She Wears Her Jersey to Breathe: Ikwezi Dust and the Children of Mbabane

Sbo Myaka

Before the bell rings at Mbabane Primary, 8-year-old Nandi Nxumalo tugs her grey school jersey over her nose. It’s not cold; it’s May. She’s blocking coal dust.

Three hundred metres away, Ikwezi Mine’s spoil heaps rise above the houses. When the wind blows west, the dust moves with it. It settles on washing lines, Grade 1 worksheets, and in children’s lungs. “We’re scared it will get into her chest for good,” says her mother, Nosipho Nxumalo, wiping a black film off the kitchen table with a damp cloth. Nandi has missed 7 days this term. Her blue inhaler has 4 puffs left and sits next to the salt. At the Mbabane clinic, Sister Nelly Boshof flips through a register book. Respiratory cases, under five years, she says, running her finger down May’s column. 41 cases this May. Last May it was 16. She closes the book. When the wind comes from the mine, the mothers know. We know.

At 7:30 a.m. on Monday, 37 trucks passed Mbabane Primary in 60 minutes. Community Monitor Thandeka Ngema’s unit recorded PM10 at 46 µg/m³, more than double the WHO daily limit of 15 µg/m³. It was black on the windows by 8 am,” Thandeka said. The kids walk through it to get to school. Ikwezi Mine did not respond by the time of publication. The company was sent questions about daily dust suppression, monitoring data, and plans for winter winds on Friday and again on Tuesday. But Thandeka says the data tells a different story. Their sprinklers stop at 4 pm. The wind picks up at night. Weekend readings are our worst, she said, pointing to a spike of 89 µg/m³ last Sunday.

Nosipho Nxumalo says the dust has changed daily life. “You hang washing white, you take it in darker,” she said. “And it smells like gas sometimes. Like something burning.”

GroundWork’s environmental health campaigner, Rico Euripidou, says the law is clear on dust that leaves a mine boundary. If dust impacts health and schools, you’re non-compliant. Children are especially vulnerable because their lungs are still developing. PM10 at 46 µg/m³ means kids are breathing fine dust deep into their lungs every day they walk to school.”

The South African National Standard 1929 sets a 24-hour PM10 limit of 75 µg/m³ in residential areas, but the World Health Organisation recommends 15 µg/m³ to protect health. At Mbabane Primary, SGB member Bongani Mbatha stands at the gate where the tar is cracked, and trucks turn in a cloud of dust. We’re not saying close the mine. We employ people here, he says. “But our kids must breathe to learn. Fix the dust, fix the road. That’s all.”

He points to the black line on the school wall, 1.2m high, exactly where kids’ faces sit as they walk in. “Last year, it was just dust on shoes. This year, the teachers keep tissues at the gate. The kids blow their noses, and it’s black.” Nosipho says Nandi’s cough starts at night and keeps her awake. She sleeps sitting up sometimes. When she misses school, I miss piece jobs. It’s R180 for the inhaler when it runs out. That’s food for two days.

The clinic’s Sister Boshof says the pattern is clear across three wards. It’s not flu. It’s wheeze, chest tightness, kids who were fine before the mine started blasting closer to the village side. She says she’s run out of spacer devices twice this year. Parents don’t know how to use inhalers without them. So the medicine doesn’t get to the lungs.

Thandeka’s community monitor was set up in March with help from GroundWork after parents complained to the school. She checks it twice daily and posts readings on a WhatsApp group with 47 parents. On weekends when the mine says they don’t operate, our numbers are highest, she said. That’s when the wind blows from the west, and there’s no water on the roads. The clinic data matches her readings. On days when PM10 went over 40 µg/m³, the clinic saw 3-5 more under-5 cases the next morning.

Ikwezi Mine’s environmental management plan, seen by this reporter, states that water trucks should operate “as required” on haul roads and spoil heaps. It does not specify times or volumes. Bongani Mbatha says “as required” isn’t working. We see the truck once a day if we’re lucky. On windy days, never.

The Amajuba District Municipality confirmed it received complaints about dust from Mbabane in April. Municipal air quality officer Thabo Mkhize said officials visited the school in May. “We are reviewing the mine’s monitoring data and comparing it to community data,” he said. A follow-up inspection is planned before June.

Nosipho says she’ll be at that meeting. She’s told other mothers too. Nandi lowers her jersey when she reaches her classroom. The black smudge around her mouth stays. She sits at the back so the teacher doesn’t see her coughing. I want to be a nurse, she said, before pulling the jersey back up. So I can help kids breathe.

Ikwezi Mine will present its updated dust management plan at the Amajuba District environmental forum on 12 June. The mothers of Mbabane say they’ll be there.