Turning off the N12 toward Komati, the first area you'll encounter is Coalville – an uninspired but apt nod to the vast coal heartlands that lie here. In the hazy morning light, plumes billow off a mountain of black at Glencore's iMpunzi central processing plant, which looks over the R547.
The air hangs thick and sour as the road stretches to meet the R544, where jet-black dust spilling across the road from Universal Coal's New Clydesdale colliery has peppered the adjacent maize crops a dark, sculpture-like grey. Get 14 days free to read all our investigative and in-depth journalism. Thereafter you will be billed R75 per month. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed.
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