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Power system no longer able to keep the lights on. the poorest here hit hardest. after 20, 25 years. youre going to have to close down? yes. the power crisis is the result of decades of mismanagement and massive corruption, criminal gangs ready to kill anyone who tries to stop the looting. i was shaking badly. i was literally lying like this and i started gasping for air. a mixture of cyanide and sodium arsenite. today, south africa still gets almost all its power from burning coal. its a lethal...

South africa is big and sunny. it has vast wind and solar potential. and western nations are now backing something called a just energy transition — an $8 billion plan to help wean south africa off coal. we have a vast, abundant energy source freely available to us, which is our wind and solar resources. theyre amongst the best of anywhere in the world. so, we have some real least—cost options in front of us. we could transition very rapidly onto a renewable—dominant energy system. and spe...

In coal country. you can see the coal—fired power stations on the horizon and you can smell the coal, too. now, in theory, this huge industry is supposed to be quietly transitioning to renewables — to solar and wind. south africa has huge resources of both. but in practice, that transition is proving very difficult and very dangerous. were heading to a town called emalahleni. the word itself means "place of coal". if you want to understand south africas energy crisis, this is a good place to...

In 2019, a businessman, andre de ruyter, was brought in to clean up the state power utility eskom. he was blunt about the challenges. so, the stays were cut, the tower was pushed over onto the other line but nothing was stolen, so this is not an economic crime. this was clearly now an act of sabotage and i think we can call it as such. but that outspokenness would soon get him in trouble. in fact, as well see in a moment, it would get him poisoned. the pressure to break south africas dependence ...

Relatively small economy is still one of the worlds great c02 emitters. and heres the impact. machine whirs eight—year—old princess matsebula has grown up in coal country. when she struggles with breathing, its very hard cos shell be quiet, she wont eat, she wont talk, she wont do anything. official information about pollution levels here is curiously hard to get but leaked studies suggest this province is among the most polluted places on earth and that the coal industry is killing thousand...

Of the global trading system and were going to lose massive amounts of jobs. but the just energy transition faces obstacles — lots of them. coal miners and their unions worry — with good reason — about their own jobs vanishing here in south africa. many people will lose theirjob. theyll lose their job if the coal was closed down, the coal mining stopped? wed lose ourjob. and then, theres the politics. plenty of seniorfigures here are sceptical, to put it mildly, about the very idea of aban...

The gangs run huge risks. it really is a brutal province for anybody who wants to expose the truth. a gangster kind of economy. yeah, definitely. life is cheap in this country. you can hire hit men for 10,000 rand — thats m00. so, the system is, ithink, rotten to the core. and dangerous? yeah, absolutely. but stolen coal is only part of a much bigger problem. spread across this province are a dozen coal—fired power plants. they look like ships that have run aground. were now driving to one n...

The power crisis is the result of decades of mismanagement and massive corruption, criminal gangs ready to kill anyone who tries to stop the looting. i was shaking badly. i was literally lying like this and i started gasping for air. a mixture of cyanide and sodium arsenite. today, south africa still gets almost all its power from burning coal. its a lethal addiction. its killing us. this coal is killing us. the answer, to many, is a green revolution. but can western money and pressure help sout...

We could transition very rapidly onto a renewable—dominant energy system. and speed is crucial because if south africa drags its feet on going green, its exports could soon be blacklisted by other countries. you know, im talking about the hard economic reality. if we dont decarbonise, were going to be shut out of the global trading system and were going to lose massive amounts of jobs. but the just energy transition faces obstacles — lots of them. coal miners and their unions worry — with ...

Coal miners and their unions worry — with good reason — about their own jobs vanishing here in south africa. many people will lose theirjob. theyll lose their job if the coal was closed down, the coal mining stopped? wed lose ourjobs. and then, theres the politics. plenty of seniorfigures here are sceptical, to put it mildly, about the very idea of abandoning coal. youve been described as a coal fundamentalist, as a bit of a dinosaur, somebody whos obsessed with coal. yes, they call me all s...