An obscure mining company has revived a rejected proposal under a new name - and Kruger management says it has been kept in the dark about an environmental impact assessment that omits the park.

The impacts on the Kruger National Park are not discussed at all... The locality maps in the draft report do not indicate the proximity of the mine to [the park]... It is highly questionable as to whether the omission has been done on purpose. - Oscar Mthimkhulu, managing executive, Kruger National Park

A controversial plan to mine coal on the southern boundary of the Kruger National Park has been revived, raising concern about what this means for the country's best-known wildlife sanctuary - as well as for surrounding ecotourism lodges, the agricultural economy and scarce water resources.

The initial plan was launched in 2018 by a relatively unknown mining company, Manzolwandle Investments, based in Emalahleni (Witbank). It involved both opencast and underground mines over a massive 18,000ha swathe of land bordering the park.

That first proposal was rejected by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in 2020 after vociferous objections. Now it has been revived by the same mining group using a different name and different environmental consultants.

The latest venture, under the name of Tenbosch Mining, has been scaled down considerably and now involves a smaller 6,500ha parcel of land east of the Komatipoort border post.

Nevertheless, Tenbosch...