South Africa: Mpumalanga Coal Mines Blatantly Flout Environment Laws

By Greg Nicolson

Coal companies rely significantly on water, but their water-use licenses in Mpumalanga, the heart of coal country, go unchecked in a system almost designed to promote pollution, a new report has found.

Coal mining companies in Mpumalanga are required to pay for the water they use but a new study has found that businesses which are collectively using up to eight million cubic metres of water a year have had to ask for their invoices while the Department of Water and Sanitation, recently merged with the Department of Human Settlements, fails to charge or monitor their water use…Read more>>