Madam Chair, hon Ministers, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, I was encouraged this afternoon when I came to the House to see lots of political activists and ex-combatants. I was actually confused and nearly thought there was a rally of the ANC today. [Laughter.] Your presence here makes our democracy vibrant. We thank you.
The struggle to improve the lives of our people through developing and improving existing energy resources, both electricity and solar, wind and other renewable energies, can only be realised if we collaborate with our neighbours in the SADC and the whole African continent. This need for collaboration is further necessitated by the fact that South Africa sells electricity in the SADC region. Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe get some of their electricity from South Africa. This represents about 3% of the net energy produced. Apart from the electricity we get from the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Station in Mozambique, Eskom also imports some power from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, to some extent, Zambia. They do this mainly for peak load management.
Working together with our neighbours, we can do more in facilitating economic growth and sustainable development. We can all proudly say "amandla ngawethu" [power to the people] with our neighbours. We need to engage in these efforts, having the interests of the coming generations at heart. As we develop energy and our economy, we should not destroy the environment. We got this environment from our ancestors, forefathers and forbears. We need to leave it intact for the coming generations.
The split of energy from mining is very welcome as the two have been close for too long. This meant that the energy agenda and the mining agenda were more or less the same. More than anything, this link has resulted in more emphasis on coal and far less on alternative energy resources - that is, renewable energy. It is now necessary to develop an entirely new agenda. [Interjections.] Oh! I would prefer a loudhailer. [Laughter.]
It is now necessary to develop an entirely new energy agenda which is deliberately delinked from the mining agenda and which acknowledges the full range of energy options available in the country. Renewables are largely cheap or to some extent free, which is why they are not popular with multinational corporations that would like to control and sell things.
The current energy system in South Africa is dominated by coal, and it constitutes a very high proportion of South Africa's primary energy consumption. In actual fact, the coal-based energy plants in South Africa are the biggest in the world, followed closely by China. In 2007, coal comprised around 75% of South Africa's primary energy; nuclear energy comprised around 3%; and renewable energy comprised around 8%. As for electricity generation, an even greater share of about 92% comes from coal- fired power stations.
The South African economy is energy intensive as it is still based on primary extraction and the processing of coal and other mineral resources. Currently, energy contributes about 15% of the GDP and creates about 250 000 jobs. The energy sector is a critical vehicle, ensuring that the growth trajectory we have set for ourselves is achievable and that it is also critical for the betterment of the lives of poor South Africans. It is our view as the ANC that we need to diversify our energy sources in order to gradually move away from over-reliance on fossil fuel-based energy generation or coal.
Although the ANC is very clear in its advocacy of energy mix and renewable and clean energy utilisation, minimal progress has been made in increasing the utilisation of alternative energy sources. Currently, South Africa's utilisation of diverse energy sources is skewed in favour of coal. It comprises a majority share in our primary energy mix. Diversification of energy sources includes nuclear and other renewables like biomass.
Compared to other parts of the world, South Africa is blessed with high levels of solar radiation. Radiation levels range between 4,5 and 6,5 kilowatt hours per square metre in one day, with an average of 2 500 hours of sunshine per year. It is time we invest massively in solar energy technologies to effect true energy diversification in our energy mix. Diversification of the primary energy mix will be intensified to achieve targets, and focus should also be on the promotion of renewable energy sources.
Renewable energy offers alternative sources for utilisation. The policy of the ANC embraces the research into renewable energy technology to increase the resource basket. [Interjections.] The ANC supports the budget.