A Greenpeace employee takes a water sample next to the MNS Informal Settlement in Mpumalanga, Witbank (also called Emalahleni, meaning "place of coal") and the coal washing station. The water is approximately 500 meters from the shacks (tin houses) of the settlement. The water from the washing station flows into a pond from which the community members sometimes collect water for households use.
Members of the community told Greenpeace that the mines claim that the water is purified and drinkable while it is not. Visible particles of metal and coal swim around in the water causing stomach aches. People in the community now have to spend their limited income on bottled drinking water.