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Abstract
This article assesses the changing conceptions of the environmental impact of South African coal mining in the first half of the twentieth century, with special reference to the Witbank coalfield in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa.Footnote1 The anticipated development of the emerging coal town of Witbank was founded on the growing demand for coal. As Witbank's local landscape became visibly scarred, coal-based pollution was continually challenged and redefined. In an attempt to market electricity, and appease the doubts of potential consumers, attempts were made by Escom to romanticise features of Witbank's industrialised environment. Once mines were decommissioned, they were abandoned. Coal production increased dramatically during the Second World War, which provided an economic windfall for the local electrical, steel and chemical industries, placing undue pressure on the coal industry to step up production. The severe damage caused by coal mining during this period resulted in the ecological devastation of affected landscapes. The findings of an inter-departmental committee established to conduct research during the mid-1940s revealed the gravity of coal-based pollution, and set a precedent in the way that the state conceived of the impact of industry and mining. The report of this committee was completed in the wake of the war, by which time the Witbank coalfield had become one of the most heavily polluted regions of South Africa.
1 Witbank is situated in the Emalahleni district of Mpumalanga, in what was previously known as the Transvaal province of South Africa.
Notes
1 Witbank is situated in the Emalahleni district of Mpumalanga, in what was previously known as the Transvaal province of South Africa.
* This article has emerged from research prepared for a Masters by Research in the Department of History at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. In 2010, this MA thesis was awarded the Africa Thesis Award through the African Studies Centre (ASC) in Leiden, the Netherlands. The work has been supported through the generous assistance of the research programme of the National Research Foundation's Chair in History, ‘Local History (Identity), Present Reality’. It was first presented at the commemorative History Workshop ‘Life after 30’ colloquium held in April 2009 in a student panel entitled ‘History of the Future’. I would like to thank the organisers and participants of the colloquium for their help in bringing this work to fruition.
2 J. Cock, ‘Connecting the red, brown and green: the environmental justice movement in South Africa’, a case study for the UKZN project entitled: Globalisation, Marginalisation and New Social Movements in post-Apartheid South Africa, a joint project between the Centre for Civil Society and the School of Development Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, p. 2.
3 T.H. Murray, ‘Regulating Asbestos: Ethics, Politics, and Scientific Values’, Science, Technology & Human Values, 11, 3 (Summer, 1986), p. 1.
4 T.H. Murray, ‘Regulating Asbestos: Ethics, Politics, and Scientific Values’, Science, Technology & Human Values, 11, 3 (Summer, 1986), p. 1
5 See M. Singer, ‘A Social History of Rural Neglect: Mafefe in the 20th Century’, Honours Dissertation, Department of History, University of the Witwatersrand, 2005; See The Future of Penge: Prospects for People and the Environment, Project Report and Guidelines, Final Report, Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry, University of the Witwatersrand, July 2008.
6 J. McCulloch, Asbestos Blues: Labour, Capital, Physicians and the State in South Africa (Oxford, James Currey, 2002).
7 E. Katz, The White Death: Silicosis on the Witwatersrand Gold Mines: 1886–1910 (Witwatersrand University Press, 1994).
8 R. Edgecombe, The Constancy of Change: A History of Hlobane Colliery: 1898–1998 (Vryheid, The Vryheid (Natal) Railway, Coal and Iron Company, Ltd, 1998).
9 R. Mendelsohn, Sammy Marks: ‘The Uncrowned King of the Transvaal (Cape Town, David Philip, 1991).
10 C.H. Feinstein, An Economic History of South Africa: Conquest, Discrimination and Development (Cambridge, University Press, 2005).
11 R. Christie, Electricity, Industry and Class in South Africa (Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 1984).
12 B. Bozzoli, (ed.), Town and Countryside in the Transvaal: Capitalist Penetration and Popular Response (Johannesburg, Ravan Press, 1983).
13 P. Alexander, ‘Culture and Conflicts – Witbank Colliery Life: 1900–1950’, unpublished paper presented on Wednesday 14 May 2008 at the Centre for Sociological Research with the Department of Sociology and the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg.
14 See A. Witcomb and B. Baxter, ‘Case Study: Abandoned Coal Mine Lands in South Africa’, Mining Environmental Management, July 2000; See D. Limpitlaw, M. Aken, H. Lodewijks and J. Viljoen, ‘Post-Mining Rehabilitation, Land Use and Pollution at Collieries in South Africa’, The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, July 2005. For recent studies on coal-based pollution and acid mine drainage, see T. McCarthy, B. Cairncross, J. Huizenga and A. Batchelor, ‘Conservation of the Mpumalanga Lakes District’, unpublished paper, 2007; also A. Turton, ‘SA Water and Mining Policy: A Study of Strategies for Transition Management’, 20 April 2009, draft copy received from author.
