Chairperson, Ministers and Deputy Ministers who are here today, Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, Chairperson of the Select Committee on Economic Development, hon Freddie Adams, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to take this opportunity to submit an apology on behalf of the Deputy Minister of Energy. She had to accompany the President on the presidential visit to the Eastern Cape. You would know that energy is central to making sure that we can improve on services, particularly in our schools.
Chairperson, I dedicate this Budget Vote speech to Mama Albertina Sisulu, a veteran and a stalwart of the liberation movement, a mother and grandmother to her family and the nation. The passing on of this icon of the women's liberation struggle is significant in that she left us on the second day of Youth Month and on Ascension Day in the Christian calendar.
It is, however, heartwarming when one realises that at her age Mama Sisulu was able to once again make her mark when she voted during the recent local elections. The significance of these elections was that they were held on the birthday of her late husband and a true revolutionary in his own right, our father Ntate Walter Sisulu.
She was ensuring that capable and credible leaders were elected for effective service delivery in our communities. She had a lot of passion and love, not only for her family, but for the nation as a whole. May her soul rest in peace.
We owe it to her and the many other stalwarts of our struggle against apartheid and colonialism to do anything within our means to continually strive to improve our people's lives for the better.
Chairperson, this year's budget allocation for the Department of Energy is R6,09 billion. From this budget R3,2 billion will be transferred to municipalities and Eskom for the national electrification programme, a 2,3% increase from last year's allocation. The Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa, Necsa, a state-owned entity responsible for the country's nuclear energy innovations, research and development, will receive R586 million.
An amount of R398 million will be allocated to the energy efficiency and demand side management programme, which aims to implement energy-efficiency interventions in 21 municipalities and Eskom. And, lastly, an amount of R1,5 billion will be transferred to Transnet for the new multiproduct pipeline between Durban and Johannesburg. All indications point to the new multiproduct pipeline being operational by 1 January 2012.
The levy on petrol that motorists have been paying will yield a return. The implication is that there will be fewer trucks on our roads transporting fuel from the coast to Gauteng and other inland provinces, and thus fewer accidents.
Chairperson, only 5%, or R305 million, will fund the operational and administrative work of the Department of Energy. This, I am sure we will appreciate, has a major effect on the department and also its main mandate in that we are operating at only 52% capacity in terms of human resources. I need to indicate here that out of that 52%, 60% are women.
With regard to electrification, you will all remember that the Secretary- General of the UN has declared 2012 "The year of access to energy services", and accordingly, the quest for universal access to electricity continues. In the 2010-11 financial year, we managed to create 5 811 jobs, and connected 194 453 homes to the electricity grid by year end.
To date South Africa's energy penetration stands at over 75%, and this year, with the R2,9 billion allocated to the electrification programme, we will connect more than 150 000 households and build 10 substations, of which five will be in KwaZulu-Natal, four in the Eastern Cape and one in the Northern Cape.
We will roll out a further 10 000 solar home systems in un-electrified areas. We will, through this programme, contribute to creating about 5 000 jobs across the country. Allow me, hon members, to give some indication of the electrification focus per province for this financial year: In the Eastern Cape we will be effecting about 41 042 connections, worth R766 million; in the Free State 6 284, worth about R94 million; in Gauteng 44 614, worth about R330 million; in KwaZulu-Natal 39 306, worth about R709 million; in Limpopo 29 246, worth about R298 million; in Mpumalanga 16 550, worth about R198 million; in the Northern Cape 8 591, worth about R104 million; in the North West 15 058, worth about R179 million; and in the Western Cape 11 000, worth about R152 million. The total will be 206 000 connections, worth about R2,8 billion.
Hon members, the challenge of illegal connections is persisting, despite our endeavours to curb this criminal behaviour. These illegal connections do not only impact negatively on the revenues of the licensed providers, but also pose a health and safety risk to our people.
Initiatives are being finalised to combat this unwanted behaviour and this will be elevated to a more serious crime and will have to be dealt with harshly with the strongest might of the law. We have approached the Director of Public Prosecutions to make electricity theft a more serious economic offence that attracts the appropriate penalty.
The Department of Energy, ladies and gentlemen, would like to re-affirm its commitment to establishing more integrated energy centres throughout the country in order to minimise energy poverty. The IEC's programme is one of the vehicles that the department has embarked upon to contribute to rural development and job creation in the fight against energy poverty.
Sasol supported the drive to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of our leader, the first President of a democratic South Africa, President Nelson Mandela, by establishing an integrated energy centre at Qunu.
Last year we reported on the challenges facing the integrated energy centres in Kuruman in the Northern Cape and Eshane in KwaZulu-Natal. These two were pilot projects and were closed down due to poor management and a lack of proper governance structures. The department, together with Total (Pty) Ltd and the municipalities in these areas, is busy resuscitating the two projects and they should be re-opened during this financial year. The lessons learnt from the two sites were considered when developing the other five sites; hence they are still operational to date.
The department is further partnering with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to develop future IECs, in line with the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme. The two departments have already worked together in Muyexe Village in Giyani to conduct an energy needs assessment of the area. This year we intend to launch two more IECs that will be funded by PetroSA, the national oil company of South Africa.
With regard to petroleum licensing, backlogs identified last year have all been cleared. All fully completed applications are now processed within the prescribed 90 days and our plans going forward are to improve on this timeframe.
Hon members, as much as licensed retail service stations are there for motorists to purchase fuel, they also serve as convenient stores for the communities in which they are located. I believe that we would need to engage with retail operators to ensure that where they have health amenities these must be kept clean and in conditions that support good hygiene.
Improved energy efficiency is the most cost-effective, least-polluting and readily available energy resource. Energy efficiency can enhance the competitiveness of our economy, while helping to alleviate energy poverty as energy becomes more available. Accelerated energy efficiency can create attractive green jobs and businesses.
We will continue our discussions with other government structures to ensure that all government buildings are energy efficient. We will also continue work on further rolling out off-grid technologies, and work towards energy- efficient towns and cities. With the Department of Public Works, we will intensify efforts to make government buildings energy efficient.
Working together with the Department of Tourism, we will lobby the hospitality industry grading council to consider energy efficiency as a criterion for the star rating of establishments.
Last year, we committed to establishing the South African National Energy Development Institute, Sanedi, and this was duly done. This institution will, amongst other things, be the champion for energy efficiency in the country. This will not only save energy but will also reduce the burden on households. In addition, Sanedi will house South Africa's carbon capture and storage research and development as well as other energy research programmes.
In line with the Cabinet decision of December 2010, Electricity Distribution Industry, EDI, Holdings ceased operations on 31 March 2011. An administrator has been appointed to execute the winding-up process and this is expected to be completed by the end of June 2011.
