Deputy Director General of the Department of Mineral Resources Ntokozo Ngcwabe has slammed what she called “financial bullying” by funders who refuse to finance coal projects, saying that South Africa needs to pace itself in its move away from the polluting resource. “We need to pace ourselves [in scaling down coal use]  … and not be pressured to meet certain deadlines by a certain time if we are not at the same level of development [as richer countries],” Ngcwabe said in a media interview on Wednesday.