Home is where the heart is, and nowhere is this more prevalent than in Southern Africa where fires are the centre of household activities and are used for cooking, water and space heating. But in a country like South Africa with its abundance of coal, fireplaces can be hazardous, especially during winter when they cause high levels of both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Low-income households in particular depend on coal for household fuel and are especially at risk. This is set to change by an intervention that involves simply lighting a coal fire differently. CEF (Pty) Ltd is promoting the "Basa njengo Magogo" (BnM) – a low-smoke fire lighting method that entails placing a few lumps of coal on the top of a fire at the right time, thereby improving ignition of the underlying coals. With the BnM there are less smoke emissions, improved air quality and the respiratory hazards associated with indoor air pollution are minimised.

Following initial pilot studies and experimentation with its uptake, the BnM method has finally come of age for mass roll out, and CEF has been mandated by the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) to do so. CEF has engaged consultants to spread the benefits of this method to 20 000 households in Alexandra and 30 000 households in SOWETO.

CEF is promoting the BnM because of the pressing health and environmental impacts that low-income households are exposed to because of the way coal is being used, in open fires, mbauwulas (tin drums) and old stoves. Air pollution from coal fires poses a serious threat to households since its indoor fumes amounts to ten to fifteen times the international health standards. It is estimated that the direct health cost associated with inhalation exposures to ambient air pollution in the Vaal Triangle is in the order of R290 million (R1200 per household) per annum. The results of studies done in 2001/02 indicated that the implementation of BnM reduces such ambient air pollution by approximately 40%.

The method was discovered by 63-year-old Mrs Nobelungu Mashinini of Embalenhle Township in Secunda, during a Sasol workshop, and named in her honour: "Basa njengo Magogo" is a Zulu phrase meaning "make your fire like the old lady".

The principle of the low-smoke method is based on the fact that smoke is generated at the hot/cold boundary. In the normal bottom-up coal fire ignition process, the smoke rises through the cold coals and thus escapes. In the top-down ignition process, the smoke rises through the hot zone and is consequently burnt. This new method will not only improve health, but also offers coal and monetary savings.

A further boost to the proliferation of the BNM is the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism’s (DEAT) "Clean Fires Campaign". This will take the BnM method to households in national priority areas (Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area and Highveld Priority Area) in the winter of 2008.
"Our target is to reduce air pollution in low-income settlements where people use coal as a primary source of energy. The campaign is aimed at raising awareness amongst households that use coal fires for cooking and heating, thus encouraging them to use a better methodology to make their fires," says Mr Tsietsi Mahema, director of Atmospheric Air Quality Information at DEAT.

VEB Cele & Associates won the tender to do the SOWETO roll out and was appointed as the BnM Training Service Provider for DEAT and for the Sedibeng Municipality "Clean Fires Campaign". It provided training and demonstrations at the launch on July 7, as well as certificates for the BnM trainers. Its project manager for the programme, Ms Matshepiso Makhabane, is optimistic about its adoption: "We have 100 fieldworkers that go out every day to demonstrate the old fire-making method compared to the new one. A day later they go back and monitor the technique to make sure people are doing it right. We engage with roughly 39 families per day, and have reached approximately 15000 households so far."

One such accredited trainer is the Alexandra-based Tsogang community based environmental organisation. "Tsogang" means "wake up and do it for yourselves" a fitting name given the successful take up rates of the method. "We have been going door-to-door to households and demonstrating this cleaner practice and people are convinced, especially those who use the mbawula, as the reduction in smoke is clearly visible. They also appreciate the fact that burning the coal in this way makes it burn for longer, thereby saving money too. We are currently in the teaching phase of operations, and in October we will be doing a retention study to see if people still like it and are continuing to use it," says Lucy Motsepe, Site Manager for Tsogang.

The Clean Fires Campaign is being undertaken in partnership with DME, the Department of Health, CEF, Sedibeng Regional Municipality, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan, City of Johannesburg, the Jupiter Drawing Room, Eskom, Anglo Coal and Sasol.