As directed by Cabinet, we are continuing with some of the programmes that EDI Holdings was involved in, including the rehabilitation of electricity distribution infrastructure. In this regard, the department will establish internal capacity that ensures service delivery of uninterrupted power to end users. Proposals in this regard will soon be submitted to Cabinet for consideration.
The required funding model is currently subject to detailed discussions between the relevant government departments and other potential funders. We need the support of this House to fast-track the eradication of electricity infrastructure backlogs.
The Nuclear Energy Corporation of South African, Necsa, continues to produce, through its subsidiary, the National Transportation Programme, NTP, radioisotopes that are critical to the diagnosing and treatment of cancer. They have become the number 1 commercial supplier of medical radioisotopes that are produced from low-enriched uranium as opposed to production from nuclear weapons-grade uranium. These radioisotopes are saving lives worldwide and we are proud to have Necsa making this big impact.
Working in conjunction with the Department of Trade and Industry, Necsa is training young people in artisan skills that are critical to the economy. This will make them more attractive to prospective employers and help alleviate the problem of joblessness.
Hon members, contrary to popular belief, the role of national oil companies globally is increasing. The fact that we are not endowed with oil should not be seen as a reason not to have an oil company. PetroSA converts gas to liquid fuel, which saves us significant foreign exchange as we have to import less petroleum.
Going forward, we will strengthen PetroSA and make sure that it plays its role in both the local and international arenas. We reiterate our commitment to ensuring that South Africa has additional refining capacity by 2020.
The department has already embarked on the development of the integrated energy plan, IEP, in consultation with other government departments. The IEP process will seek to address some of the issues which were not addressed during the integrated resource plan process and which might have an impact on the longer-term options.
This includes using a framework or methodology that incorporates key risks and uncertainties associated with long-term planning in the energy industry; alignment with government's long-term vision for emissions reduction; and delivering on the New Growth Path and Industrial Policy Action Plan.
We have stated that nuclear power is still a necessary part of our strategy in seeking to supply electricity to the economy and households and also to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions through a diversified portfolio, comprising some coal, oil and gas and renewable and energy efficiency technologies.
The recent events at the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant have made it necessary for South Africa to carefully take stock of the implications of these developments on our nuclear power programme, as outlined in the integrated resource plan.
We are, as part of our contribution to the global dialogue on the future of nuclear, attending the International Atomic Energy Agency Ministerial Conference at the end of June to also make inputs with regard to the possible improvements of nuclear safety, emergency preparedness and response following the Fukushima accident.
I wish to assure members of this House that government will never compromise the safety of our nation in its implementation of our nuclear programme as part of the integrated resource plan mandate.
Furthermore, South Africa is the sixth largest producer of coal in the world, and it will be inappropriate for us to produce coal for the world and deny ourselves the benefit thereof. I need to make it categorically clear that we have included 15% of coal-generated power in the new plan, whilst simultaneously working on efforts, in partnership with sister departments such as Science and Technology, to find means to "clean" our coal.
Research and development work in the areas of underground coal gasification and carbon capture and storage is continuing.
A lot has been said on the topic of renewable energy, but I want to state again here, as we stated during the National Assembly Budget Vote debate, that we have finally arrived at a point where we are ready to procure the first clean energy projects indicated under the integrated resource plan.
We hope to conclude at least 1 000 MW of renewable energy transactions by December this year, in time for showcasing as we host the 17th Conference of the Parties, COP 17, in Durban. Apart from the showcasing, this programme is aligned to the New Growth Path and will substantially contribute to President Zuma's vision on job creation.
Following the successful Solar Park International Investors Conference held in October last year in Upington, we have committed R18,6 million to the completion of a comprehensive feasibility study by the end of July this year. We are very excited that South Africa can begin to seriously explore the possibility of solar technologies being deployed as part of our broader energy mix, in a way that will also decarbonise our energy in South Africa.
I need to state categorically that localisation is non-negotiable, and meaningful participation across the value chain for the benefit of our people will be pursued vigorously. We need to indicate here that one of the objectives in identifying the energy carriers in the integrated resource plan, IRP, was to make sure that we are able to increase our manufacturing capability.
However, we also have to make sure that we can beneficiate some of our minerals locally so that we can contribute to the energy component as well as the primary energy source.
Working together with the Department of Economic Development and the Department of Trade and Industry, this objective of localisation will be realised.
The solar water heating programme has to date delivered over 115 000 systems across the various provinces, under the fiscal and rebate funding schemes. This is a significant increase from the zero bases that we started from. We are still lagging behind our annual targets, mainly due to funding constraints, and we are working on various interventions in order to address the funding problem. The standard-offer programme will become operational this year as an alternative funding scheme for solar water heaters.
Liquid petroleum gas, LPG, is cleaner burning and is a more efficient source of energy. Therefore we will soon be proposing the use of LPG as an energy poverty intervention, where LPG would be offered to the indigent as part of free basic alternative energy and, over time, replacing paraffin for cooking and heating.
In keeping with the policy objective of diversification of our energy sources and fuel switching, we will be publishing a liquefied petroleum gas strategy, to divert households from the use of electricity for cooking and heating to LPG. We believe that by doing this as a demand-side intervention, there is the potential to delay the construction of at least one power station.
With regard to the Working for Energy project, ladies and gentlemen, you would remember that we indicated we have about R25 million for this particularly important programme. Through this programme we intend to diversify our energy mix and increase access to energy.
We will ensure that all projects under this programme are labour intensive, and educational and empowering in nature. We will also launch a waste-to- energy project at Philippi in the Western Cape, where members of the community have been trained and will produce energy from alternative sources.
On 24 February 2010, the energy regulator approved the implementation of inclining block tariffs, IBTs, for domestic and residential customers, in line with our pricing policy. The concept of IBTs means that the more you use electricity, the more you will pay. This decision was taken in order to provide for cross-subsidies for low-income domestic customers and is applicable to both Eskom and municipalities.
With regard to IBTs, we flagged the problem relating to prepaid metering systems and their inability to be configured to dispense IBTs. I am happy to announce that the reconfiguration process has been completed on Eskom prepaid meters. Prepaid meters in municipalities will be reconfigured next, as we extend coverage of IBTs to all qualifying households.
Due to IBTs being a new concept and due to municipalities facing system challenges and many other challenges, roughly 19% of the licensed municipalities have implemented IBTs on their residential customers.
The collaboration of municipalities and Salga is crucial. Just as we have done for free basic energy, we will endeavour to make IBTs an effective instrument for protecting the poor against increasing electricity tariffs.
