South Africa’s once-mighty Komati coal-fired power plant has been silent since its shutdown in 2022— then heralded as a pioneering move in the world’s transition to green energy. The reality two years on is very different for both repurposing it and finding work for those who lost their jobs. I don’t see much that has been done for the community," says a former employee, Sizwe Shandu. "We would consider it not a success, but we have learnt from that, and other stations are now applying lessons learnt from Komati," says acting general manager Theven Pillay, of the state energy firm Eskom-owned plant, located east of Johannesburg in Mpumalanga province. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES