ANC Youth League deems nuclear critical to industrialisation:
The ANC Youth League has supported the development of nuclear energy, identifying it as “critical to advance massive industrial development” in a policy discussion document.
Nuclear power, the document suggests, is not only a proven source of stable and reliable energy — but it is also environmentally friendly.
The document — prepared in the lead-up to the youth league’s national congress, set to kick off at the tailend of this month — discusses South Africa’s energy crisis at length, also weighing in on the trajectory of the country’s just energy transition.
The 15-year energy crisis, which is at the heart of the country’s economic woes, is a thorn in the side of an ANC battling to justify its leadership in the run-up to next year’s national elections. Meanwhile, the governing party has had to balance competing interests amid the country’s transition towards a greener economy.
South Africa’s energy problem is “a baseload problem”, the youth league document states.
Although the discussion supports the transition to greener alternatives as part of South Africa’s energy mix — necessary to cushion the economy against climate shocks — it also asserts that renewable technologies alone are not sufficient to sustain “the expansion and building of heavy industries”.
Last week, the Presidential Climate Commission, established by President Cyril Ramaphosa to oversee South Africa’s energy transition, said it had ruled out nuclear power as playing a part in the country’s energy mix.
In a report containing its recommendations for the future energy mix, the commission backed a least-cost option that includes 50 to 60 gigawatts of renewable energy and no new coal and nuclear power.
“Not only are these the cheapest, secure options, but they are also the only options with build times short enough to make a meaningful impact on load-shedding. These technologies would also attract the best finance terms,” the report read.
The commission’s position on nuclear has put it at odds with the department of mineral resources and energy, led by Gwede Mantashe. Last month, during the Enlit Africa conference in Cape Town, Mantashe announced that his department would issue a request for proposal for 2 500 megawatts of nuclear power as part of the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP), which sets out the basis for new energy procurement.
The youth league’s document suggests that the department’s request for information on nuclear energy indicates that the government “acknowledges and understands the role nuclear energy played in South Africa since its first commercialisation”.
Mantashe’s department has previously argued that nuclear power was cheaper and cleaner than other sources of energy, which the Presidential Climate Commission has disputed.
Last month, Ramaphosa transferred competencies from Mantashe to new Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, empowering him to determine the energy sources and mix required to keep the lights on. These decisions, however, feed into the IRP, which falls under Mantashe’s responsibilities.
Mantashe has been overseeing an update of the 2019 IRP, which was produced under his watch.
Communities vital to Mpumalanga’s energy transition — premier:
The “constant refrain” that Mpumalanga premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane hears as she travels across the province, especially in the coal belt, is that the energy transition “cannot be just if communities are left behind”.
“I will leave the debate to the experts but it is worth noting that many in the province are concerned about the pace of decommissioning and the repurposing of our coal-fired power plants,” she said. “Let us move on this in an informed and consultative manner, bringing all our communities and stakeholders on board.”
Mtshweni-Tsipane was addressing the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) on her province’s programme for the implementation of just transition initiatives on Friday.
Mpumalanga, she said, has undertaken “many steps” to address climate change adaptation and implement programmes on just transition. It faces numerous challenges but “we will do more and we will certainly do our country proud as a pilot for many others who are set on this trajectory towards an inclusive, just but low-carbon, economy”.
High unemployment
The province has more than 4.68 million residents — about 7.8% of the national population — and is the fifth-biggest regional economy in the country.
“We have a diverse and resource-rich economy, which makes it one of the most attractive trade and investment destinations in South Africa.”
But, the province faces many problems, particularly unemployment, poverty and inequality, Mtsweni-Tsipane said. “Just in quarter 1 of 2023, our official unemployment rate was at 38.5%, which then gives us about 49.7% of an unofficial unemployment rate, including those not looking for work. So, as we celebrate this Youth Month, we must also reflect on the lack of opportunities for many young people in the province.”
About 62.9% of Mpumalanga’s population is below the age of 35. “It is then hardly a surprise and remains a major challenge that youth unemployment is double that of the adults in the labour force.”
In 2021, about 50.3% of the province’s population lived below the low-bound poverty line of R890 per capita per month. The poorest 40% of households in Mpumalanga earned about 7.4% of income in 2021, which was “better than the national figure of 6.6% for 2021, but lower than the 8.6% share the province achieved in 1996”.
These developmental challenges were compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent negative national and global economic outlook, she said.
Just transition
Climate change and the just transition have become elevated in provincial development discourse and strategies, she said.
“This is hardly surprising because, as the hub of electricity coal-fired generation in South Africa, we are faced with socio-economic and environmental challenges arising from resource-intensive economic activities,” she said.
Mpumalanga is home to over 80% of the country’s coal production by volume and has 12 of Eskom’s 15 coal-fired power stations. This has resulted in a huge dependency on the exploitation of coal in the Mpumalanga regional economy and its municipalities, Mtsweni-Tsipane said.
