TimesLIVE reports that Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Minister Gwede Mantashe has urged the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) to discuss ways to save coal mining from extinction.

Addressing the first day of a two-day NUM policy conference in East London on Tuesday, Mantashe warned that shutting down coal mining would destroy the economy, especially in Mpumalanga. “I would imagine that in this policy conference, the delegates from coal mining regions will raise issues on how you confront the question of mining being on the back foot. Coal mining is on the back foot; everyone regards it as a dirty product. I would imagine the delegates from coal mining regions will raise that debate and say, 'How do we save coal mining from extinction?',” said Mantashe. He told delegates that he had been labelled “a coal fundamentalist” and “a fossil fuel dinosaur” by lobbyists, but had accepted those titles because “I think the position we are taking on energy is a correct one”. Mantashe lamented the debate on energy, saying it was about an argument of switching off coal and moving to renewables immediately, and not necessarily about moving from high carbon emissions to low carbon emissions — something everyone agreed on. He warned that if that transition from coal to renewable energy was not managed carefully, it would spell an unmitigated disaster for the economy.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Andisiwe Makinana at TimesLIVE

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