15 D.A.M. Smith and R.L.G. Whittaker, ‘The Springs-Witbank Coalfields’, in C.R. Anhaeusser and S. Maske (eds), Mineral Deposits of South Africa (Johannesburg, Geological Society of South Africa, 1986), p. 1,969.
16 Witbank News, 16 October 1981, p. 6.
17 ‘Electrical Engineers Visit Witbank’, Witbank News, 16 August 1935, p. 5.
18 ‘Electrical Engineers Visit Witbank’, Witbank News, 16 August 1935, p. 5 The reference to the price of coal per ton in shillings was approximate in 1935, when currency was mostly British. However, mid-nineteenth century use of currency was not unified, and the Transvaal Republic did issue its own currency. Hence, it is only possible to provide an estimate of the monetary value.
19 National Archives of South Africa (hereafter NASA), GNLB 304 427/18, Glossary of Certain Words Used in Collieries and Mentioned in this Report, 18 December 1918.
20 NASA, CT 150 T 33/441, ‘Miscellaneous: Supply of Coal to Mauritius’, Mauritius Government Gazette, 1, 4 January 1909.
21 A. Camm, ‘Sulphur in Coal and its Removal’, Mining Engineer, 151, 361 (October 1991), p. 118.
22 NASA, CT 150 T 33/441, ‘Miscellaneous: Supply of Coal to Mauritius’, Mauritius Government Gazette, 1. 4 January 1909; the long-term effects of acid mine drainage were not well understood. See S.E.T. Bullock and F.G. Bell, ‘Some Problems Associated with Past Mining at a Mine in the Witbank Coalfield, South Africa’, Environmental Geology, 33, 1 (December 1997).
23 ‘Farming – in Witbank’, Witbank News, 20 November, 1931. ‘Wit’ referred to the characteristic white sandstone outcroppings on the farm where prospecting had originally taken place.
25 NASA, LD 380 AG 1323/03, H.W. Smith, Secretary to the Mines Department, to Office of the Commissioner of Mines, Johannesburg, 9 July 1904
24 NASA, LD 380 AG 1323/03, H.W. Smith, Secretary to the Mines Department, to Office of the Commissioner of Mines, Johannesburg, 9 July 1904.
26 NASA, LD 380 AG 1323/03, H.W. Smith, Secretary to the Mines Department, to Office of the Commissioner of Mines, Johannesburg, 9 July 1904
27 S.E.T. Bullock and F.G. Bell, ‘Some problems associated with past mining at a mine in the Witbank coalfield, South Africa’, Environmental Geology, 33, 1 (December 1997).
28 NASA, ZTPD 5/590/150/1905, ‘Illiquid Case – Declaration – Witbank Colliery Ltd vs. Daniel Jacobus Malan’, 1905.
29 NASA, ZTPD 5/590/150/1905, ‘Illiquid Case – Declaration – Witbank Colliery Ltd vs. Daniel Jacobus Malan’, 1905
30 NASA, ZTPD 5/590/150/1905, ‘Illiquid Case – Declaration – Witbank Colliery Ltd vs. Daniel Jacobus Malan’, 1905
31 A. Turton, ‘SA Water and Mining Policy: A Study of Strategies for Transition Management’, 20 April 2009, Received draft copy from author, p. 14.
32 NASA, GM 5480/06, H.G.L. Panchaud, Secretary, Witbank Colliery, Ltd, to the Acting Government Mining Engineer, Johannesburg, 27 November 1906.
33 NASA, GM 5480/06, H.G.L. Panchaud, Secretary, Witbank Colliery, Ltd, to the Acting Government Mining Engineer, Johannesburg, 27 November 1906 The measurement of feet has been used to maintain historical accuracy. Otherwise, the metric system is used throughout the article.
34 J. Lang, Power Base: Coal Mining in the Life of South Africa (Johannesburg, Jonathan Ball Publishers, 1995), p. 143.
35 NASA, GOV/1027/PS76/18/06, Correspondence, Anonymous, Cornelia Colliery, Viljoensdrift, Orange River Colony, to Secretary of State for the Colonies, 31 May 1906.
36 NASA, GM 5480/06, H.G.L. Panchaud, Secretary, Witbank Colliery, Ltd, to the Acting Government Mining Engineer, Johannesburg, 27 November 1906.