In the past two State of the Province Addresses, she had announced proposals for responding to the just transition as a province.
“We are moving speedily on the establishment of the just transition and climate change provincial stakeholder forum, and a related technical working group, under the leadership of the director-general within the office of the premier.
“This effort has been further supported by our appointment of the resource through the secretariat to support the province as the head just transition for the province, adding more momentum to our efforts and strengthening our partnership and alignment.”
The province is working with the World Bank to do a proper assessment of what needs to be in place to “take the work forward, in creating the necessary institutional mechanisms to deliver on the mandate”.
Groundwork
Substantial groundwork had already been done in the province, as shown by several strategic initiatives, such as the provincial economic development strategy, the green growth strategy, the infrastructure master plan and the climate mitigation and adaptation strategy, the premier said.
Her government had adopted a climate change adaptation strategy in 2017, which laid out how climate change is expected to affect water availability, agriculture, human health, disaster management, biodiversity, ecosystems, human settlements, livelihoods, mining and forestry.
This comprehensive analysis, Mtsweni-Tsipane said, was crucial for framing subsequent steps towards the just transition. “To support the just transition, the Mpumalanga Infrastructure Master Plan 2060 is pivotal. The purpose … is to promote comprehensive planning and implementation of infrastructure development in the province, acting as a catalyst for socio-economic development and guiding infrastructure projects up to 2060,” she said.
She explained that it covers sectors such as transport, economy and social infrastructure, along with social service amenities and climate change.
The province had developed the Mpumalanga green economy development plan, which aims to transition the province’s economy from coal-based energy to renewable energy by 2030. Part of this was sustainable agriculture and eco-conscious towns. The plan was designed around four pillars: circular economy, smart agriculture, water and energy.
Its journey towards the just transition, the premier said, had been “enriched by the support and involvement” of a number of national and international stakeholders.
Economic losses
Reflecting on the findings of a report on the just transition alignment workshop in Secunda in May, she said: “We welcome the recommendation around the inclusive approach to the just transition in the province. The involvement of all spheres of government is paramount, together with all sectors of civil society, including our business partners, labour and community groups. No one must be left behind in this instance.”
Mtshweni-Tsipane said “it is well accepted” that there will be economic losses for coal industry-dependent communities.
“We need to prepare strategies to grow other sectors of local and regional economies in order to create many new jobs for our people. We accept that agriculture, tourism and manufacturing will need to step up and play an even more important role in our province, alongside the new focus on renewables.”
Leave no one behind
“Now, in the next step on our journey to low-carbon emissions in Mpumalanga, we are saying that we don’t want to leave anyone behind because this is important to me and I wish to request the support of the PCC and other partners in improving communication and awareness of climate change and the imperative of just transition in our province …
“We cannot rest until all our stakeholders are embracing the journey we want to embark upon … As a province, we also need your support to ensure that the negative economic impacts of the move away from fossil fuels, especially coal, do not have a severe impact on the welfare of our communities,” she said, explaining that Mpumalanga is already grappling with “serious development defects and that any sudden economic shocks will only worsen them”.
She stressed the importance of an industrialisation and economic diversification plan that would work and bring “prosperity to our region in new ways and activities, including across the renewable value chain … As we embrace new economic sectors and productive activities, we need to empower our people with the skills needed to participate in transformed labour markets.
Communities are our wealth
“We need to be mindful of the necessity to develop a supportive ecosystem for promoting entrepreneurship, especially for our small businesses in both the formal and informal sector of our region. The voice of our communities and the informal sector came through quite clearly during the workshop and we need to change the narrative.”
The conversations, Mtsweni-Tsipane said, must not be about reskilling but rather empowerment. “Reskilling means nothing, without jobs. We are not implementing just prospects, we are building economies, livelihoods and communities … Communities are our true wealth.
“How do we shift and use the inherent strength and knowledge in our community to enhance our economy? … We must not do it for them, we must do it with them. How do we also empower our communities and create economies and not just implement projects?”
She noted that social ownership of electricity assets was crucial to energy access and livelihoods. The premier also mentioned the importance of getting communities’ buy-in in terms of jobs, growth and opportunities.
“If we get this right and on track, I think the initiative of the just transition will be well received by our communities, but in whatever endeavour that we are doing, if it’s thought to leave them behind or disadvantage them somehow, it will be received with resistance.”
Mkhwebane cries foul over lawyers, money and alleged extortion:
Suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said on Friday she was not prepared to be represented by the state attorney in her impeachment inquiry in parliament because it would create a conflict of interest in the current and potentially fresh, further litigation surrounding the matter.
In a submission to the section 194 committee conducting the inquiry by video link, Mkhwebane insisted that the process be halted until the wrangle around her legal representation had been resolved.
She said the situation was a “mess” and the blame was squarely on the office of the public protector, both for terminating the services of her most recent attorney and for setting an upper limit of R4 million on the money it was prepared to allocate for her legal representation for the remainder of the inquiry.
