Durban — The minister of electricity will focus full-time and work with the Eskom board and management on ending load shedding and ensuring the Energy Action Plan is implemented without delay.
Through the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan, R1.5 trillion will be invested in the South African economy over the next five years in new frontiers such as renewable energy, green hydrogen and electric vehicles, said President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday night.
Ramaphosa also clarified that the minister of public enterprises would remain the shareholder representative of Eskom and steer its restructuring, ensure the establishment of the transmission company, oversee the implementation of the just energy transition programme, and oversee the establishment of the SOE Holding Company.
Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster to respond to the electricity crisis and its effects, which will begin with immediate effect.
“We must act to lessen the impact of the energy crisis on farmers, on small businesses, on our water infrastructure and our transport network,” he said.
This was to address the electricity shortfall of 4 000MW to 6 000MW.
The plan outlined five key interventions:
• Fix Eskom’s coal-fired power stations and improve the availability of existing supply.
• Enable and accelerate private investment in generation capacity.
• Accelerate procurement of new capacity from renewables, gas and battery storage.
• Unleash businesses and households to invest in rooftop solar.
• Fundamentally transform the electricity sector to achieve long-term energy security.
“We have taken steps to improve the performance of Eskom’s existing power stations so that the coal-fired power stations that provide 80% of our electricity produce the amount of electricity for which they were designed,” the president said.
The National Treasury is finalising a solution to Eskom’s R400 billion debt burden. Eskom has launched a programme to buy excess power from private generators and has already secured 300MW from neighbouring countries.
The SAPS has established a dedicated team with senior leadership to deal with the pervasive corruption and theft at several power stations. This has contributed to the poor performance of these stations. Intelligence-driven operations at Eskom-related sites have so far resulted in 43 arrests.
RAIL
The national rail policy will guide the modernisation and reform of the rail sector, providing, among other things, for third-party access to our rail network.
Ramaphosa said the government developed a Transnet roadmap that would translate policy commitments into reality, including the restructuring of Transnet Freight Rail to create a separate infrastructure manager for the rail network by October. This will help SA ports regain their global position as some of the most efficient ports once again.
WATER
Ramaphosa said the Department of Water and Sanitation was leading the process of investing in major infrastructure projects across the country. After being delayed for several years, full-scale construction works for the Lesotho Highlands project phase 2 would commence this year.
ROADS
The South African National Roads Agency – Sanral – has awarded road construction contracts worth R18 billion over the last three months.
ECONOMY
Ramaphosa said that he would give impetus to the campaign that government embarked on nearly five years ago to raise R1.2 trillion in new investment.
EMPLOYMENT
The Department of Small Business Development will work with the National Treasury on how the scheme can be strengthened to assist small and medium enterprises and businesses in the informal sector.
To address the challenge of youth unemployment, the Employment Tax Incentive has been expanded to encourage businesses to hire more young people in large numbers.
Ramaphosa started his speech but was disrupted several times by the EFF and African Transformation Movement leader Vuyo Zungula who was the first to be kicked out.
As it had promised EFF leader Julius Malema started his party crusade against the president before Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula ordered the Parliament Protection Services to remove EFF MPs.
Surprisingly the security police emerged in Parliament while the presidential guard formed a human wall shielding the president from possible harm.
African Democratic Change (ADeC) leader Visvin Reddy said that the opposition parties and critics will dismiss Ramaphosa’s address as yet another bag of empty promises.
For the full speech go to IOL
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