MAY I air some views about coal as a source of power. It is scandalous that, while the rest of the world is trying to minimise the use of carbon fuels, Eskom is embarking on a programme of not only re-using disused coal mines but opening new ones.

MAY I air some views about coal as a source of power. It is scandalous that, while the rest of the world is trying to minimise the use of carbon fuels, Eskom is embarking on a programme of not only re-using disused coal mines but opening new ones.

Coal is a polluting product in our water sources and our air. For mineworkers it is debilitating in its destruction of their breathing systems and they also pay dearly with their lives.

Added to that, they are poorly paid and end their lives painfully, and their families impoverished.

After so many years of operating in a country blessed or cursed with so much sunshine, a free energy source, how is it we are not yet using solar panels for heating water and powering small gadgets?

How is it there is little progress in the use of wind power?

Tuelo Leteane, Mafikeng