More than 70% of identified indigent households are receiving free basic electricity, while less than 5% receive free basic alternative energy, including biofuels, paraffin, LPG and other alternative sources.
There are still challenges relating to the coverage and leakage of free basic electricity to nonqualifying households. We urge municipalities to fully implement free basic electricity. This has become even more critical as tariffs increase.
Insofar as our planned legislation for this financial year is concerned, we intend to introduce the following Bills for consideration by Parliament: the Petroleum Products Second Amendment Bill; a gas amendment Bill; the Electricity Regulation Second Amendment Bill; an independent system and market operator Bill; and the National Energy Regulator Amendment Bill.
The House, ladies and gentlemen, must note that due to the limited budget to fund the approved establishment, the department resorted to implementing an interim structure that is currently operational with only 52%, as I indicated earlier on.
We have undertaken further work in refining the approved organisational structure to enhance the department's ability to deliver on stated government-wide priorities. We have established the project management unit to ensure delivery on all identified projects and will implement a project management framework that complies with international standards that have been tried and tested in the energy environment.
This is especially critical in view of the 10 infrastructure projects and three major access-to-energy projects that will be focused on during the coming period. To further enhance our implementation capacity, we will, amongst other things, retrain 72 staff members with a view to enhancing their project management skills.
In responding to the policy positions of the ruling party, we have also established a new branch for clean and renewable energy. It will focus on areas such as the use of alternative technologies and cleaner carriers and will increase the use of renewable energy sources.
This will include the work under way in the area of demand-side management and energy efficiency. We have also partnered with the energy and water Seta and National Youth Development Agency to train 45 youths, five from each province, in the renewable energy sector. This development will also enable the department to significantly better co- ordinate and enhance its contribution to South Africa, with a view to successfully hosting Cop 17 in December this year.
Hon members, the participation of the Department of Energy in the NCOP public participation programme is still weak and this is a cause for concern. We make the commitment to intervene in these matters and enhance our responsiveness to the NCOP public participation programme, especially through the NCOP Taking Parliament to the People programme.
During the last year we were successful in heeding the call for government departments to hold at least 10 public participations per year. We will continue with such engagements, and this year, going forward, special attention will be given to our interactions with organisations for women, youth, children and people living with disabilities to focus on the role they can play in the energy space.
Our focus for the coming period will further be on the areas of energy consumption and distribution, nuclear energy generation and nuclear safety, so that the public will be empowered and educated to understand that any energy source can be a source of danger if not managed and handled properly.
In conclusion, I hereby present the Budget Vote of the Department of Energy. Finally, I would like to thank the House, as led by the Chairperson, as well as the President and my Cabinet colleagues, for supporting the Department of Energy's programme.
I also want to thank the Select Committee on Economic Development, led by the hon Freddie Adams, for making it possible that we can always come to the select committee to present our programmes. We hope they will continue to extend the hand of the department in contacting communities and informing communities about the work of the department. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Members of Parliament, the NCOP, invited guests, the provision of safe and appropriate energy services is seen as a fundamental pillar of the Reconstruction and Development Programme to address ongoing racially based inequalities.
This government therefore recognises that household access to adequate energy services for cooking, heating, lighting and communication is a basic need. Whilst these needs can be met by various fuel-appliance combinations, the ANC-led government also recognises that without access to electricity - a clean, convenient and desirable fuel - human development potential is ultimately constrained.
The introduction of electricity to different consumers such as domestic, industrial, agricultural and commercial users, and for community lighting, also provides the necessary infrastructure for accelerated economic activities and creates an environment for realising human capabilities.
Energy is therefore important in all the countries in the SADC region, most of which are net energy importers and energy-intensive economies. The main consumer of energy in the SADC region is South Africa, with a well- developed energy sector, particularly electricity.
The South African national electricity utility supplies more than 90% of the electricity to the country. Notwithstanding this, we must be mindful of the fact that a number of our people still have to make do with archaic forms of heating and lighting, like firewood and candles.
The electricity backlog, as reported at the end of December 2010, was between 25% and 30% and the most affected provinces are KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Limpopo. The total household electrification backlog in South Africa, as at 31 December 2010, was 3,3 million households.
By October 2009, 65 339 additional households and 712 new schools were connected to the national grid, with targets of 150 000 and 1 313 respectively. Although the department had projected to complete the remaining electrification backlog by the end of 2009-10, it has been established that in 2010-11 the electrification targets of households were not met.
Though the links between energy and poverty reduction have not yet been fully understood, it is clear that there is a strong correlation between economic poverty, food poverty and energy poverty. Against this background, electrification seeks to address the problem of energy poverty.
The 2010 state of the nation address therefore noted the establishment of an interministerial committee on energy to ensure a reliable power supply for the country. This committee will start with developing a 20-year integrated resource plan for energy, ensuring participation of independent power producers in the energy market and protecting the poor from rising electricity prices.
The committee was further charged with the responsibility of establishing independent system operators which are separate from Eskom Holdings. Progress in this regard has been very slow. The Department of Energy will introduce the Independent System and Market Operator Bill before Parliament during the current financial year.
Currently there are debates around the form and nature of the independent system and market operator and it is clear that a structured and phased approach to the establishment will have to begin post the publication of the Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity.
Chairperson, despite the global recession, Eskom has successfully managed to negotiate and secure most of the fundamental contracts. Building a coal- fired power station is a mammoth task which takes approximately eight years. This does not include project development, which typically takes five to seven years to produce a bankable document.
As such, it would seem that keeping the construction costs fixed to a specific amount is a challenge which Eskom and the Department of Energy will continue to grapple with.
The capacity expansion programme has nevertheless shown remarkable growth. The significant number of commissioned projects is evidence of the progress that has been made so far. In an effort to meet the expected quality standards and deadlines, formal project assurance is used to track project schedules, costs and safety risks.
The following portfolios of the Eskom capacity expansion programmes are on track: new Kusile and Medupi coal projects and the Ingula and Gas 1 peaking projects. The return-to-service stations are apparently not doing so well in terms of schedule, but Camden has been completed and all units fully commissioned.
Undoubtedly, the breather for Eskom, as it walks a tightrope between supply and demand, will be further enhanced when the Ingula, Medupi and Kusile power stations come on line. Once completed, the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme will generate electricity during peak periods specifically.
The team that is building and refurbishing transmission lines and substations is making significant inroads in strengthening the transmission network. It is estimated that approximately 100 000 direct and indirect jobs will be created.
Chairperson, the work undertaken by the ANC-led government to determine the potential and options for the country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions - the long-term mitigation scenarios - was clear about the need for renewables, together with nuclear and clean coal as options to reduce emissions from electricity generation.
