NEWS AND SNIPPETS

CABINET ON ENERGY

Cabinet conveys regret that intermittent loadshedding is happening at the time when government is vigorously engaged with the interventions announced by President Ramaphosa in July 2022 to overcome the surmountable energy crisis facing the country.

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan recently presented a briefing on the capacity of Eskom and a progress report from the Technical Committee of the National Energy Crisis Committee. Cabinet is still deliberating on these reports and following further interventions, announcements will be made.

Meanwhile, Cabinet remains committed to resolving the issue of energy security in the country and welcomes the concerted efforts being made by government and stakeholders to find a permanent solution to end loadshedding.

POWER STATION TO BE RECYCLED

The Komati Power Station is a coal-fired plant that started operating in the 1960s, and finally is being shut for good. Eskom’s plan, part of the just energy transition (JET), is to repower Komati with renewable energy, and repurpose it into a training facility for Eskom employees and the surrounding community to be able to operate renewable energy facilities, and as a factory for the assembling of containerised solar microgrids.

There are 600 employees at the Komati Power Station in Mpumalanga – 200 permanent staff, 200 contractors and 200 ERI Eskom road tech industry contractors.

Mandy Rambharos, GM of the Just Energy Transition programme at Eskom, at the signing ceremony for the development of the power station, said they are not retrenching any of the full-time Eskom employees – they will be reskilled and redeployed at the training facility.

Eskom is partnering with the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (Saretec), which will run the training, and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (Geapp), which is providing the funding of $2-million over the next two years.

The goal is to train 500 workers, some of them existing Eskom workers and some community members in Mpumalanga. Saretec will educate, reskill and upskill Eskom Komati Power Station staff and qualifying beneficiaries from the surrounding communities.

The power station will be repowered with 150MW of solar, 70MW of wind and 150MW of batteries, which will most likely be built under an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract, because it requires a high skill level.

SAVE THE RHINO

South Africa’s commitment to ensure the protection of its black and white rhino populations is clear from the partnerships that have been created over the years and the resulting collaboration, to conserve the species, says the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy. The proportion of rhino on private land has grown from about 30% in 2012 to about 60% at present, complemented by antipoaching successes.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has recognised the significant progress made on security, biological management and responsive legislation with some critical milestones remaining outstanding, most notably on community empowerment, demand management and Cabinet approval of the National Strategy to Combat Wildlife trafficking.

In terms of the country’s overall rhino conservation plan, the private sector is playing an increasing role in South Africa and the rest of Africa. At present, the private sector is conserving about 60% of South Africa’s national herd. Therefore, government takes building partnerships and relationships of utmost importance in the conservation of this iconic species.

Over the last year conservation and anti-poaching efforts have intensified countrywide as a joint effort is made by the collaborative initiatives of state-owned conservation areas, government and private landowners to reduce the poaching of rhino in South Africa.

Information collected and communication flows through the Environmental Enforcement Fusion Centre (EEFC) continues to support the teams at both a tactical level and strategic level in both the private and public sector.

From a biological management point of view, the department in partnership with the Rhino Management Group and all relevant stakeholders are in the process of revising the Biodiversity Management Plans for rhinos.

An additional important measure of recent success in the management of the rhino meta-population has been the successful translocation of 27 rhino from South Africa to the Zinave National Park in Mozambique.

PRIVATE SECTOR REQUIRED

Minister Senzo Mchunu says there is a need to increase private sector involvement in water services to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The minister spoke at the International Water Association World Water Congress in Denmark, in September. This year, the summit focused on Innovative Funding for SDGs and Climate Change.

In his speech, Minister Mchunu indicated that some of the challenges that hinder achieving the SDGs are the way municipalities run water and sanitation services. Minister Mchunu explained that municipal water supply is supposed to be managed as a selfsustaining business, with maintenance, operation and refurbishment costs covered by revenue from the sale of water.

“In many municipalities, water and sanitation services are in a poor state and deteriorating,” said Minister Mchunu. “And the percentage of the population with access to reliable and safe water and sanitation services is declining.

“Causes include weak governance and corruption, poor billing and revenue collection, poor asset management, operations management, maintenance and a lack of recruitment of people with the required qualifications and experience.”

The minister said where there is a constraint in the municipalities in terms of finance and expertise, there is substantial expertise in the private sector and banks and pension funds.

“However, private sector involvement in municipal water and sanitation services is considerably low compared to other middleincome countries. The reason for this is a lack of capacity in municipalities to take bankable projects to the market, coupled with a Public Private Partnership (PPP) regulatory framework, which means it takes eight to 12 years to facilitate a PPP.

“In this context, we are doing two key things, a) Putting in place public-private collaboration agreements with industries, such as the mines and agriculture, for joint funding of infrastructure projects. This agreement will simultaneously provide bulk water to industry and reticulated water to communities, and b) putting in place a Water Partnerships Office (WPO) to assist municipalities [on how] to contract for PPP and independent water producers (IWPs),” he elaborated.

The WPO is a ringfenced entity in the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and the work of such a WPO will be assisted by the PPP regulatory framework currently being finalised by the National Treasury.

Minister Mchunu concluded by assuring all relevant stakeholders that South Africa is keen to learn from the experience of other countries as it embarks on this journey.

CANNABIS MASTER PLAN

The wheels of change are rolling and the North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development stands firm on ensuring the Cannabis Master Plan finds space in agriculture transformation in the province. This follows the Department hosting the hybrid Cannabis Lekgotla at the North West University in September. The first of its kind in the North West Province, the gathering met its objective of discussing the rollout of the National Cannabis Master Plan and engaging on the economic purpose of commercialisation and development of the herb.

MEC Desbo Mohono in her opening remarks said that the department provides a stark reminder that every avenue to create employment and fight poverty must be pursued, allowing businesses to grow, emerge and thrive, while also using the capabilities of the state to create a conducive environment for farmers. Mohono said, “This is hands on deck indeed and a dream come true for people of the North West province, for they too deserve to benefit from the value chain of this herb. As the government, we always appreciate the direct, considered and constructive approach that higher institutions of learning take in responding to the challenges facing our country. That is why we saw it fit as the North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to rope in North West University, in particular, looking at their research output, which is amongst the best in the entire country.”

In conclusion, MEC Mohono said the Lekgotla unlocked many opportunities through commissions and the education drive. “In going forward, we will march to our traditional leaders as the department in forging a partnership and making sure that our people in communal land are not left behind by the train of this economic hub. The department will also set aside a certain amount of money in making sure that we train our farmers fully about how to be experts in this field. This will be done through roping in experts that we have met in this Lekgotla because we do not want to take a ride with our people’s time,” explained Mme Mohono.