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.