For renewables, the challenge is to scale up in the next few years, so that implementation at a larger scale is feasible and more affordable in future. The central problem is cost, and much depends on technology development in South Africa and in other countries.
A number of initiatives for renewable energy have, however, been established by the department, such as the regulator's renewable energy feed-in tariff, the Renewable Energy Finance and Subsidy Office within the department, the Renewable Energy Market Transformation Project and the potential use of tradable renewable energy certificates.
The department has indicated that it has subsidised two hydropower projects, as well as biogas and landfill projects. Through the funded projects approximately 17 permanent jobs and 279 temporary jobs were created.
With regard to the Renewable Energy Market Transformation Project, the Department of Energy had access to about US$6 million in donor funds and it was reported that the department was, and I quote, "begging project developers to assist in spending that money".
The question of renewable and clean energy is always in the back of the minds of those of us who live here in the shadow of Table Mountain, barely a few kilometres from the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station.
The acute need to secure reliable energy supplies and the urgent requirement to reduce carbon emissions have put nuclear energy firmly on the agenda as a viable option to be pursued in order to achieve energy mix. Nuclear energy is becoming a preferred solution for energy security and in efforts to mitigate climate challenges.
Chairperson, in conclusion I would like to refer to one aspect of electricity transmission, or the lack thereof - which is extremely worrying, or should I rather say problematic - and that is the question of cable theft.
It was estimated three years ago that South Africa loses in the order of R5 billion a year owing to cable theft that disrupts electricity, telecommunications and rail services. The estimated direct cost of cable theft in South Africa at that stage was R500 million a year.
Unfortunately, I don't have more up-to-date figures, but one can imagine by how much that figure has increased up to now. According to Business Against Crime South Africa, the indirect cost to the economy is conservatively 10 times higher than the expenditure required for replacing stolen cables.
The knock-on effects of cable theft include a reduction in the production of service delivery, a drop in productivity and a loss of business. It is believed that the record commodity price of copper and the strong demand for the metal, especially from China, is the main reason for the escalating occurrence of cable theft in South Africa.
The challenge in combating cable theft is therefore legislation with sufficient teeth to successfully curtail the activities of scrap metal dealers and informal collectors.
Chairperson, the Minister and her department have shown that they are aggressively searching for solutions to turn the current situation in energy around.
Halala, Minister Peters, halala. Forward to building, creating and delivering a better life for all! The committee supports the Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister and members, energy generation in South Africa is an opportunity to invest, meet our energy demands and our carbon emission targets, and create jobs.
At the current growth rate of 3% per annum, the demand is 40 000 MW of new generation over 20 years and this is where the second integrated resource plan 2, IRP2, plans a capacity mix between renewable energy, nuclear energy and coal.
Eskom was granted a loan of US$365 million by the African Development Bank for the development of the 100 MW wind farm near Koekenaap and the 100 MW solar project near Upington. This loan forms part of the South African government's guarantee for Eskom's debt. Green energy is the answer, but why is Eskom involved, and not independent power producers?
A balanced, clean and green energy mix is of vital importance, and the renewable energy targets are far too low. We have to ensure that we get value for money and create much-needed jobs at the same time. There should be total honesty and transparency when calculating the opportunity costs between renewable energy and nuclear energy.
The sudden bid of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Nersa, to cut the renewable energy feed-in tariff by 25% from R1,25 per kWh to 93,4c per kWh is threatening the development of the wind farms. The reason for the global cash crisis does not make sense when investors were waiting in the wings. Public meetings were held in May and the hon Minister promised to disclose her decision by mid-June.
The government is set to produce 9 600 MW of nuclear power between 2023 and 2030. Bantamsklip, Duynefontein and Thyspunt all form part of the environmental impact assessment, EIA, process, with Thyspunt being the preferred site for a 1 600 MW - now a 4 000 MW - nuclear plant.
The purpose of the EIA is for proper scientific research to be done to enable the interested and affected parties and the general public to participate, contribute and, finally, to make an informed decision on the outcomes of the EIA.
There are a couple of sugar-coated truths and half-truths to be faced before a final decision is taken on Thyspunt. These are mostly very technical and not clear to the man in the street.
Firstly, we believe the site selection was a political decision before the time and the R70 million EIA merely an academic exercise. Secondly, there is no generation III technology nuclear plant in operation anywhere in the world. There are two under construction and they are going over time and over budget. Thirdly, we have the endless argument about the emergency planning zones, EPZs. Fourthly, the wind direction and plume exposure pathway was not done properly in the EIA.
Fifthly, the Thyspunt site is regarded as a cultural landscape, as defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Unesco, World Heritage Convention, which placed an absolute veto on any industrial development there.
Sixthly, the economic report does not contain all the hidden costs that will impact on the municipalities, the province and the national government. Seventhly, the transport plans are not practical and need total transparency.
Eighthly, job creation is very important. The interested and affected parties were told that 7 500 jobs will be created, but nobody hears that there will only be a 25% local labour content, that is, 2 800 jobs for locals. These jobs will only be available from year six of construction.
The story that 1 000 welders will be trained by Eskom on a national level makes people think that the skills transfer will take place locally, which is not the truth. If Thyspunt is developed, however, job losses will occur in three sectors such as the chokka industry, agriculture and tourism. It may even lead to the closure of Port St Francis.
Lastly, the workers' village is a complete uncertainty without an EIA having been done up to now.
Many more points can and should be raised. The most important is the landmark court judgment when Stefan Frylinck, an environmental impact consultant, was found guilty in the Pretoria High Court in April this year of giving misleading and incorrect information to the authorities in the environmental impact report. If the National Nuclear Regulator of South Africa, NNR, is not going to protect the environment, the properties and the people, the people will protect them and themselves.
Hon Minister, we are not against nuclear power per se, but we are against a forced, misleading and ill-considered nuclear build that will make the arms deal look like a Sunday school picnic. Thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Chairperson, I will start with the important things first. The rest will come at the end.
Let me also add my voice and that of KwaZulu-Natal in paying tribute to Mama Sisulu, the selfless volunteer. If you had wanted a volunteer, you would indeed have looked at her. She was a hard worker and leader who talked less and did more. May her soul rest in peace.
Let me also state that the ANC supports this Budget Vote. We are debating this Budget Vote today during a month known as Youth Month. Let us also pay our respects to all the fallen young lions and young people who led other young people, such as Tsietsi Mashinini, Peter Mokaba, and all the others, including Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu and Anton Lembede.
Since it is June, Youth Month, I would also like to honour all those young lions of the 1976 generation and the youth of the 1990s, such as Malusi Gigaba, Fikile Mbalula, Lulu Johnson and, of course, Dipuo Peters and Thandi Tobias-Pokolo. All of them are now dedicated leaders in the ANC and are in government.