Hope Chaane’s brief was terminated by the office this week after he fell seriously ill and Mkhwebane has said that she was shocked that she was not consulted before this decision was taken.
“Unfortunately, they are the cause of this mess.”
At present, she stressed, she found herself without an attorney of record to brief her senior counsel, advocate Dali Mpofu, who is representing her in the impeachment inquiry.
Isaac Chowe from the office of the state attorney confirmed in a presentation to the committee on Friday morning that Mkhwebane had refused to have an attorney appointed from that office.
“It is indeed so that the public protector is declining to be represented by the state attorney in Pretoria or any other state attorneys,” Chowe said.
He said Mkhwebane had said this would pose a clear conflict of interest but felt that it would be better if he left it to her to elaborate on the nature of the conflict she foresaw.
Mkhwebane said it would arise from, inter alia, the application she intended to bring for the recusal of the chairman of the committee, Richard Dyantyi.
“The issue now is, let’s say Chowe proceeds, can Chowe continue to dispute and apply in court for the recusal of the chairperson? Can Chowe go and litigate against the state attorney because you chairperson and others are represented by the state attorney, so I was trying to do things properly and, if I was listened to and not being taken as if, or accused of, delaying this issue would not have arisen,” she said.
Mkhwebane went on to accuse the office of the public protector of deviating from an agreement that she would be represented by any attorney on its list of legal service providers.
She said Chaane was selected from this list by the office of the state attorney which the office of the public protector had mandated to manage that process.
“I never had a problem [with that] because the monies come from PPSA (Public Protector South Africa). Now the PPSA decides to terminate Chaane and the state attorney then also writes to Chaane and terminates Chaane and now I don’t have an attorney.”
She said she wrote to Chowe to inform him that she was prepared to be represented by Chaane or anyone on this list.
“Now they’ve deviated, the public protector, by even approaching the state attorney.”
Mkhwebane said she was expecting the office of the public protector “to have the decency of contacting me” instead of simply informing her that they had asked the office of the state attorney to proceed to handle her representation.
She then accused Fatima Abrahams, the legal advisor to the committee, of attempting to distort an earlier exchange, when it had appeared that Mkhwebane was not averse to the involvement of the state attorney, and of confusing committee members.
Abrahams told the committee that it was not quite clear to her how this would create a conflict of interest, for which the test was one of reasonableness, and said she saw no obstacle to appointing a new attorney from that office, so that the inquiry could proceed.
“I personally cannot see what the impediment is, so that we can now move forward,” she said.
“My understanding is that they play a very limited role,” she added of the briefing attorney. “It is counsel that do the heavy lifting.”
But Mkhwebane said she was being persecuted by the state on several fronts and it was, at every turn, legally represented by the state attorney, hence the conflict was patent. She said this included the ongoing litigation around the legitimacy of her suspension a year ago by President Cyril Ramaphosa, pending the outcome of the impeachment inquiry.
She stressed that the Western Cape high court found that the suspension was tainted by “bias of a disqualifying kind”, and seemed hurried, given that it followed days after Mkhwebane decided to investigate the Phala Phala controversy around a robbery at the president’s game farm. The constitutional court has heard consolidated appeals and applications in the matter but has yet to make a ruling.
Mkhwebane also stressed that she had the right to legal representation of her choice, as per an earlier constitutional court ruling, where she challenged the rules of the impeachment process.
If the committee were to proceed without her having legal representation it would therefore “be in direct contempt of court”.
Since she was without a state-funded attorney, she added, she had privately engaged one — “out of my own pocket” — to correspond with Dyantyi regarding her demand that he recuse himself from chairing the inquiry.
Furthermore, she said the R4 million left for her legal defence, in terms of a decision taken by acting public protector Kholeka Gcaleka, was not sufficient.
Earlier this year, Gcaleka said her office, by the end of March, had spent R26.2 million on Mkhwebane’s legal challenges to the impeachment process and her representation before the inquiry and this was impacting on its ability to do its work.
“I was told the R4 million is for my travelling, for my accommodation, for everything. I went there three times in Cape Town, hence now I am appearing virtually, and R4 million is no longer R4 million, if we are using that money to exercise or to do anything which one is supposed to be doing.”
The recent demand for Dyantyi’s recusal has brought a fresh twist to a process he described on Friday as seeming to have a “DNA of delays”.
Mkhwebane wants him to recuse himself on the basis of allegations her husband made that he, ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina and the late chairperson of parliament’s portfolio committee on police, former energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, solicited a bribe in order to halt the inquiry.
Joemat-Pettersson died on Monday.
Dyantyi asked Mkhwebane to submit a letter with her recusal demand on Friday and said he would respond to it formally by lunchtime on Monday.
She has threatened that, should he fail to agree to step aside, she would proceed to court to force his recusal.
The committee has drawn up a timeframe for its work to be completed by the end of June. Mkhwebane’s seven-year term of office expires in October and parliament has begun the process of finding a successor.
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