Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Anna and her husband Martiens Grobler moved onto their farm in Witbank in 1988 and have lived there for 24 years. They share the farm with their son and daughter who both have families of their own. 7 years ago Westcoal Mine began extracting coal on the boarder of their property. Soon after mining commenced, the Grobler family’s health began to deteriorate. Anna’s breathing has been badly affected and relies on medicated breathing apparatus to relieve the tension in her lungs. The family suffer with sinus problems and constantly take antihistamine pills to relieve the symptoms. Anna’s grandson often wakes up with a bleeding nose and sleeps with a steam machine in his room to clean the air. Black dust is a constant problem, it settles on the walls and furniture, windows and doors need to be consistently closed. The value of the property has drastically reduced. They had plans to build houses on the land. Soon after building commenced these plans were halted due to the foundations becoming saturated with acid mine drainage.

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