Category: Updates

Recapping the Project

7/2/2017

Eita,
And with that, the investigation is finished. I have been covering mine closure and abandonment in South Africa for much of the past two years, and it's now time to find the next thread to pull. Before that, a few closing thoughts...

I must of course give massive thanks to the Fund for Investigative Journalism, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the Fund for Environmental Journalism who all gave generously to make my reporting possible. My work would not have found success if not for the constant support and guidance (not to mention the office and endless supply of coffee) from the amazing staff at the Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry. Additionally, thank you to everyone at Independent Media who gave me a second home at 47 Sauer. And to all my sources who trusted me, invited me into your homes, shared your stories, I am beyond grateful.

Final thoughts below, but first, here is the batch of stories I produced in the last third of the project:

Climate Home
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2017/03/22/unfinished-business-coal-miners-south-africa-walk-away-clean/
Unfinished business: Coal miners across South Africa walk away from clean up

Roads & Kingdoms
http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2017/rebellion-in-pondoland/
The Pondoland Rebellion

The Star
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/days-of-coal-mines-are-numbered-as-eskom-shifts-focus-8378695
Days of coal mines are numbered as Eskom shifts focus

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/north-west/a-trilogy-of-corruption-is-tearing-a-community-apart-8507543
A 'trilogy of corruption' is tearing a community apart

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/the-dust-mountain-thats-just-always-there-9180268
The dust mountain that's just always there

http://www.iol.co.za/the-star/anglogold-pause-plans-for-mine-in-colombia-9601431
AngloGold pause plans for mine in Colombia

Saturday Star
A minefield of hope....and violence

Oxpeckers
http://oxpeckers.org/2017/04/coal-mines-legacy/
Coal mines leave a legacy of ruin
*republished in the Mail & Guardian and Fin24

http://oxpeckers.org/2017/05/r60-billion-held-mines-never-closed/
R60-billion held for mines that are never closed
*republished in Fin24

http://oxpeckers.org/2017/05/future-without-coal/
South Africa's future without coal

http://oxpeckers.org/2017/06/no-mining-at-mabola/
No mining at Mabola for 'the foreseeable future'
*republished in Fin24

Mining in South Africa is in for a wild ride in the coming years. New legislation, corruption, shifting markets and much more promise to significantly change the mining landscape. I look forward to reading stories from all the amazing journos and photogs with whom I worked these past years.

To hopefully lead to other reporters and researchers continuing this work, I made all the records I obtained from South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources public. My previous blog post (here: www.markolalde.com/south-africa/paia-day-transparencys-a-beautiful-thing) explains what documents are there and how to access them.

And finally, many thanks to all of you who came along for this investigation through your reads, comments, critiques and interest! Keep supporting journalism, and it will support you.
Sharp sharp!

Mark

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Recapping the Second Third

2/12/2017

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Eita,
Another third of the project has come and gone, with much of it dedicated to reporting longer investigations planned for the near future. Still, though, there was time for plenty of writing, a mini-documentary, a photo essay and a release of never-before-seen documents (that apparently made a splash in Parliament...). These stories have seen me off-road a VW Polo, an Audi A3 and a Toyota Corolla while out of the office and pester every province every week for documents while in the office. Here's what has come of all that so far....

The Star
www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/sas-failed-system-of-mine-closure-7117963
Is it possible for Mintails to properly close its operations near Johannesburg, and what does this say about mine closure across South Africa?

Saturday Star
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/eastern-cape/pics-amadiba-community-fights-proposed-mine-7312021
Since Sikhosiphi "Bazooka" Radebe was murdered, likely for opposing a proposed titanium mine, what has happened in the Amadiba community's fight against that mine on the Wild Coast?

http://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/residents-down-in-the-dumps-after-coal-slump-7469365
How does the government relocate communities that are negatively impacted by nearby coal mines and coal-fired power stations?

http://www.iol.co.za/business-report/markets/commodities/pics-minerals-no-longer-rule-sa-roost-7541988
What does the Minerals-Energy Complex look like now, in photos (ignore the quality of some of them, weird editing for the paper wasn't updated for online)?

Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism
http://oxpeckers.org/2016/12/mine-closures-whats-happening-in-your-back-yard/
What do previously hidden documents related to mine closure reveal, and is Central Rand Gold's operation near downtown Johannesburg illegal?

http://oxpeckers.org/2017/02/ministers-sign-secret-deal/
Now that the ministers of the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Mineral Resources have signed off on coal mining in a legally protected environment, what does this mean for conservation efforts?

Inter Press Service
http://www.ipsnews.net/2016/11/phosphate-mining-firms-set-sights-on-southern-africas-sea-floor/
Will seabed strip mining proceed in southern Africa and/or elsewhere in the world?

http://www.ipsnews.net/2016/12/bringing-south-africas-small-scale-miners-out-of-the-shadows/
What is the possibility for regulating artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), and does this differ between "illegal" and "informal" ASM?

http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/02/alternative-mining-indaba-makes-its-voice-heard/
Will the 2017 version of the Alternative Mining Indaba finally lead to the industry listening to community grievances and implementing changes?

