Samuel Mafulako fears for the life of his family. The father of four worries that one day the walls of his home will collapse on his children and cause serious injury or worse. Mafulako lives in a modest brick home across the road from a newly opened coal mine near the township of Phola in Mpumalanga.
Rock blasting at the nearby mine, an almost daily occurrence according to residents, rattles the foundations of his home. Recently, he has had to install metal beams in order to reinforce the home’s structure in order to mitigate against further damage.
“I would prefer to relocate to a safer area as I don’t think this house is strong enough to withstand more of this blasting. There is also a problem of dust from the blasting that covers everything. It is frightening for the children,” said Mafulako.
Complaints about structural damage to homes from nearby mine blasting are common cause among residents of Phola. The township is surrounded by massive coal mines which feed the nearby Kendal and Kusile power stations.
Huge cracks can be seen on some houses and community activists have questioned the structural integrity and safety of living in these homes.
Residents also complain about pollution. Huge plumes of fine dust blown in from nearby mines combined with black coal dust kicked up by the constant flow of coal trucks make for a toxic environment. The emissions from the nearby coal fired power stations add to the polluted air which residents say is affecting their health.
Phola sits in the shadow of the Kendal Power Station which was historically one of the country’s biggest polluters. In 2020, Eskom was criminally charged for contravening South Africa’s air quality legislation with regards to Kendal. While some steps have been made to rectify the power plants emission issues it still exceeds the legal Minimum Emission Standard.
A 2017 report by the Centre for Environmental Rights on air pollution in the Mpumalanga Highveld indicated that about 210 deaths per year could be attributed to pollution from the Kendal Power Station.
Andrino Malapane, Mduduzi Matshia and Thabiso Mthimunye are all 27 years old and were born and bred in Phola. All three are unemployed and are pessimistic about their future.
“We are really struggling. We are surrounded by these mines but we don’t get any jobs. We don’t have hope for the future,” said Mthimunye.
His friends echoed his sentiments, saying that the mining companies make no effort to incorporate young people and do not provide any skills development.
The unemployment rate, using the expanded definition, for Mpumalanga is 49%.
Nhlanhla Mabuza, 31, an activist with Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA), described the pervasive youth unemployment issue as depressing.
“People at our age should have jobs so that we can live our own lives, have our own homes and look after our children. But we can’t, we are still living with our parents because we can’t afford rent and food,” said Mabuza.
She said she doesn’t blame large sections of the youth in Phola who have resorted to abusing alcohol and drugs because of the despondency among young people.
Local youth activist Nkosana Mavuso runs a podcast where he raises awareness about the number of suicides in Phola. He says that a combination of factors like unemployment, poverty and depression are all contributing to suicide in the township.
“I would say it’s mostly young men between the ages of 18 and 35 who are taking their own lives. There are also cases of abuse of children because parents have anger issues because they are not working. Poverty is a major issue, some children only eat one meal a day that they receive at school,” said Mavuso.
Pastor Vusi Mabena sits in his home with his feet resting in a bucket of water to help with the pain caused by diabetes. Mabena has lived in Phola since 1970 and worked in the coal mines for almost three decades.
He lamented the lack of development in Phola saying that the community does not see the benefits from the surrounding mining activity.
“The mines are making a lot of money but as a community we benefit nothing at the end of the day. We are always complaining but no one takes our complaints seriously,” said Mabena.
In April, community members from Phola protested outside the head office of Seriti, the major coal miner in the area, raising the communities grievances. Magnificent Mndebele, head of media and communications at MACUA, said that subsequent meetings with Seriti had left the community deeply frustrated.
“The community feels their concerns have been met with vague, dismissive statements, and that Seriti is more concerned with maintaining its public image than addressing the real challenges faced by the community. These half-hearted responses only reinforce the belief that the community’s voices are not being taken seriously, leaving many critical issues unresolved,” said Mndebele.
Seriti replied via R&A Strategic Communications consultancy. It said the company had “an established complaints and grievances procedure that includes structural assessments of the affected dwellings and the repair thereof. Households that registered complaints have been visited, and structural assessments conducted and remedial action has been effected.”
It said: “Seriti has in the current financial year invested and handed over critical community infrastructure projects that aim to improve the quality of life whilst creating employment and creating business opportunities for locals.”
It said it had contributed to the repair of high mast lights and the installation of solar high mast lights and bus shelters, and donated 16 vehicles to SAPS, four of which were allocated to Phola and Ogies.
It said the company had “created over 800 employment and over 50 business opportunities for locals through our business partners in the last three years”.
“Seriti has actively engaged in addressing skills development concerns in Phola and Ogies with the communities.” It said it had conducted skills training programmes for the youth, “aiming to equip them with the competencies needed in various industries, including mining, engineering, and artisanal skills.”
It said it had invested in non-mining skills programmes aimed at assisting unemployed youth who may not want to venture into mining, with training in code 10 drivers licenses, brick laying, fire fighting, farming and electrical work.
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