How South Africa’s switch to green energy will affect workers

Miner Thokozani Mtshweni, 37, looks spent as he readies for a 12-hour shift huddled under a carport shelter to avoid the scorching sun. He fixes his belt weighed down by an oxygen tank and gas detecting tools.

An hour’s drive from Johannesburg, Khutala Colliery is among more than 100 coal mines and a dozen coal-fired plants that dot the industrial landscape of Mpumalanga, an area known as South Africa’s coal belt.

Workers kitted in soiled yellow overalls breathe in the hazy air as they wait to board trucks that will drive them to an underground shaft.

“Closing these mines would affect our lives a lot,” Mtshweni tells AFP. “It would be chaos”.

Coal is a bedrock of South Africa’s economy, employing almost 100 000 people and accounting for 80% of electricity production.

But the sector’s future is uncertain as South Africa looks to wean itself off the carbon-emitting fuel in line with global efforts to tackle climate change.

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Last year, the government secured $8.5 billion (about R154 billion) in loans and grants from a group of rich nations to finance the transition to greener alternatives.

Fraught negotiations around how the money should be spent are expected to end before the COP27 climate summit in Egypt next month.

Supporters hope the money could act as a catalyst to transform the energy landscape in what is one of the world’s top 12 largest polluters.

But questions remain over the country’s ability to make swift inroads towards its goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“Significantly more funding” will be needed, said Daniel Mminele, who heads the finance task team of a climate commission set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

A study by Stellenbosch University put the figure at $250 billion over the next 30 years.

‘We need coal’

Recent studies suggest more jobs will be created than lost by going green, but analysts say the swap will not be painless.

The coal industry is concentrated in Mpumalanga, which accounts for about 80% of all coal production.

“We need coal,” says Isaac Mahumapelo, a Khutala Colliery section manager, as piles of the black material are crushed behind him.

“The cities, the towns in and around Mpumalanga have been established through the coal mines.”

Trade unions worry job losses will not be reabsorbed by the renewable sector.

Unemployment is above 30% nationwide.

“Wind and solar is not engineered in South Africa, it is fabricated elsewhere,” says energy analyst Tshepo Kgadima.

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After a decade spent in the pits, Mtshweni the miner is among those fearing for their future.

“Everyone is dependent on this coal to provide for their loved ones,” he says.

International pressure on South Africa to clean up its act is seen with antipathy by some.

Europe’s renewed appetite for coal in the wake of the gas crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is often cited as evidence of double standards.

“Coal will still be around for some time and whilst we wish to collaborate … let’s have our own agenda that realistically recognises the socioeconomic imperatives of South Africa,” says Mike Teke, chief executive officer of Khutala Colliery’s operator, Seriti.