By Kim Harrisberg
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Gas-billowing coal plants, cracked earth, abandoned mines and lifeless water. These are some of the stark images documenting coal mining pollution in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa.
These photographs, in a recently launched book called Broken Land and an exhibition in Johannesburg, display the work of South African photojournalist Daylin Paul who spent four years documenting the environmental impacts of South Africa’s coal industry.
“In Mpumalanga there is dust everywhere. The water is milky. The air is a smoggy brown and it burns your throat to breathe,” said 34-year-old, speaking from London, where he is hoping to bring his exhibition.
“People are sick with tuberculosis, asthma, diarrhoea and headaches,” Paul said.
South Africa’s power generation is dominated by coal, which produces more than 80% of power and makes the country one of the top 20 emitters of climate-changing carbon dioxide worldwide.
