity, and a clean and safe environment that promotes their well-being. Our little families are broken before time and our children have a short lifespan, due to the environment their born in. They are suffering the consequences of pollution. Children are born with asthma, some are born healthy and develop asthma in two months after they are born. Most of our children die between the age of 11 and 14 years.
In 2019 Vukani Environmental Movement won a case on 2nd of March 2019 on Human Rights Day, the case was about air pollution which is called the Deadly Air Case. Instead of the court ruling in favour of the people, the polluters got away with the charges. Those polluters in Kusile power station say they are polluting more because they want to prevent load-shedding. People of Empumelelweni are still suffering from load-shedding. On the 28TH of January 2024, Phindile Masina lost his beloved son Ntando Masina who was born on 16th June 2009. He lost him at the age of 14 years, because of asthma that is caused by air pollution. This story resonates with a lot of people who suffer from the same tragedy, directly and indirectly. Instead of the mine learning from such instances, our government still chooses profit over people
Emalahleni is deprived of the privilege of electricity, and Empumelelweni finds itself in darkness more than the statistics would dare represent. This results in a situation where people don’t have alternatives such as gas and solar. They have no option but to use alternatives that will harm them later, leading to respiratory diseases such as eye infections, lung problems, sinuses, and more. That later deprives them of the opportunity to work in the same mines that affect their well-being and their environment, declaring them medically unfit and leading to unemployment and other factors that affect the community negatively.
Community members can only do so much themselves, if it’s a burden for a fully equipped government, then how much for a community member? Community members such as VEM (Vukani Environmental Movement) have made it their purpose to advocate for the people, engaging with communities to raise awareness about climate-related issues and more.
All this is made possible through cooperative governance, VEM in partnership with other stakeholders, organizations, and more in the spirit of empathy and love for our people and our environment. We work hard every day to make a change ushering in a JUST TRANSITION.
The Emalahleni local municipality should venture into the basket and be part of the umbrella that works for change. Share their resources with such organisations, allow organisations to share their ideas as to how they wish to influence change. This will help them find solutions and see how they can navigate among the ideas aligning them with what’s best for our well-being and our planet.
“It’s time we unite in favour of what’s right, find common ground. When everyone is working for the betterment of our people and our community, that should be our common ground.” Said one of the VEM youth activist
Cooperate governance is the solution to let everyone play their part, which will reduce the load at so many levels and also introduce a space for compliance offices and broader communication branches or compartments