Reporting these stories and preparing those larger investigations took me across the country: to the AMI in Cape Town, to the largest zama zama operation I've ever seen in Welkom, to rural villages in Pondoland (i.e. no-road-goes-there rural), underground in abandoned coal mines in Mpumalanga and in a helicopter over the Central/West/Far West Rands for a photo and video shoot. As always, thanks for following along, and look out for some big things coming soon.
Sharp sharp,

Mark

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Update: Recapping the First Third

11/1/2016

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Sharp sharp,
As we've all been watching my home country tear itself apart, I'm trying to keep busy in my adopted home country. I am likely a third of the way through this latest reporting stint, so it's time to check in on my progress.

This time around, I began expanding my multimedia skill set with some (still a tad rough) podcasts to accompany my work on Oxpeckers. Expect a few more attempts before my time here is done. Also, I am working toward short video pieces for my longer investigations. More to come on that front.

Most significantly, I am finally digging into the documents to which the Department of Mineral Resources granted me access at the end of last year. Check out The Star newspaper (and its website: www.iol.co.za) next week for details from that investigation. Although my analysis of the information is still in its infancy, what will appear in this upcoming story will be the first time this information has seen the light of day on any public platform in South Africa. My major roadblock through this first phase of my work has been the Department's unwillingness to release the rest of the information to which I was legally granted full access. I have been fighting this and will keep fighting until I receive it. My hope is to publish longer features off that information in the next third of my reporting.

The below list includes stories that are either already published or completed and about to be published. Here are some of the questions I have been trying to answer:

Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism
--How does the potential for seabed strip mining impact a recent shift toward developing a sustainable marine-based economy? http://oxpeckers.org/2016/11/3345/
--Would the South African government really allow mining in extraordinarily important, water-producing areas during a drought? http://oxpeckers.org/2016/10/3269/
--Why is it so difficult for communities to successfully organize in opposition to mining? http://oxpeckers.org/2016/09/3137/

Inter Press Service
--Who benefits from allowing coal mining underneath protected wetlands? http://www.ipsnews.net/2016/10/amid-south-africas-drought-proposed-mine-raises-fears-of-wetlands-impact/
--(Soon to publish) Is there any country in the world that will allow offshore phosphate mining?

The Star
--(In above photo) How has historic mining facilitated sinkhole formation, and how will impending mine abandonment affect the issue?
--(Soon to publish) Are there specific mining companies flaunting the laws governing mine closure, and is the system broken nationwide?

The Africa Report
--(In above photo) Coming from my past investigation into Malawi's competing interests of hydropower and irrigation, which has the upper hand?
--(Soon to publish) What market forces helped create a zama zama-based industry, and is there any way to regulate this black market force?

Next up on the docket, I plan to focus on several larger threads: rehabilitation funds and closure certificates, corruption in the coal-to-energy complex, and the manner in which Western mining companies obtain mining rights in South Africa. I also have fascinating leads from whistleblowers and activists, and you can bet I will be tracking those down.

Recent developments in South African politics -- namely the finance minister fighting a shadow war with the influential Gupta family and the former public protector taking on state corruption -- have had a beautiful side effect of making new documents public. This, too, will play into the next step of my work.

As always, thanks for reading, keeping watching this space, and let's try to not rip up the Paris Climate Agreement.
Cheers...

Mark

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Here We Go Again

7/14/2016

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A boy displays the dirt he is playing with in a Johannesburg informal settlement. He picked up the handful of mud from a zama zama's gold processing operation.

Sharp, sharp!
My return to South Africa is just weeks away, so it's time for one more post before I board that plane. I understand that absolutely everyone is as enthralled by South Africa's abandoned mines as I am, so that's where my work will pick up upon landing. That being said, new documents, databases and information promise to make this next batch of stories another exciting step.

Before jumping back into the world of abandoned mines, zama zamas and precious metals, though, I want to use this post as a home for a note on transparency.

When speaking about my work, I often get questions regarding my funding. Some of them relate to how I manage to stay afloat while freelancing, while others are thinly veiled attempts to figure out who must be "pulling the purse/marionette strings" on my work. For the sake of transparency, I have put together a list of groups providing funding and research assistance at the bottom of this post and have done the preliminary digging for anyone asking those questions.

I am honored to receive financial support from three sources: the Fund for Investigative Journalism, the Society of Environmental Journalists' Fund for Environmental Journalism and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. These are three well-respected journalistic organizations, which provide assistance to reporters who cover under-reported topics. In today's world of publications' evaporating budgets, the need for expensive investigative and international work (let alone international-investigative work) has not decreased, and non-profits have stepped up to fill the funding void. I included the three organizations' websites as well as their most recently published 990s. A form filed with the IRS, a 990 is the most direct way to peer into a nonprofit's finances.

