- A new report has found that none of the 412 coal mines that closed down between 2006 and 2023 in South Africa had set aside rehabilitation funds to restore damaged land and waterways.
- Environmental groups warn that abandoned coal mines are leaving behind contaminated water, radioactive waste, and polluted landscapes that could harm communities for decades.
- The report says weak enforcement allows mining companies to walk away from environmental damage, leaving taxpayers and mining communities to carry the cost.
As South Africa transitions away from coal-fired electricity, hundreds of former coal mines are turning into abandoned dumping sites for waste and polluted water, which a new report warns will continue to contaminate surrounding land and waterways for decades. Nor is the South African government taking action to force mine owners to clean them up, environmentalists told Mongabay.
South African law requires mining companies to set aside money to clean up and restore the land after mining ends – either in trusts or through bank or insurance guarantees. But a report by the Centre for Environmental Rights found that none of the 412 coal mines that closed between 2006 and 2023 had enough money set aside to pay for the full cost of rehabilitation.
The full extent of the problem is unknown as the government has failed to keep any records of mines that closed in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2021, the report said.
Mining companies must clean up and rehabilitate mines, pay for the damage, and remain responsible until the government officially signs off on the closure, according to the regulations.
But most mines do not keep enough money aside to cover even a fraction of the rehabilitation costs, according to the report, titled “No More Ghost Towns : Lessons From Mpumalanga’s Mine Closure Crisis” and released May 22 in Johannesburg.
With more than 100 coal mines and most of the country’s aging coal-fired power stations, the Mpumalanga region is the center of South Africa’s fossil fuel-based power generation industry.
Tarisai Mugunyani, who heads CER’s mining program and is the author of the report, said they’d found that coal mines were also not repairing damage to the land while mining was underway, breaching their legal obligation to carry out land restoration while mining is still taking place. This meant much more work was needed to restore the land at the end of the mine’s life. But by this time, the companies have often abandoned the mine or declared bankruptcy.
For decades, nearly all of South Africa’s electricity was generated by burning coal but this has dropped over the years to 74.31% in 2025 as businesses and individuals adopt solar power. There are about 108 coal mines in the country, producing over 230 million tons of coal a year. They’re supposed to be closing over the coming decades as South Africa shifts to renewable energy.
But the closures mean the loss of jobs and economic hardship, which are compounded by the environmental damage left behind.
Mariette Liefferink, chief executive of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, has spent years campaigning and litigating against acid mine drainage, radioactive mine waste, unsafe tailings dams, and mining companies that leave without rehabilitating the land.
Liefferink told Mongabay that with rehabilitation sometimes costing more than $28 million for a single mine, mining companies often declare bankruptcy or just abscond. “But this leaves behind a landscape of toxic and radioactive dams, residual radioactivity, and tailings storage facilities that collapse with toxic and radioactive slurry washing into major water catchment areas,” she said.
“Coal mines are considered to be among the most polluting of mines. Coal co-occurs with iron pyrite, so it generates acid mine drainage that will continue for many years after closure,” she said.
Mugunyani told Mongabay that when mines just leave without closing down their operations, it’s up to the government to find out where the mining company kept their funds to restore the land, and set rehabilitation in motion.
“There’s not a straightforward system in which any impacted member of a community can request rehabilitation. It’s a strict regime where the minister of mineral resources and energy has to approach that bank and call up that financial provision for the purposes of rehabilitation,” Mugunyani said.
The report found that when this happens, it’s discovered that the mines have been relying on bank and insurance guarantees to cover the cost of restoring the land. Mine rehabilitation guarantees are promises from banks or insurers to pay for cleanup costs if a mining company fails to do so. But if payments are delayed or disputed after a mine is abandoned, the government — and, ultimately, taxpayers — can end up bearing the financial burden and living with environmental damages.
“The cumulative impact is that we are constantly seeing communities that do not have any benefits from mining. They’re just living in environmentally degraded spaces where they bear the brunt of whatever the mining companies have done,” Mugunyani said.
Zethu Hlatshwayo, spokesperson of the Khuthala Environmental Care Group, lives in one of these communities in Ermelo, a town in southern Mpumalanga in the heart of the coal mine and power station region.
His nonprofit organization has been working voluntarily since 2000, planting indigenous vegetation on illegal dumping sites and setting up homes and community food gardens on abandoned mines.
The Khuthala Environmental Care Group supported the launch of the CER report as part of its campaign for a just energy transition that includes mine rehabilitation and training for former coal mine workers in sustainable economic alternatives.
His organization is known for campaigning against the Imbabala coal mine, which was only open from 2007-2011 before being abandoned. “It was left unfenced. They didn’t even put up a sign to say that the shafts were still open. Rainfall has filled the shafts over the years and has now formed a toxic [pool] on the surface,” Hlatshwayo said.
“The company left only $36,720 as a rehabilitation guarantee, and this was nothing compared to what it would cost [to rehabilitate the area],” he added.
Hlatshwayo added that over the years, Khuthala Environmental Care Group has lobbied the government to rehabilitate the area. He told Mongabay the government sent officials 10 years ago to inspect the area, but no action has been taken since.
“It is a criminal act to abandon a mine but we have not seen any mining company owners being arrested, charged or fined for degrading the land,” he said, adding his organization and CER were now litigating to have the land rehabilitated and used for renewable energy projects and community food gardens.
The CER report argues that preventing future “ghost towns” around abandoned mines will require far stricter oversight of how mines are closed and rehabilitated. With thousands of derelict and abandoned mines across South Africa already costing taxpayers billions of rand in cleanup efforts, the organization says the government must do more to stop mining companies from walking away from environmental damage.
Among its recommendations is the creation of a public online system showing where mines are located, when they are expected to close, how much money they have set aside for rehabilitation, and whether closure plans are being implemented. “This would improve public trust and help municipalities, regulators, and communities plan earlier. It would also make it easier to monitor whether mines that have ceased operations are actually progressing toward lawful closure,” the report says.
Liefferink said stronger enforcement is urgently needed to ensure companies remain accountable for pollution left behind after mining ends.
“The abandoned mines still have owners. They are not ownerless, they are simply abandoned,” she said.
The report also says mine closures should include plans for workers, local businesses and towns that depend on coal mining, arguing that communities should not be left economically stranded once mines shut down.
It recommends that mines should only receive closure certificates once independent experts confirm that land, water and public safety risks have been properly addressed. Until then, mining companies should remain legally responsible for the site.
The authors also call for tougher oversight, independent watchdog bodies with powers to investigate violations, and greater community involvement in decisions about rehabilitation and mine closure. They argue that local knowledge should help shape how damaged mining land is restored after mining ends.
Banner image: The Imbabala mine was abandoned and toxic waste formed a giant pool on the surface, creating dangerous living conditions for the Ermelo community living in the vicinity. Image courtesy of Daylin Paul/Centre for Environmental Rights (CER).
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