Brief history of coal mining in South Africa

300 to
1880

Coal used in South Africa during Iron Age when charcoal was used to melt iron and copper

1864

Commercial coal mining commences in the eastern Cape near Molteno

Early
1870s

The discovery of diamonds in the Kimberley area leads to the expansion of the coal mines in order to meet growing demand for power

Late
1880s

Commercial coal mining in KwaZulu-Natal and on the Witwatersrand commences, following the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886

1927

The government creates the Iron and Steel Corporation (Iscor), which becomes the dominant steel producer in the country. Iscor begins construction of the Pretoria steel mill

1939
onwards

Demand for coal grows exponentially as country enters period of industrialisation during and following World War 2

Coal sector is in local private hands – largely those of the old mining houses

1950

South African Synthetic Oil Limited (Sasol) established

1952

South Africa’s first power station built in Pretoria West. Major programme of building power stations begins, particularly on coal fields of Witbank and Delmas

1955

Sasol produces its first oil from coal

1960

A total of 435 men die in the Coalbrook colliery disaster

1963

The then Chamber of Mines establishes the Chamber of Mines Research Organisation (COMRO), which goes on to revolutionise safety in mining

1970s

During oil crises, foreign oil companies vie for coal resources and establish new collieries to serve export markets

1976

Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) established as a partnership between the then leading coal companies with an initial annual capacity of 12Mt

Early
1980s

Sasol’s major coal-based synfuels and organic chemicals complex at Secunda is constructed. The Sasol II unit was constructed in 1980 and the Sasol III unit in 1984.

1986

Mining industry introduces mandatory life-sustaining refuge chambers and self-contained self-rescuers

1989

Iscor is privatised and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

1990

COMRO and its research programmes are taken over by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) when it sets up its mining innovation division

1993

An explosion at Sasol’s Middelbult colliery results in the death of 53 workers. An inquest into the explosion finds that coal dust was the primary fuel for the explosion

Leon Commission of Inquiry into Safety and Health in the Mining Industry leads way to new Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA)

1994

First democratic election in South Africa.

Coal company ownership transferred increasingly into the hands of historically disadvantaged South Africans

Fossil Fuel Foundation established

1995

Around one million lower-income households dependent on coal as their primary energy source for cooking, lighting and heating. Since then, electricity supply has been expanded to lower-income households and those in rural areas

1999

Coaltech 2020 Research Programme established

2001

Iscor is unbundled, spinning off its mining interests as Kumba Resources

2002

New Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act implemented

Now

Eskom is building two modern thermal power stations, Medupi and Kusile, based on coal reserves in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces

2030

South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) envisages that the proportion of people with access to the electricity grid should have risen to at least 90%, with non-grid options available for the remainder