Additionally, I receive research assistance -- but no funding -- from several other groups. I work closely with the Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry and the Wits City Institute -- two research groups at the University of the Witwatersrand -- so I included links to their websites and Wits' annual reports from the past decade. Finally, in the course of my work, I come across many NGOs, CBOs and other public-sector groups. I included the websites and nonprofit registration information from South Africa's Department of Social Development for two of them.

The worlds of freelance reporting, international reporting and investigative reporting often turn into ethics minefields: What information can parties share? What types of guarantees can be made to sources? What sort of assistance passes into the realm of 'in-kind'?. I work to remain constantly aware of these questions and hope that my own transparency prior to reporting is the first step.

I am proud of my editorial control. It is one of the -- if not the -- most important reasons I decided to continue working as a freelancer for the near future. With that out of the way, let's get back to work. As always, this website will be the home for my commentary and updates. Also, I will be checking in via Twitter (@MarkOlalde).

And finally, thanks for following along.
Cheers,
Mark

Flora covers the landscape of the Karoo, a region threatened by the possibility of both fracking as well as uranium mining.

Funding provided by:
Fund for Investigative Journalism
website: fij.org
form 990: http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2014/520/895/2014-520895081-0bcb5cb3-9.pdf

Society of Environmental Journalists / Fund for Environmental Journalism
website: www.sej.org/fund-environmental-journalism-grantees
form 990: www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2014/520/194/2014-520194031-0bbf44be-9.pdf

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
website: pulitzercenter.org/reporting
form 990: www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2014/270/458/2014-270458242-0ba942c4-9.pdf

Preliminary research assistance provided by:
Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry: www.wits.ac.za/csmi

Wits City Institute: www.wits.ac.za/cityinstitute

University of the Witwatersrand: https://www.wits.ac.za/about-wits/governance/strategic-leadership/annual-reports/

Federation for a Sustainable Environment: www.fse.org.za

Bench Marks Foundation: www.bench-marks.org.za

Screenshot of the Bench Marks Foundation's publicly available entry on the Department of Social Development's database on nonprofit organizations.

Screenshot of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment's publicly available entry on the Department of Social Development's database on nonprofit organizations.

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Recapping the Project

11/26/2015

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A gold mining operation.

Sharp, sharp!
This project is complete -- for now -- so it's time for a recap of what the heck actually happened.

After several months of zamas, abandoned mines and randomly shooting a shack fire, a number of stories emerged. Much of the investigation ended up as a four-part series with Independent Media, a media group with titles across the country. On its best day, the story was simultaneously published in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria.

Here are the project's deliverables. Enjoy...

http://fij.org/examining-the-plight-of-the-zama-zamas-in-south-africa/
--Series published across Independent Media platforms including The Star, Saturday Star, The Sunday Independent, Cape Argus and Pretoria News. (PDFs uploaded on linked FIJ site).
--Part 1: "Deep down in the disused shafts"
--Part 2: "Dumped, damned and desperate"
--Part 3: "Mines are not closed - they're abandoned"
--Part 4: "Too many holes in the mine rehab story"

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/the_haunting_legacy_of_south_africas_gold_mines/2931/
--Published on Yale Environment 360.
--"The Haunting Legacy of South Africa's Gold Mines"

http://oxpeckers.org/2015/11/sas-water-bubble/
--Published with the Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism.
--"SA's water bubble"

http://oxpeckers.org/2015/10/2002/
and
http://mg.co.za/article/2015-10-22-gold-rushs-toxic-legacy-lingers
--Published in Oxpeckers and the Mail & Guardian.
--"No (dis)closure on mining's mess"

One of Johannesburg's many zama zamas.

I accomplished this work with the help of several groups, publications and individuals. The original funding came from the generosity of the Fund for Investigative Journalism. I found a home for my research at the Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry at the University of the Witwatersrand.

The Federation for a Sustainable Environment was extraordinarily helpful with my reporting, and the Bench Marks Foundation also provided support. Itumeleng English -- photographer extraordinaire at The Star -- was instrumental in this work, as always.

Finally, I partnered with the Wits City Institute in creating an exhibit of my photography at the Workers' Museum in Johannesburg's Newtown neighborhood. I appreciate the assistance provided by all these groups.

In addition to this investigation, I decided to undertake a project in Malawi...for some reason. I travelled the country for two weeks in a beat-up Toyota Starlet to find out what the government's dream of large-scale agricultural irrigation might mean for the country's environment and energy production. That -- and a piece on South African fracking -- will be coming soon.

My work in Africa is done for the moment, but I plan to make that moment brief with impending shifts in legislation, political leadership and economics promising to blow up the mine closure arena. As always, thanks for coming along for the ride, and don't forget to check back soon.
Cheers,
Mark