When I first heard that South Africa is heavily dependent on coal to produce energy I became curious. I found a report from Greenpeace Africa that confirmed my suspicion: “In autumn 2018, an evaluation of comparative satellite data showed that no other region in the world was more heavily contaminated by nitrogen dioxide.”

The report stated that each year thousands of South Africans died from the consequences of coal. So I travelled to eMalahleni (formerly Witbank) in Mpumalanga to get a feeling for the situation. I visited a local clinic in Ackerville and a Sunday church service in Vosman. I was lucky to meet people who wanted to tell me their stories. I stayed in small hotels inside the townships and frequently met up with people who were affected by air pollution. One nurse who works at the local clinic in Ackerville was particularly helpful and introduced me to people who suffer from respiratory diseases.

The Khuthala Environmental Care Group in Ermelo introduced me to their environmental projects and to artisanal miners. Since toxic air pollution in Mpumalanga not only has irreversible long-term effects on the province but also contributes to the global climate crisis, I decided to commit to this story and spend more time in these township communities.

Vosman and Ackerville: Two large neighbouring township communities that suffer from severe air pollution. People I met expressed anger and frustration over poverty, unemployment, poisoned water, polluted air, bad health and premature death. Local clinics are understaffed and often do not have clean water for medical personnel and sick patients. The health system in eMalahleni is collapsing.

Ermelo: The land is pierced by abandoned coal mines where small-scale miners operate. Accidents happen frequently and miners as young as 16 work deep under the earth. For them, artisanal mining is the only way to benefit from coal. The unemployment rate is around 70%.

The government appears to only pay lip service to promoting renewable energy. Promised socioeconomic development plans are non-starters. So community leaders and activists have started to organise themselves. They clean abandoned waste and coal mine dumps and create fenced vegetable gardens to support poor township communities. DM

Stefan Kleinowitz grew up in Vienna. He travelled before studying sociology and cultural anthropology. In 2013, he left London Imperial College with a master’s degree in public health and epidemiology. It was his love for photography that helped him find his life’s purpose.  He developed his skills at the Arts University of Bournemouth. His work has been published in Der Spiegel, The Washington Post, The New York Times, GEO (Germany), The Guardian (UK), BBC (UK), The Financial Times (UK), Society Magazine (France), SoFoot – Soccer Magazine (France) and BJP – British Journal of Photography;. He has done freelance work for wire agencies.