We salute you all for laying that foundation and facing the full might of the past oppressive system of apartheid and Bantu education.
It is highly appreciated that the Department of Energy's policy is based on the following key objectives: attaining universal access to energy by 2014, which also talks to the Millennium Development Goals; providing accessible, affordable and reliable energy, especially to the poor; and securing adequate supplies of affordable energy for continued economic growth and development, etc.
Among other things, the 2007 ANC conference in Polokwane resolved the following, in Resolution 2.11:
Ensuring a security of supply of energy resources, and pursuing an energy mix that includes clean and renewable sources to meet the demands of our fast-growing economy ...
Our country needs to grow the economy so that more decent jobs can be created. KwaZulu-Natal is a province which has some low-cost coal deposits. Currently, coal is being mined at KwaSomkhele, in Mtubatuba.
There are also many inactive mines in the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal, in the Newcastle, Glencoe and Dundee areas, where communities, albeit at their own risk, go back to those mines to get coal for energy.
Since there are few or no economic activities in those areas, it would benefit KwaZulu-Natal if more funds were made available for this mining, so that communities do not endanger their lives.
Last year there was an energy summit here in Parliament. It was clear from the issues raised that we were not moving with as much speed as anticipated to transform this sector. Entry to this sector for the previously disadvantaged is very difficult. Those who enter the industry find it very hard to progress.
It is, therefore, obvious that the department needs to intervene, even by regulations, or any other means, to assist the previously disadvantaged. In most cases, the department will say that it does not deal with funding and so on, but we think it needs to intervene in one way or another.
With regard to renewable energy, a new sugar processing facility at Makhathini Flats in Jozini in KwaZulu-Natal was built in 2009. This project aims to produce ethanol and other sugar by-products from raw sugar cane. The challenge is how the department would assist in the sustainability of that project.
The department has also identified biomass as one of the easiest and quickest sources of renewable energy that can contribute to its targets. How then do we compel industries, such as pulp and paper mills and sugar refineries, to use biomass, whether by regulation, or otherwise?
The Baseline Study on Hydropower in South Africa concluded that the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are endowed with the best potential for developing small - that is, less than 10 MW - hydropower plants. When is KwaZulu-Natal going to have this? I know for a fact that the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme, which has 1 332 MW in Van Reenen in KwaZulu-Natal, is being constructed. Are we going to meet the operational deadline of 2013 with Ingula?
The hon Minister spoke about the integrated energy centres. Their main objective is to bring affordable and sustainable energy services closer to poor communities. Underlying this is a strong social responsibility drive aimed at poverty alleviation, job creation and capacity-building. The challenge would be to see how many of these centres have been operational from 2009 to date.
The rest that were mentioned were supposed to be there by 2009. I know that the Minister only mentioned one, which is in the most populous province, that is KwaZulu-Natal, somewhere in Van Reenen.
In line with the January 8 Statement of 2011 and the state of the nation address, President J G Zuma actually said that each and every department and their entities would be required to create decent jobs. I am sure that KwaZulu-Natal would be interested to know how many jobs the department and its entities plan to create, especially in that province.
On the issue of energy as a resource and a demand in rural communities, I want to give this example. I stay in Gingindlovu and my constituency is Nkandla. In my home town, we have 14 huts and I know of a homestead in Thalane in Ward 4 in Nkandla which has 32 huts.
The head of that homestead is in a polygamous marriage. There is no electricity. All these huts rely on candles. A packet of candles costs between R13 and R15 each. If you multiply R13 by 32 huts, it equals R416 per day, and if you multiply R13 by 14, it equals R182 per day.
That is real life in the rural areas where people need these kinds of services. So the sooner we move with speed with the electrification programme, the better; it will ease the burden of the poor.
Lastly, with regard to energy and climate change, one only hopes that the mitigation activities of the department on greenhouse gas will yield positive results. We know that South Africa emits more than 400 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. Informed by the usage depending on fossil fuels for energy generation, we are challenged to proactively move the economy towards becoming less carbon intensive.
On that note, KwaZulu-Natal is waiting for the department, all the people of South Africa and the entire world to attend the climate change conference in Durban later this year. See you in Durban, eThekwini! The ANC supports the Budget Vote. [Applause.]
Deputy Chairperson, I have always thought that energy is a lively component, but this seems to be quite a boring debate today and I do not know if we must maybe get to a certain level and engage on some of the very relevant topics. [Interjections.]
I would like to thank the Minister and the department for the contribution that they are making in terms of striving to make sustainable energy a reality in our lifetime.
On 15 August 1985, there was a lot of expectation of an event that was supposed to happen. Many of us at that stage - or many of you - were not aware of that activity. That activity had to do with the Rubicon speech of the then President P W Botha in Durban. [Interjections.]
President Botha was supposed to announce the normalisation of politics in South Africa and the release of Nelson Mandela. However, the reality is that he got cold feet and never crossed the Rubicon. [Laughter.] It only happened in 1994, when somebody else, F W de Klerk, came and took over in order to normalise the political climate and situation in South Africa.
In 1994?
Sorry - 2 February 1990. I want to draw a parallel between Botha not crossing the Rubicon and the debate that we are having today. The reality is that we are on the brink of crossing the energy Rubicon, but we are not yet there.
If we look at the strategic plans of the department, they speak about many interesting and laudable things. I would like to quote one point from the strategic plan for 2011, which states:
Firm decisions will have to be made going forward regarding coal-based electricity generation and the refining capacity of our petroleum products ...
In terms of those two issues, I am afraid that we are not getting there. Now I must agree with you that there are many positive aspects and, as somebody coming from the Northern Cape - it seems that today hon Gamede and I are speaking on behalf of our provinces - I am happy to have a similar part in Upington.
I think it is very good that we hear that there is an additional 1 000 MW that is anticipated for alternative energy in the IRP for 2010.
It is very good to hear about the liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, programme. That is positive.
I am a strong proponent of supporting the development of the nuclear facility at Thyspunt and I really think that government must move forward with that.
I am not going to speak on the positive things because I do not have a lot of time. For me, it is about the things the Minister did not speak about, and where government, in my and in my party's perception, has not crossed the energy Rubicon.
In your contribution today, hon Minister, you said nothing about the renewable energy feed-in tariff, or Refit, model. The Refit model is an integral part of this country's sustainable energy solution. It seems that the Refit model has now become a bit of a swear word in this environment. Nobody wants to invest if they do not know what the Refit model is, by which the independent energy producers will be in a position to sell the energy to the national network.
The second issue that you did not raise, hon Minister, is that of Project Mthombo, the refinery.
Hon member ...
I thought you were going to be on my side today, Deputy Chairperson. [Laughter.]
