Around 7,000 nautical miles from South Africa’s biggest coal exporting port, in the cold, murky waters of the North Sea, rusty bulk carriers weighing tens of thousands of tonnes are preparing to berth on the grey docks of Rotterdam to unload vast quantities of coal.

Critics claim these shipments contain ‘blood coal’, sourced from a South African supply network more opaque than the oceans it crosses to reach Europe’s power plants and smelters. This coal trade, they argue, leaves a devastating trail: human rights abuses, environmental pollution, job losses, and communities wracked with depression and high suicide rates.

Find the three colaborative investigations here into EU / South Africa coal supply chains here:
iWatch Africa
Zam Magazine
Buisness Report

Photos: Oliver Stallwood