In the coal-rich province of Mpumalanga, the heartbeat of South Africa’s energy sector, thousands of informal miners labour daily beneath the earth’s surface. With pickaxes and headlamps, they work in perilous conditions to extract coal from disused or unregulated shafts, sustaining a livelihood that exists in the shadows of the formal energy economy.
For decades, coal has powered approximately 80 per cent of South Africa’s electricity, forming the backbone of its industrial economy. Yet as the country navigates a global shift toward cleaner energy sources, the livelihoods of those at the margins of this system hang in the balance. Among them are miners such as Cyprial, who, like many others, operates without official sanction. “You know when you’re getting in that the upper surface is a stone. Might it happen that it falls down, it can kill me,” he explained, his tone steady with resignation. “Take all the fears, shove it away. I don’t know how but we try.”
The South African government defines such operations as illegal, though the miners themselves prefer the term “artisanal”. To them, their work fills an urgent social and economic void. “This coal, we transport it to communities so those people can use it to cook and to warm themselves,” said Jabulani Sibiya, chairperson of the Ermelo Artisanal Miners’ Union. For many in Mpumalanga’s townships and rural settlements, the electricity generated locally remains prohibitively expensive, forcing households to rely on coal supplied by these small-scale miners.
While President Cyril Ramaphosa has referred to illegal mining as a “menace” to the economy and national security, those involved argue that their work is essential for survival in a region where unemployment rates remain high. A 2021 analysis from the University of Cape Town estimated that the formal coal sector employs more than 100,000 people directly and indirectly, while at least 40,000 individuals operate in informal mining networks across the country, particularly in abandoned gold and coal shafts.
In 2021, South Africa became the first nation to sign a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with international partners, securing an $8.5 billion agreement to shift from coal toward renewable energy. This transition, however, is stirring uncertainty among communities dependent on mining. In Ermelo, activists and local leaders voice concern that the government’s plan could replicate old patterns of exclusion.
“For us, ‘just transition’ means transitioning from large-scale, destructive extraction into a sustainable, artisanal and small-scale mining sector,” said Zethu Hlatshwayo, spokesperson for the National Association of Artisanal Miners, as he tended a community vegetable garden supported by a local environmental NGO. His colleague, environmental advocate Philani Mngomezulu, added, “Just one community mine in the entire history of mining in this town — that’s all we’re fighting for.”
Efforts by miners in Ermelo to secure a collective mining permit illustrate the broader challenges facing informal workers across Africa’s extractive economies. The process is protracted and costly, often inaccessible to those without legal expertise or financial backing. Yet for these miners, the pursuit of recognition is not only about legitimacy but also about dignity and inclusion in the national conversation on sustainability.
While South Africa moves toward reducing its carbon footprint, many argue that mining will continue to play a role in the green economy, particularly in the extraction of critical minerals used in technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles. The question remains whether this new phase of development will accommodate the realities of those whose livelihoods depend on artisanal and small-scale mining.
“It will not be a just transition if our people are left behind,” said Hlatshwayo. His words capture a sentiment resonating beyond South Africa — one that challenges policymakers to reimagine what a genuinely inclusive and sustainable transition might look like, rooted in equity and reflective of African contexts.
As South Africa charts its path toward decarbonisation, the struggle of its informal miners underscores a deeper reckoning: one that tests whether the promise of a just energy future can truly be fulfilled without erasing the people who have, for generations, powered the nation from below.
