The positive steps taken by coal mining and marketing company Thungela to plant trees in the coal province of Mpumalanga is exemplary. The company has a stretch target to plant a million trees in the province, with 20 000 of them already on their way up.
Other companies would do well to follow suit in this high-carbon area and across South Africa as a whole. Interestingly, it is envisaged that these trees will lock up the sulphates and heavy minerals contained in the water contaminated by mining in the region, so that cleaner water can be discharged into the environment.
The company born out of Anglo American’s coal demerger last year is trialling passive treatment technologies to ensure sustainable solutions in the coal basin. Steps are also being taken to reduce company emissions by establishing solar power plants at two collieries as a pathway to net zero by 2050 is pursued.
Moreover, aquatic science is also being deployed to remedy the uncontrolled release of contaminated water into the Kromdraaispruit and Wilge river on 14 February, which caused the death of many fish. There is now growing confidence that the ecosystem can be restored to what it was before the spill.