In conclusion, with your permission, Deputy Chairperson, the last issue is the very controversial matter which is not necessarily linked to this department: the shale gas of the Karoo. Now, I have a passion for the Karoo, and all that I want to plead for is that we should take sensible decisions in the interests of our country. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister and hon members, we stand before you today after yet another very successful local government election in which our communities have gone against international trends with respect to voter turn-out in local government elections. They came out in their numbers to vote for the parties and local representatives of their choice.
The message we heard while interacting with voters before and during elections, is clear. They said, "We expect better services now."
In the context of electricity, this means that citizens need to have access to electricity in their homes and when they turn on the switch the lights must come on all the time. We have now been given this responsibility for the next five years. We intend to do exactly that in partnership with the Minister and her department.
For us to achieve what is required by the citizens, it is necessary to ensure that there is enough energy to meet the distribution demand; the demand is managed so as to be within the supplied capacity; there is an extension of distribution infrastructure to reach all households; and there is refurbishment and maintenance of the distribution infrastructure so that when the users turn on the power, the lights must come on at all times.
The price of electricity must be such that consumers are able to afford to pay for services and distributors remain financially viable in the context of electricity income, as this is the only other revenue source, in addition to the rates income, from which municipalities may raise 90% of the revenue they require to perform the 38 functions assigned to them by the Constitution.
The SA Local Government Association, Salga, would like to focus on these five matters mentioned above in the discussion of the Budget Vote.
On the first issue, with regard to enough energy to meet the distribution demand, Eskom, with support from government, has gone a long way towards meeting the requirement of providing enough energy to meet the distribution demand. We have raised our concerns in respect of how this has been done; this is in as far as it has impacted on the affordability of electricity.
We think that as municipalities we can also contribute to ensuring that there is enough energy to meet the distribution demand. We stand ready to work with the Minister in respect of the resuscitation of some of the old mothballed municipal power stations.
We also believe that waste-to-energy is another critical opportunity that has multiple benefits for our country. It would not only contribute towards the supply of energy, but it can also result in solid waste having economic value. This can in turn unlock the potential interest of the private sector, small, medium and micro enterprises and community co-operatives in the collection and transportation of waste to the energy generation plants.
This will make our towns and rural areas cleaner, while relieving the municipalities of the ever-increasing costs of waste management. We would like to request the Minister to add this to her list of priority initiatives and work with local government to make this a reality.
On the issue of the demand management and supply capacity, for us as local government the focus on energy efficiency is not only a matter of climate change mitigation. We also see energy efficiency as an immediate measure in response to the capacity-constrained distribution infrastructure.
We have started to work with the national departments to facilitate publication of regulations that would support the development and enforcement of energy efficiency bylaws in buildings.
There is a need to supplement the energy efficiency awareness campaign with locally driven public awareness campaigns. This can be done through ward councillors and committees, using municipal and public buildings as demonstration points on how this can be done and the benefits thereof. We stand prepared to partner with the Minister in localising the energy efficiency awareness campaign.
Local government appreciates the support that is being provided by the Department of Energy to our 21 municipalities towards retrofitting municipal buildings to improve energy efficiency and retrofitting street and traffic lights to use renewable energy sources. We believe that these initiatives have now been tested and should be rolled out to all municipalities.
Indeed, if we do this, it will be possible for municipalities to reduce their own electricity consumption and for towns to take their own electricity consumption completely off the grid.
We believe that the 115 000 solar water heater systems delivered in two years, against a target of 1 million in 2010-11 alone, is cause for concern. While we accept that there may have been a funding constraint, the question that has to be asked is how the target of 1 million in 2010-11 was set if there were no resources to meet such a target.
Be that as it may, we believe that the approach of delegating this project to Eskom and Eskom's implementation mechanism, which sidelined the municipalities, may have been part of the problem.
We call upon the department to devise an implementation strategy for this programme that would take advantage of the benefit of numbers and the ability to assist the communities that would be leveraged by working with municipalities.
We also observe situations in which insurance companies do not replace burst geysers with solar water geysers. Surely it should be possible to use the rebate as a top-up to the insured value of the new geyser, to cover the price difference between a normal geyser and a solar water geyser.
We would like to propose that government discusses the immediate accommodation of such a scheme with the insurance companies. We also hope that Nersa's announcement of a rebate level below the standard offer, as indicated by the Minister, will also assist in this regard.
Around the extension of distribution infrastructure to all households, it has come to the attention of Salga that some municipalities are slow in spending their Integrated National Electrification Programme, Inep, allocations.
There are also cases where municipalities do not have qualified electricity managers and depend entirely on consultants to apply and ensure funding from Inep. In such cases there is no review of the appropriateness of proposed investments and quality of work.
Both of these are a reflection of technical capacity constraints that are the result of skills shortages in this sector. It must be noted that a country's skills development is a function of the national government and that each sector department, including the Department of Energy, should work with the Department of Higher Education and Training to ensure that the country has the required technical skills for this sector.
In the short term, we would like to propose that the regional Inep offices be provided with capacity to visit municipalities that do not have electrical engineers, to facilitate identification of appropriate projects, verify the appropriateness of proposed projects and the quality of work done and advise municipal managers accordingly before approving applications or paying invoices.
Around the issue of refurbishment and maintenance of distribution infrastructure, during the long period of uncertainty regarding the future ownership of distribution assets, there has been significant underdevelopment in the infrastructure. This has added to inherited maintenance backlogs that further accumulated as a result of the country's otherwise appropriate decision to prioritise the extension of infrastructure to those who lacked services, rather than focusing on maintaining infrastructure that serves the minority.
A study done in 2008 by Electricity Distribution Industry Holdings, EDIH, estimated that the backlog was R27 billion and was growing at R2,5 billion per annum.
Municipalities will not be able to raise R35 billion in the medium term on their own. But it would be irrational of us as a country to spend hundreds of billions of rand on electricity generation infrastructure, but remain with decaying distribution infrastructure to reticulate power to the end user.
Thirty-five billion rand, while a huge sum, is a fraction of what we are spending on energy generation capacity. Salga would like to propose to the Minister and her department that they partner with us as local government, Eskom and National Treasury in leading a process of developing a strategy to address this funding challenge as part of developing a way forward in respect of creating a sustainable electricity distribution industry.
On the matter of revenue and pricing, currently electricity income is the only other revenue source, in addition to rates income, from which municipalities must raise 90% of the revenue they require to perform the 38 functions assigned to them by the Constitution. [Time expired.]
Chairperson, hon Ministers, hon members, leadership of Salga and distinguished guests, the late President of Tanzania, Julius Mwalimu Nyerere, once quoted:
As politicians we must always guard against the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
That is exactly what was happening when the Minister presented the budget.
