Cracked walls, eyesight problems, lung and sinus infections are some of the common issues the community of Phola township near Ogies in Mpumalanga is blaming on expanded coal mining operations on their doorstep.
Since 2019, coal mining operations have been brought closer to the township as a new opencast coal mining operation was opened by South32, which later sold its mines to Seriti Resources.
The small township, situated near the Kendal Power Station, is just about 300m from the mine that does regular blasting.
Sowetan visited three affected properties on Monday, one with almost its entire ceiling fallen off, another with more than five cracked walls and one with a crack that has been expanding over the years.
Residents also complained about suffering from health problems, which include sinus, lung and eye problems, which they believe are caused by dust they are exposed to during blasting.
Tombstones from more than a dozen graves at the township’s cemetery have either fallen down or were damaged, also allegedly by the tremors caused by blasting.
Florence Mahlangu, 41, monitors a crack in a wall at her home, which has an instrument placed around it by officials from the previous mining company, South32, to measure the crack’s growth and its reaction to blasting.
“We lost new tea sets and glass sets after our lounge cabinet fell and got damaged during one blasting about two years ago The mine is yet to reimburse us,” Mahlangu said.
She said her seven-year-old son suffers from sinusitis and often experiences nose bleeds since mining operations moved closer to their home in 2019.
“Doctors say the [troubles with his] sinuses are caused by the dust my son is exposed to,” she said.
Mahlangu told Sowetan about a thick, dark dust cloud that often hovers above their home after blasting operations.
Three rooms in Alton Phelembe’s modest home are now without ceiling boards, which fell down more than a year ago after blasting at the mine rattled his house, breaking his pay TV decoder, television, a fan light and a television stand.
Phelembe, 60, is unable to replace the damaged items and believes the company behind the operations is not taking them seriously.
“I didn't even bother to report my losses because many of my friends who had similar incidents were spoken down to and told that the building work of their properties was of poor quality and that there’s been poor workmanship as the mine just wants to absolve itself from taking accountability,” Phelembe said.
Stunkie Msiza, 60, has lost count of the number of cracks that her house now has.
“There are cracks on my bedroom, passage, bathroom, kitchen and garage walls already. I need help and I have no clue where to go to,” she said.
Msiza said they had formed a committee that went to complain during the tenure of South32 but their pleas fell on deaf ears.
“Some of the people who were leading that committee have already long passed on but we are still facing the same problems.”
Community leader Natula Vilanculo said their complaints to officials from the department of mineral resources in Emalahleni had not yielded a solution.
“Seriti has promised to respond to our complaints on Tuesday but this has been happening for years, forcing people to live in damaged homes, especially those who cannot afford to fix the damages,” Vilanculo said.
Seriti spokesperson Hulisani Rasivhaga hadn't responded to Sowetan's request for the company's side of the story by the time of going to print.
Earlier, Rasivhaga promised to respond to Sowetan’s questions about their company being aware or not of the issues raised by the residents and what's being done about it.
She later said she’s awaiting approval from her seniors but by deadline last night she had not responded.
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