The department can be applauded for finally getting a renewable energy bid process off the ground, and I'm sure you will agree that what it, in fact, shows is that there is an enormous appetite for the private sector to contribute to solving this energy crisis. For this programme to be sustainable in the long run, though, we will have to bring down the cost of capital and, thankfully, countries in the North have lined up to help us do this, in the form of the South African renewables initiative. It is deplorable though, Minister, that, after its having been announced to great fanfare last year at COP 17, we still have not made any progress in bringing this initiative to fruition.
Finally, it is of huge concern that we have not made any substantial progress on energy efficiency, which should be our national priority. It should not be limited to demand side management and made the responsibility of Eskom, but must rather be mainstreamed into our entire energy DNA.