If you take the strategic plan and quote it out of context, you will end up distorting everything. Let me quote:
In the life of every nation, there arise men who leave an indelible and eternal stamp on the history of their peoples; men who are both products and makers of history. And when they pass they leave a vision of a new and better life and the tools with which to win and build it.
These are not just ordinary words. They are the words that were used by the late son of the soil, Dr Yusuf Dadoo, when describing Moses Kotane. I think that you will agree with me that it is fitting to describe Mama Sisulu as such. May her soul rest in peace.
Today, given the current challenges in this century, are we that leadership? An honest response coupled with serious introspection will make future generations proud of us. In nine days' time we will be commemorating 35 years since the 1976 uprising. This was more than just an event; it was a patriotic achievement that helped our country to take a different shape. As a result of that uprising, we are now enjoying the benefits of the gains they fought for.
Today I am standing in front of you as an hon Member of Parliament, all because of their dedication and heroism. It is now the current generation's responsibility to follow in their footsteps in a way that seeks to improve what they achieved.
Our work is far from complete. We are only at the beginning of a long journey to a truly united, democratic and prosperous society, based on the principles contained in the Freedom Charter. Yet we are confident that the strategy and policies we have adopted will take us further towards the goal of a better life for all.
For those who are puzzled by the quotation, it is a declaration from the 52nd conference of the African National Congress. The Minister was very clear about the challenges and the mandate of the department, hence the statement in her introduction of the strategic plan that over the next Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, she will ensure that she refines the Integrated National Electrification Programme to eradicate the electrification backlog as part of the department's endeavour in achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2014.
Not only that, but the department will work hand in hand with the private and public sector institutions in order to build prosperity through service delivery.
The ANC's 52nd national conference in Polokwane noted that interventions such as the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme have made significant but insufficient progress; efforts to extend free basic services to all our people are slowest to reach rural areas and farm dwellers; and that many rural areas are still lacking basic infrastructure such as electricity supply.
This lack of infrastructure entrenches the problems of chronic poverty and limits the potential of communities to sustain economic growth, rural livelihoods and social development. The ANC's third national general council in September 2010 resolved that universal access and services, with integrated infrastructure planning and roll-out targeting rural areas - also as far as electrification is concerned - was needed in rural areas.
Access to electricity is essential for good health. Rural women and children spend several hours every day gathering fuel, wood and water for household needs, often over considerable distances.
Because of these demands on their time and energy, women and children are denied opportunities for other endeavours such as economic activities and school attendance, respectively. They also suffer considerable damage to their health, especially respiratory diseases from indoor air pollution, by having to cook indoors on poorly ventilated stoves.
The use of electricity in economic production can improve social welfare, since people are more able to afford health and other social services when they have better paying jobs. In particular, enhanced access to electricity is important for improving agricultural productivity, not just in terms of volume of crops grown, but also in postharvest value-added activities such as drying, processing, conservation and transport, all of which require electricity and other forms of energy.
Most of the poorest households are headed by women. Therefore, access to energy services is particularly important for women, given that energy services and technologies are not gender neutral. The lack of electricity reinforces gender inequalities.
Women and girls are disproportionately burdened by a lack of access to modern fuels and electricity since they are responsible for fuel gathering, cooking and food preparation. In addition to the time spent gathering fuel, most traditional staple foods involve a large amount of threshing, dehusking or grinding, which is mostly done through female labour in the poorest households and regions due to a lack of access to mechanical power.
Many girls are withdrawn from school to attend to such domestic chores with lifelong harm to their literacy and economic opportunities. Therefore, energy services such as heat for cooking and power for food processing are particularly important for rural-based women and girls.
Access to electricity contributes to the empowerment of rural women. Women in households with electricity are more likely to have access to information about gender issues from radio and television than women in households without electricity. Electric lighting in homes enables both adults and children to study after their daytime activities, thereby increasing the likelihood that women will read and children will attend school, regardless of their income level.
Electricity supply in rural schools enables the use of educational media and communications, including information and communication technologies, while it helps to retain teachers by improving their quality of life. Hence we are supporting the suggestion that the Deputy Minister has to accompany the President to the Eastern Cape to attend to that, as I have mentioned.
Electric equipment for pumping and treating water contributes to a clean water supply, which reduces the incidence of waterborne diseases. Providing heat to boil water also reduces these diseases - the leading cause of child mortality.
By boosting agricultural production and household incomes, electricity helps to reduce malnutrition, which is such a big factor in child mortality. By switching to electric stoves, the poor can avoid emissions that cause respiratory ailments.
In 1993, one year before the end of apartheid, over two thirds of South African households were without electricity. More than 80% relied on firewood for home heat production. Following the new ANC government's commitment to universal electrification, two million, or 23%, of all households across the country were newly connected to the grid by 2001.
The concept of electrification and especially rural electrification, found a natural home in the ANC, which was immediately receptive to the idea of an accelerated programme, based on the Freedom Charter which included socioeconomic rights to houses, security and comfort, and which thereafter became a basis for the ANC and its political programmes.
The provision of safe electricity services was seen as a fundamental pillar of the programme of reconstruction and development. As part of the national electrification programme, Eskom committed to electrifying 300 000 households annually from 1995 onwards.
These targets were regarded as firm and non-negotiable. Eskom met their connections targets in most years. Between 1993 and 2003, over R10 billion was spent on household electrification and over 470 000 households were electrified in KwaZulu-Natal province alone.
Once an area had been targeted for electrification, each household was fitted with the basic connection package, consisting of an electric circuit board, a prepayment meter, three plug points and one light bulb. Households received a default supply of 2,5 amperes.
This clearly highlights the fact that the department is continuing to implement the Integrated National Electrification Programme, and that it remains a firm government priority. However, it is a pity that no clear indications are given as to what proportion of the funds are earmarked for such a very important rural electrification project by which advances can be measured.
The ANC supports the Energy Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all hon members for participating in this debate, particularly the chairperson, who laid out an elaborate indication of how far we are in relation to delivering on our mandate as set out in the Freedom Charter.
The hon Nyambi has also referred to important aspects in making it possible that we address service delivery in relation to the national democratic revolution, or NDR, specifications.
Due to the fact that I have to respond in seven minutes, I will try reconciling the statements from all the hon members who participated in the debate. The important thing that I have observed here was that there seemed to be a convergence of ideas and agreement on the need for us to make sure that the integrated resource plan - the country's energy plan for the next 20 years - is implemented.
