Transitioning Mpumalanga’s coal-heavy economy to higher levels of agricultural output could help create new businesses and jobs and improve the long-term economic resilience of the province as mines close and Eskom begins decommissioning power stations in line with the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019 (IRP 2019). Research conducted by Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) warns, however, that current and future mining activity could sterilise arable land in the province and that action should, thus, be taken to safeguard agricultural land as part of the country’s planning for a just transition from coal to renewables.
