Deputy Speaker, the ID welcomes the establishment of an Interministerial Committee to consider all the aspects surrounding the government's proposed nuclear build programme. As the chair of the committee, the ID would like to call on the Deputy President to ensure that the terms of reference for this committee are sufficiently broad and, most importantly, that the issue of the affordability of this build programme is comprehensively debated.
The ID will not support spending one trillion rand of taxpayers' money on this procurement, as we believe this has the potential to bankrupt our country and usher in an era of runaway electricity prices. We cannot make the same mistake we made with Medupi and Kusile, which has cost us triple the price per megawatt as compared to the coal-fired power station Mozambique is proposing to build. This decision will lock us into an energy future for the next 50 years. We have to be absolutely sure that this makes sound economic sense for our country.
The ID would also like to know who has been invited to sit on the technical committee, as we hope that it is not a repeat of the Integrated Resource Plan, where people with vested interests in a particular energy choice made up the committee. The potential for large-scale corruption and benefits flowing to the ANC through Chancellor House are immense. The Deputy President also needs to give us assurance that this tender process will be above board.
The ID will be scrutinising every aspect of this process to ensure that the country is not short-changed again. [Applause.]