I would like to remind you that within those energy plans we have about 42% for renewable energy. Hon Sinclair made reference to the Rubicon speech of August 1985. You would remember that just before that speech there was a watershed speech by O R Tambo, which was given to us through the mouth of Radio Freedom, saying that we should take the struggle to the urban centres, particularly the suburbs.
Hon Gamede would remember that he made reference to the young people who participated in the struggle against apartheid. In this House there are other members who were also young then, and who were on the other side, opposing those who were fighting against apartheid.
They were members of structures such as Youth for South Africa - which was intended to make sure young people's efforts in fighting for democracy were not realised.
Hon Van Lingen and hon Sinclair made reference to Thyspunt as the site considered for the nuclear plant. I just wanted to give an indication that there were quite a number of sites that were identified. You would know that an environmental impact assessment was intended to prequalify the site so that when the plan was finally rolled out one would know that the sites that were considered did meet the regulatory as well as the other related requirements.
It is for that reason that this site has been done as the first step of so many others to follow. This was done for us to be able to know where exactly it is suitable for us to put a nuclear plant in this country. Hon Van Lingen, the fact that Eskom was now starting to train artisans, particularly young people, was part of the national plan. You would remember that the hon Minister of Public Enterprises has given an indication of the role of state-owned enterprises in making it possible for the young people of this country to be ready, empowered and trained to be able to take up the opportunities that were presented by the build programme.
It is important for us to realise that if we don't do the preparatory work, by the time we start building these plants we will have to import even ordinary foremen. During the building of the World Cup stadiums I actually discovered that being a foreman was a scarce skill, because a foreman is somebody who is trained to drive and be a supervisor on the construction site.
This plant would also not be necessarily specific to the location where it is located; it would be a national plant. It is not to say that when building a power plant in Lephalale, for example, only the people from that area should be trained to qualify for those skills.
When the plant is completed, where would they end up when we only concentrate on that particular area? The skills training programme is open to all young people in South Africa so that when opportunities come they would be able to go and work in those particular fields.
In relation to the issue raised by the hon Sinclair about the Refit procurement process, I just want to indicate to him that it will commence this month. There has never been a decision on the part of the department to say no to the renewable energy feed-in tariff.
You know that because you were also part of the portfolio committee strategic planning meeting where the presentation was done. There are particular timelines that we have set for ourselves. We have also given an indication that the first 100 MW will be procured very soon, so as to be able to make sure that by December some of the plants are starting to show green shoots - the development of some of the renewable energy plants that we want to see producing the first 1000 MW.
For any particular reason, we can never say that we were not concerned and that we wanted to do away with the Refit.
Chairperson, I really appreciate your concern about the delay in terms of what the President pronounced on in 2010. During the process of the drafting of the integrated resource plan, you would remember that there was a specific request from labour and business that we should delay the drafting process for them to be able to make their necessary inputs.
We could not say no to a request from local business, national business and labour. They wanted to make sure that the integrated resource plan does assure us of the sustainability of the existing jobs, and that we were not going to banish some of the important primary energy carriers that we have in the country, such as coal. Therefore, you would accept and appreciate the reason for the delay.
The fact that we approved it only two months ago shows that we are on track to make sure that it is implemented and that it has been promulgated. The ISMO, Independent System and Market Operator Bill, which we tabled in Parliament, had to go through an elaborate process through the International Marketing Council, IMC.
You would also know that after it was in Parliament it was tabled in Cabinet. It had to be publicised for public hearings for two months and the closing date will be on the 16th.
With regard to the issue relating to the cushion for the poor - you would remember that I referred to the IBTs, the inclined block tariffs - I would believe that there are quite a number of areas that, maybe in the process of engaging through the select committee, would be able to bring answers on. We could bring back some of those to the House through questions to the Minister or to the department, so as to be able to give the answers.
I know that the Chairperson is a little impatient with some of us, but I just wanted to give an indication that we are committed to working with hon members to make sure that there is security of energy source supply.
You have heard the plea from Salga. Salga is an important stakeholder in the process of making sure that we get buy-in from municipalities in terms of making sure that the reformulated approach to dealing with electricity distribution infrastructure can be addressed.
The plan that we will be tabling before Cabinet would have to include the proposals from Salga, because it is important that we make sure that we address those backlogs. The figure that the councillor was referring to was actually just a sample from municipalities that ETI Holdings had done an audit on. If we could look at the total cost of the backlogs, we would be ashamed. Some of the infrastructure that we have in this country is so old.
I don't know if there is any 74-year-old in this House. There are some transformers and substations in this country that are more than 74 years old! You need to understand the quality. If you reach 50 ...
... is jy al klaar in die jare van brille en pille. [Applous.] [... that is the time when your health starts failing. [Applause.]]
What about infrastructure that needs a human being to attend to it? I believe that we need to be able to eradicate the decades-old, antiquated infrastructure, some of which you can't even get spares for anymore. We were informed about the waiting period for some of the infrastructure for distribution and reticulation. Eskom, for example, had to wait for 18 months for a transformer that was ordered from outside the country.
It is important that we understand that we need to work together. That is why I made a special appeal that we needed the support of this House in making it possible to deal with the challenges of backlogs in our communities.
In areas relating to the theft of cables and electricity, some of the parties in this House even used electricity thieves as part of their campaign, saying that they have provided services! If we can encourage our poor people to boast about stealing, then it means there is something wrong with us. It is important that we address those particular challenges.
The challenge of overloading that is being created by the illegal connections is an issue. You would know that illegal connections are creating an overload on the existing system. They also create the outages that we sometimes have. They make us believe that there is load shedding. It is important that we address these particular issues.
I would engage with members on issues relating to their constituencies. Those who have been chairpersons would know that we have worked together in Nongoma, and various areas of KwaZulu-Natal. We believe that we can address the infrastructure problem in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the informal settlements of this country. We have quite a number of informal settlements which don't have electricity.
Salga would really be an important partner in ensuring that municipalities can accelerate the proclamation or promulgation of some of the informal settlements so that, as the department, we know whether those were areas which would be developed and then we can connect them.
It is important that we develop a very close working relationship because as the NCOP the issues emanating from provinces come through you. The hon member De Beer brought to our attention challenges of a community in the Northern Cape, Leliefontein, where today we can say that, because of your intervention, we have been able to electrify that area.
Working together, we can really do more. We need to make it possible that the people on the ground understand that the NCOP is there for them. A former hon member of his House, Comrade Mashamba, immediately after addressing the House, used to address the community through the radio stations. He made sure that radio stations in the area of Limpopo understood what he was doing on their behalf.
Even those who didn't come from his constituency used to call him, telling him that they had heard him speaking about his area, and that he should also take up their issues.
That is why I have committed the department to working closely with the NCOP, especially in making it possible for us to participate in the public engagement programme. I thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.