South Africa's coal transition is leaving communities with acid water, toxic waste, and no cleanup

South Africa's coal transition is leaving communities with acid water, toxic waste, and no cleanup

South Africa's shift away from coal is bringing an expensive and hazardous problem into sharper focus: hundreds of shuttered mines lack sufficient funds to repair polluted land and waterways. Mongabay said all 412 coal mines closed between 2006 and 2023 fell short on cleanup funding, a gap that could leave nearby communities exposed to harm for decades. What happened? At the center of the findings is "No More Ghost Towns: Lessons From Mpumalanga…