Coal in South Africa

[3] The coal industry is South Africa's largest contribution to the greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

[10][11] Notable coalfields are: South Africa is one of the seven largest coal-producing[10][13] and one of the top five coal-exporting[5] countries in the world.

More than a quarter of coal mined in South Africa is exported, most of which leaves the country via Richards Bay.

[5] In 2004, the coal and lignite mining industry generated a gross income of R39 billion and directly employed 50,000 people.

[6][19][20] In 1995 around a million lower-income households in South Africa depended on coal as their primary energy source for cooking, lighting and heating.

[21] This number has been decreasing steadily during the first decade of the 21st century due to the expansion of electricity supply to lower-income households and rural regions.

[22] The constitution says that people have a right to “an environment that is not harmful to their health and well-being.”[24] A 2017 study estimated over 2000 early deaths a year are caused by Eskom's coal-fired power.

Many of these mines, such as the Transvaal and Delagoa Bay Collieries (T&DB) outside Witbank, have not been rehabilitated prior to being abandoned and are a major source of water and air pollution.

Opencast mining
The surface exposure of the rocks belonging to the Karoo Supergroup . South Africa's coal occurs in the Ecca group (coloured mustard yellow). These rocks were deposited in a vast inland lake or sea, when Africa was part of Gondwana . It was only along the northern and north-eastern shores of this body of water where marshes formed peat, and eventually turned into coal.
Electricity generation in South-Africa by source
Environmentalist protestors at a die-in protest in South Africa in 2021. Widespread coal use for power creates air pollution that causes early deaths in South Africa. [ 23 ]
Flag of South Africa
Flag of South Africa