Bloomberg reports that according to a research consultancy, a drive to shift SA’s electricity production to renewable energy is threatening as many as 120,000 jobs at coal mines and power plants that use the fuel.
In addition, the transition could threaten economic activity in four municipalities with a population of more than 2.3 million people. Most of SA’s coal is mined in the municipal areas which lie in Mpumalanga. In the Emalahleni municipal area, coal-related activities make up 44% of the economy. “Because these municipalities are so highly reliant on the coal value chain activities this is going to leave a huge gap. This is a key concern for South Africa given our high levels of unemployment, inequality and poverty,” said Muhammed Patel, an economist at Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies, on a webinar on Tuesday. “Moving to a low-carbon economy will change the structure of the economy and impact on the working class,” said Pulane Mafoea-Nkalai, a senior research specialist at the Sam Tambani Research Institute, which is affiliated to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). He went on to say: “NUM, as a union organising in both the coal and energy sector, recognises that their members and their communities will be affected.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Gemma Gatticchi at Moneyweb
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