South Africa is the seventh largest coal producer in the world, and produces about 90% of the electricity from this polluted source. A study by GroundWork found that, every year, in South Africa, thousands of people die from the consequences of air pollution from coal-fired power plants. The most common causes of death are lower respiratory infections, pneumonia, cancer and heart disease.

The situation is particularly tragic in the Imalalimi region, a mining town with a population of more than 400,000 people. Under apartheid, the city was called "Whitbank", and now most of its black population is poor, as often as ever. Youth unemployment is estimated at 50%, many families do not have access to drinking water, and medical care is very poor.

Emalemali is surrounded by coal mines, power plants, metal smelters, and people's homes adjacent to tall black piles of coal. The landscape intersects with power lines, while heavy truck convoys move back and forth, between mines and power stations. Acid wastewater pollutes the soil, poisoning many nearby rivers and lakes, while permanent gray fog tops the town sky, and even on a clear night, the stars are rarely visible.

An old problem

Sean, a 13-year-old boy, while playing with his smartphone, says he doesn't need this thing. And this "thing" is a green breath, next to it on the sofa. Sean is forced to wear the mask whenever he has trouble breathing. He was diagnosed with severe allergy due to air pollution? "He's faced this problem since he was a little boy," said Sean's father, Calvin Halapangwani.

The 32-year-old miner says his son's breathing method during his sleep has raised his parents' concerns for years. Their anxiety is exacerbated these days by the fear that their son will be infected with the Corona virus. Shawn is particularly susceptible to infection because of his condition, and he is one of more than 10,000 people who develop bronchitis or asthma every year in South Africa, according to a study by the environmental organization GroundWork.

Chronic suffering

The largest area in which his family lives, Jalapangwany says, has been recorded in the largest number of cases. His family seemed to have no choice but to accept chronic suffering as part of life in Fusman, a dilapidated town in Mpumalanga. The region is the heart of the coal mining industry, in South Africa, where most sediments are mined and burned, to generate electricity.

Fusman residents slept with their windows closed, but poisonous dust penetrated the windows and walls of their huts. Every morning, the roofs and streets are covered with a black layer of metal dust. "Doctors confirm that my son is sick because of the bad air, but I am not sure," said Halapangwani. He is reluctant to criticize the coal industry, because he works mechanically in the nearby mine. He built an accessory for his small house, and he could also afford the cost of a generator, to supply his cottage with intermittent electricity.

"Anyone who has a job will find himself in this dilemma," says Promis Mapello, 44, who says it is "no one bites the hand that feeds him." Mapilo became an environmental activist, in Fusman, because her son Leva was sick, too, and had not been able to live without asthma sprays, since he was eight years old. Mapello collects data in the towns of the environmental organization "Fukani", and summarizes the general situation with two words: "Coal is killed."

Coal madness

Mapello has a picture on her smartphone, showing her in a demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate, in Berlin, "Our protest movements are interconnected all over the world, and we must fight the madness of coal everywhere", explaining, "But I do not think there is a worse place in the world than here ».

A report by the Greenpeace environmental organization confirmed its doubts. An evaluation of satellite data, in the fall of 2018, showed that no other region in the world is more polluted with nitrogen dioxide, such as Fossmann and neighboring towns.

A catastrophic outbreak

Environmental activist Promis Mapello says many people in Mpumalanga suspect they are experiencing slow poisoning, but most of them do not know how to combat this poisoning, “Currently, the region must wrestle with the coronavirus, and in places like Emalemie, with insufficient medical infrastructure "The outbreak will be disastrous."

The city's downtown hospital is not prepared for the epidemic, and indeed it is overburdened. “At the moment, we will need more resources to stop the increase in chronic lung disease,” said Muhammad Khan, a doctor who has been working in the hospital for 13 years. “We just got out of a crisis meeting, and the hospital has had no running water for a week, and things are It was not that bad before. ”

Little interest

Even during the time of the Corona pandemic, the battle of the population against coal contamination continues unabated. The South African government has shown little interest in promoting renewable energy. Activist Promise Mapelo says she and many in the region continue to rely on the state-owned electricity company. And because our corrupt politicians can make fortunes thanks to the electricity company, such practices will lead to more people in the region dying due to air pollution, and we, too, need a shift in energy consumption, she adds.

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