37 NASA, GM 5480/06, H.G.L. Panchaud, Secretary, Witbank Colliery, Ltd, to the Acting Government Mining Engineer, Johannesburg, 27 November 1906
38 ‘Report of the Departmental Committee of Enquiry on the Bacteriological and Chemical Pollution of Water Supplies, 1943–1948’, NASA, GES/2069/107/33.
39 ‘Report of the Departmental Committee of Enquiry on the Bacteriological and Chemical Pollution of Water Supplies, 1943–1948’, NASA, GES/2069/107/33
40 ‘Report of the Departmental Committee of Enquiry on the Bacteriological and Chemical Pollution of Water Supplies, 1943–1948’, NASA, GES/2069/107/33
41 ‘Report of the Departmental Committee of Enquiry on the Bacteriological and Chemical Pollution of Water Supplies, 1943–1948’, NASA, GES/2069/107/33
42 ‘Report of the Departmental Committee of Enquiry on the Bacteriological and Chemical Pollution of Water Supplies, 1943–1948’, NASA, GES/2069/107/33 In 1921, the Irrigation Act was amended, citing the process of coal mining and washing as a significant contributor towards the creation of waste water contaminating rivers and streams.
43 ‘Report of the Departmental Committee of Enquiry on the Bacteriological and Chemical Pollution of Water Supplies, 1943–1948’, NASA, GES/2069/107/33
44 ‘Report of the Departmental Committee of Enquiry on the Bacteriological and Chemical Pollution of Water Supplies, 1943–1948’, NASA, GES/2069/107/33
45 Christie, Electricity, Industry and Class in South Africa, p. 3.
46 NASA, URU 444 1015, ‘Memorandum: Grant of permission to Witbank Colliery to supply electric current to the municipality of Witbank’, 22 April, 1920.
47 This acronym for the Electricity Supply Commission – Escom – was used until 1987 when it became known as Eskom. To ensure historical accuracy the anglicised version is used.
48 Christie, Electricity, Industry and Class in South Africa, p. 84.
49 Christie, Electricity, Industry and Class in South Africa, p. 84
50 ‘The Electricity Question’, Witbank News, 27 August 1926.
51 ‘Witbank Municipality’, Witbank News, 14 May 1926, p. 8.
52 ‘Official Opening of Electric Lighting System’, Witbank News, 14 May 1926, p. 8.
53 ‘Light and the Municipality’, Witbank News, 6 November 1925.
54 ‘Light and the Municipality’, Witbank News, 6 November 1925
55 Interview with Malcolm Suttill, Witbank, Emalahleni, 3 June 2008.
56 Interview with Malcolm Suttill, Witbank, Emalahleni, 3 June 2008
57 ‘Fire at Colliery’, Witbank News, 9 July 1926.
58 ‘Paxton Road Safe from Flames’, Witbank News, 9 October 1981, p. 3.
59 ‘Witbank Colliery, Ltd., AGM: Witbank Colliery's Prosperous Outlook’, Witbank News, 14 January 1927.
60 ‘Witbank Colliery, Ltd. AGM: Bad Setback Last Year’, Witbank News, 28 January 1928.
61 ‘Witbank Coalfields’, Witbank News, 18 August 1933.
62 ‘Witbank Coalfields’, Witbank News, 18 August 1933
63 ‘Witbank: the Industrial Centre’, Witbank News, 17 June 1932.
64 ‘Witbank: the Industrial Centre’, Witbank News, 17 June, 1932
65 ‘Witbank Colliery’, Witbank News, 21 January 1927.
66 ‘Witbank Colliery’, Witbank News, 21 January 1927
67 ‘The Spread of Desert Conditions in South Africa, Union of South Africa, Final Report of the Drought Investigation Commission’ (Government Printer, Pretoria, 1923).
68 ‘Our Water: Use and Abuse’, Witbank News, 8 January 1926.
69 NASA, PM 1/2/316/PM 88/19/1, J.B.M. Hertzog, Minister of External Affairs, to the Water Pollution Research Organization, Department of Scientific Industrial Research in the UK, ‘RE: Prevention of River Pollution’, 1931.
70 ‘Electric Fires: Heat When and Where You Want It’, Witbank News, 2 July 1937.
71 ‘The Manifold Uses of Electricity’, The SA Electricity Review & Engineer, News, 22 September 1933.
