Two teenage boys drowned in a rainwater-filled pit at an abandoned coal mine near Ermelo in 2016. Last year, a woman searching for coal to heat her home and cook was severely injured when the ground beneath her collapsed, leaving her reliant on crutches.
Fifteen years after mining ceased at the Imbabala coal mine, residents living around the contaminated site say they are paying the price for a mine abandoned without rehabilitation and a regulatory system that has failed to protect them.
Now community organisations and residents have turned to the high court in what could become a landmark test of government accountability for abandoned mines across South Africa.
The Khuthala Environmental Care Group, together with residents of Nomzamo Agri Village, Steve Biko Settlement and Thusi Ville, has approached the high court in Middelburg seeking an order compelling government authorities to rehabilitate the derelict mine.
The application is brought against the minister of mineral and petroleum resources, the department's director-general and Mpumalanga regional manager, the minister of public works and infrastructure and Msukaligwa Local Municipality.
The mine has remained abandoned since 2011, when Imbabala Coal (Pty) Ltd ceased operations after being ordered to stop mining without a valid water-use licence.
The site was left with open unfenced pits, contaminated land and water, widespread environmental damage and zero rehabilitation. The company was deregistered in 2018. Its owners remain untraceable.
The applicants, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), argue that once the owners of Imbabala Coal could no longer be traced, the state assumed responsibility for making the area safe.
Thobeka Gumede, an attorney in the CER's advocacy, support and training programme, said the matter raised important questions about accountability when mining companies disappear.
“Mining-affected communities are left to bear the devastating social, environmental and economic costs of extraction. This is not only a legal battle — it is a fight for justice led by communities living daily with polluted water, unsafe land and abandoned mines.”
Having exhausted what they describe as years of engagement with authorities, the communities filed their application in February this year.
All the respondents, with the exception of the municipal manager of Msukaligwa Local Municipality, have indicated their intention to oppose the matter, although their reasons have not yet been set out in court papers.
But before the constitutional arguments come the hazardous realities of daily life around the derelict mine.
In his founding affidavit, Khuthala Environmental Care Group founder and chairperson Philani Mngomezulu describes years of environmental degradation, injuries, deaths and social harm associated with the abandoned site.
“Ever since Imbabala started its operations and after its subsequent abandonment, the community has experienced the negative environmental impacts that the mine has caused,” he states.
According to his affidavit, at least two people have drowned in water-filled pits left after mining operations ceased. Livestock continue to be lost in open excavations. Residents say the abandoned site has increasingly become a hotspot for crime, including robberies and sexual assaults.
Mngomezulu illustrates how communities have been left to manage the danger themselves. Residents attempted to demarcate the dangerous mine pit by using old tyres to stop children and other community members from accidentally falling into the water. Heavy rains, however, regularly wash the tyres away.
The court papers identify two of the victims who drowned in the pit — Xolani Mthembu, 17, and his friend Sifiso Yende, 14 — in September 2016.
The applicants argue that the open pit is only one aspect of a much broader environmental and social crisis created by the abandoned mine. The affidavit describes polluted land, contaminated water and highly acidic runoff that continue to affect nearby communities.
Residents say degraded land has made it increasingly difficult to grow crops, while overflowing water from the pit spreads contamination into surrounding areas.
Water quality testing commissioned by the communities confirmed contamination of nearby water sources used by residents for crops and livestock, strengthening concerns about the long-term environmental impacts of the abandoned mine.
More recently, community members have reportedly begun entering the abandoned mine to collect coal for cooking and heating. In June 2024, Nthabiseng Jele, a resident of an informal settlement in Nomzamo, was gathering coal at the site when the ground beneath her gave way.
According to the affidavit, the area collapsed and Jele was buried under debris. She suffered severe injuries and now relies on crutches to walk.
The applicants argue that the government has long been aware of the risks the site poses. According to the affidavit, the then-department of mineral resources and energy conducted a site inspection in August 2019 after years of engagement by Khuthala Environmental Care Group and other affected residents.
The department subsequently issued a directive to the directors of Imbabala Coal in September 2019. It ordered the company to take steps to address the environmental damage and rehabilitate the site. “The DMPR labelled the mine area as being unsafe.”
However, the applicants say the directive could not be served because the owners could no longer be traced. Imbabala Coal was deregistered in 2018.
The applicants contend that once the company effectively disappeared, responsibility for addressing the dangers posed by the site shifted to government.
“To date, the DMPR [department of mineral and petroleum resources] and the minister of minerals have not taken any steps to rehabilitate the area despite having acknowledged that the Imbabala mine is dangerous and unsafe for the community living around the mine,” states Mngomezulu.
The case centres on section 46(1) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, which the applicants argue is unconstitutional.
They argue that the provision fails to provide clear and enforceable powers for the government to intervene when mines are abandoned and owners cannot be found. As a result, they argue, communities can be left living with environmental harm and safety risks without any effective mechanism to secure rehabilitation.
The legal gap is inconsistent with section 24 of the Constitution, which guarantees everyone the right to an environment that is not harmful to health or wellbeing and requires measures to prevent pollution and ecological degradation.
For the applicants, Imbabala represents a stark example of those systemic failures.
The court papers also raise concerns about whether sufficient financial provision exists to rehabilitate abandoned mines. After a request for access to information, the applicants discovered that the department holds about R600 000 in financial provision for the rehabilitation of Imbabala Mine.
“After the inspection, the DMPR itself directed the then-directors of Imbabala Coal to top up their financial provision to R450 million for rehabilitation. This directive, on its own, proves how much damage this mine has caused,” Mngomezulu states.
While the litigation focuses on a single abandoned mine outside Ermelo, the affidavit places the dispute within a much broader national context.
South Africa has a long history of coal mining, particularly in Mpumalanga, which produces most of the country’s coal. Although mining has brought economic benefits, Mngomezulu argues that it has also left a legacy of environmental damage and abandoned sites that continue to affect communities long after extraction has ended.
Coal mining, particularly open-cast mining, can have significant impacts on water resources, soils and ecosystems. Sulphur-bearing minerals commonly found in coal deposits can react with air and water to form sulphuric acid, contributing to acid mine drainage and the mobilisation of heavy metals into surrounding water systems.
“When mines are not rehabilitated, they have the potential to pollute the surrounding ground and surface water through their acidic content, which is laced with heavy metals,” Mngomezulu states.
The affidavit points to what the applicants describe as a broader failure of mine rehabilitation in South Africa. Citing a 2022 report by the auditor-general, Mngomezulu notes that rehabilitation of high-risk abandoned mines has been extremely slow despite the scale of the problem.
South Africa has more than 6 000 abandoned and improperly closed mines, many of which continue to pose risks to surrounding communities and the environment. The applicants say the dangers associated with abandoned mines extend far beyond environmental contamination.
The affidavit refers to the risks, among them spontaneous combustion of exposed coal seams, ground subsidence, unsafe settlements near abandoned shafts and tunnels and injuries and deaths caused by open pits.
Mngomezulu argues that many of the dangers persist because rehabilitation requirements are poorly enforced.
“Once a mine site is abandoned, it is unlikely that the site will be cleaned, secured or made safe.”