Bringing mining to people

Journalists are the heart of the nation.  Menar Academy and Khanye Colliery empowered senior and junior journalists from various media houses and media institutions, with comprehension in reporting mine stories. Both presentations and the site visit assisted me to discover different angles.

Community development cannot be ignored by the media, as Khanye coal mine has 384 employees of which 51 are females and there are skills development programmes for the youth around Bronkhorspruit. Canyon Coal firmly believes in women in mining and busy with community projects where people are trained to operate mine machines.  The coal processing plant operates for seven days a week and the main plant processes more than 400 tons of coal per hour.

This is where we come in as journalists to report in our local newspapers and radio stations about developments taking place in mines around us and to challenge the mining companies to use us for posts and bursary advertisements so that they can reach local people. And it’s not an everyday opportunity for journalists to have access to this kind of information without being referred to spokespersons or representatives who some of them are not always willing to speak to the media.

I learnt the importance of knowing what and who is benefiting from these mining companies and being able to read annual reports and creating stories out of them. We must be able as journalists to question mining companies and Menar Academy has given us an opportunity to enrich our reporting skills.

Trainees share their experience during the site tour at Khanye colliery

By Busiswa Mrasi