Speaker, South Africa should be congratulated for the energy treaty signed between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, and the people of the Republic of South Africa today - the linking of the DRC and South Africa into the Grand Inga project treaty and the allowing of the two countries to jointly explore different economically feasible energy options.
On 20 February 2010, the energy Ministers of the DRC, Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa decided to abandon a project dubbed the Western Corridor that would have led to the construction of an electricity interconnection system along the Atlantic Ocean. The DRC however decided to take the bull by the horns and put the country's needs first.
However, we in South Africa remain concerned about Eskom's continued monopoly in our energy sector. The Independent System and Market Operator Bill is no longer on the parliamentary schedule. Is this good or bad news? It will be bad news if the withdrawal of the Bill means that government has decided to throw in the towel and give up trying to solve the serious problems that exist in the structure of South Africa's electricity generation, transmission and distribution systems; but it will be good news if government intends to revise the Bill and make it a truly functional piece of legislation that will assist in removing the blockages causing South Africa's dire electricity shortage.
The examples set by the DRC of involving outside help could be the approach South Africa should take rather than allowing Eskom to ride roughshod over the population and the country's electricity needs. I thank you.