“King coal is back!” Mineral Resources and Petroleum Minister Gwede Mantashe exclaimed at the ribbon cutting of coal producer Seriti’s new Naudesbank Colliery, near Carolina, in Mpumalanga, on March 14.

Mantashe, enthused by the opening of a new colliery at a time when global politics and markets are increasingly anti-fossil fuels, expressed his support for a more balanced approach to energy security – one which still relies on coal-based power for baseload.

He also expressed his support of the coal mining industry being a source of continued direct and indirect employment, as well as investments by mining companies into surrounding communities by building roads, clinics, schools and other critical infrastructure.

Mantashe acknowledged the challenges and constraints of the fiscus in addressing these crucial aspects of building a functional society and alleviating poverty, and freely admitted to Seriti CEO Mike Teke that it was on the backs of private companies such as Seriti that government depended to execute meaningful service delivery and harvest taxes.

“When you open a new mine Mike, I want you to make money. Bring it in as quickly as possible. Make money so that we can impose more obligations on you,” the Minister said.

Speaking at the launch, Mantashe said that although his communist ideology – and that of the African National Congress – might be at odds with the capitalist nature of private mining companies, it was a necessary compromise to further the goals of the National Democratic Revolution.

“People say, ‘What kind of a communist are you, who promotes making money?’ But I’m not idealistic. I’m realistic and pragmatic and dealing with real life. Mines must make work properly, make money, employ more people and meet their obligations,” he said.

“Mining is not there to create jobs. It must make money, and in the process of making money, it must employ people. In the process of making money, they must fulfil all the obligations that are imposed on them. If they are not going to make money, those obligations are not going to be fulfilled,” Mantashe said.

Although he emphasised that the primary function of mining was not job creation but rather economic growth, he expressed his desire to see an increase in mining employment figures.

“In 2024, the mining industry directly employed a total 484 837. If you add indirect employment, it goes above one-million. This is a number that should improve. When you open a new mine, I make sure that I come. I want to see that it’s really open because it’s going to employ more people, and that number is going to improve,” he said.

He noted that although miners like Anglo American and BHP were moving away from coal mining, South African miners, such as Seriti, Exxaro Resources and Thungela, continued to invest in coal mining.

"That is the emergence of black ownership which is responding to the disadvantages of Apartheid,” Mantashe said.

He insisted that, despite the prevailing narrative that coal is dead, it was on the rise.

“There has been a discussion of the accelerated exit of coal mining. Major companies have been pulling out of coal, out of fear. But I’m telling you, coal is not declining – it’s growing. The discussion is shifting from purely climate change discussions to a more balanced approach, which is development plus responsible mining. That means you protect the environment, but you mine. Because if you don’t mine, you have no capacity to protect the environment,” Mantashe said.

Teke agreed.

“At the Investing in African Mining Indaba [in February, in Cape Town], there was a conversation about ‘What is a critical mineral?’ and they were counting lithium [and others]. I said ‘Coal is critical, because for you to mine the others you need the energy that is generated out of coal’. So, coal will still be here for a very long time,” he said.

NAUDESBANK COLLIERY
Seriti broke ground on the new Naudesbank Colliery in November 2024, with the first coal produced in late February. The colliery has a mine life of about 12 years..

The first phase will involve opencast mining. Production will then move underground in about two years' time, producing about one-million tonnes a year of coal.

The colliery is set to maintain about 300 direct jobs, along with additional indirect and downstream employment opportunities in the surrounding communities.

Seriti has invested more than R500-million in the development of the Naudesbank Colliery, including infrastructure projects that will simultaneously support mining activities and surrounding communities.