72 ‘The Manifold Uses of Electricity’, The SA Electricity Review & Engineer, News, 22 September 1933
73 Christie. Electricity, Industry and Class in South Africa, p. 2.
74 M. de Certeau The Practice of Everyday Life (Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1984), p. xiii.
75 SA Coal Estates (Witbank) 22nd Annual General Meeting, ‘Increased Taxation Exceeds Advance in Year's Profits’, Witbank News, 11 December 1942.
76 SA Coal Estates (Witbank) 22nd Annual General Meeting, ‘Increased Taxation Exceeds Advance in Year's Profits’, Witbank News, 11 December, 1942
77 ‘Oil From Coal’, Witbank News, 28 January 1938.
78 ‘Oil From Coal’, Witbank News, 28 January 1938
79 ‘Mine Fire’ (Reprinted from The Star), Witbank News, 9 August 1946.
80 ‘Mine Fire’ (Reprinted from The Star), Witbank News, 9 August, 1946
81 F.G. Bell, S.E.T. Bullock, T.F.J. Halbich and P. Lindsay, ‘Environmental Impacts Associated with an Abandoned Mine in the Witbank Coalfield, South Africa’, International Journal of Coal Geology, 45, 2–3 (January 2001), p. 195.
82 F.G. Bell, S.E.T. Bullock, T.F.J. Halbich and P. Lindsay, ‘Environmental Impacts Associated with an Abandoned Mine in the Witbank Coalfield, South Africa’, Elsevier Science (2001), pp. 1, 68
83 ‘Blackout: Witbank's Next Trial Announced’, Witbank News, 5 June 1942, p. 2.
84 ‘CPS: Civilian Protective Services: How a Blackout is Carried Out’, Witbank News, 6 March 1942.
85 ‘Blackout’, Witbank News, 12 June 1942.
86 ‘The Blackout From the Air’, Witbank News, 24 April 1942.
87 ‘The Blackout From the Air’, Witbank News, 24 April 1942
88 ‘The Blackout From the Air’, Witbank News, 24 April 1942
89 Interview with Sarah Mabena, Thushanang, Emalahleni, 4 June 2008.
90 ‘Mine Fire’, 9 August 1946. To this day, the height of modern building construction in Witbank is restricted to five storeys. See Interview with Isaac Mampane, Witbank, Emalahleni, 2 June 2008.
91 Correspondence, Witbank News, 8 September 1944.
92 Interview with Malcolm Suttill, Witbank, Emalahleni, 4 June 2008.
93 J. Clarke, Our Fragile Land: South Africa's Environmental Crisis (Johannesburg, Macmillan, 1974), p. 38.
94 R.A. Adler, M. Claassen, L. Godfrey and A.R. Turton, ‘Water, Mining and Waste: an Historical and Economic Perspective on Conflict Management in South Africa’, The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 2, 2 (2007), p. 34.
95 NASA, GES 2069 107/3, ‘Report on Pollution of Water Supplies’, c. 1944–1948.
96 NASA, GES 2069 107/3, ‘Report on Pollution of Water Supplies’, c. 1944–1948
97 NASA, GES 2069 107/3, ‘Report on Pollution of Water Supplies’, c. 1944–1948
98 NASA, GES 2069 107/3, Secretary of Health to the Deputy Chief Health Officer, (undated).
99 NASA, GES 2069 107/3, ‘Report on Pollution of Water Supplies’, c. 1944–1948.
100 Ibid.
101 NASA, GES 2069 107/3, ‘Report on Pollution of Water Supplies’
102 NASA, GES 2069 107/3, ‘Report on Pollution of Water Supplies’
103 NASA, GES 2069 107/3, ‘Report on Pollution of Water Supplies’
104 NASA, GES 2069 107/3, ‘Report on Pollution of Water Supplies’
105 C. Bosman, L.J. Kotze, ‘Responsibilities, Liabilities and Duties for Remediation and Mine Closure Under the MPRDA and NWA’ (Unpublished paper, Water Institute of South Africa), p. 3.
106 ‘Mine Fire’, Witbank News, 9 August 1946, p. 5.
107 ‘Mine Fire’, Witbank News, 9 August 1946, p. 5
108 See S.E. Bullock and F.G. Bell, ‘Some Problems Associated with Past Mining at a Mine in the Witbank Coalfield, South Africa’, Environmental Geology, 33, 1 (December 1997), p. 1.
109 A. Witcomb and B. Baxter, ‘Case Study: Abandoned Coal Mine Lands in South Africa’, Mining Environmental Management (July 2000), pp. 9–10.
110 NASA, BAO 3/544/A2/17/4/1/K120, Map of underground workings (undated).