Coal mining and exporting company Thungela, which generated R8.9-billion free cash in the first six months to June 30, is sharing R500-million of it with employees and communities, setting out to plant a million trees to purify water, putting in solar power to reduce its carbon footprint as it charts a pathway to net zero, has introduced a programme to uplift small enterprises, is opening a new replacement colliery, and is going out of its way to ensure that Mpumalanga is not left behind when the province transitions out of coal. Taking into account the latest interim dividend as well as the R137-million Thungela distributed earlier this year, every one of the company’s 4 500 qualifying employees will get about R100 000 each while the community trust works on how to best use the nigh-R400-million contributed to it to ensure that the trust outlives the mines.