Chairperson, let me first congratulate the Minister on her appointment to this Ministry. I certainly wish her the best in what is sure to be a very challenging job. As a social democratic party, the ID believes in the strategic importance of having certain state-owned enterprises, but like you, Minister, we also don't believe in throwing good money after bad. State-owned enterprises need to prove their worth, and cannot continue to be a drain on the public purse.
In this regard we in the ID do not see the logic of continuing to fund the arms manufacturer Denel, or the PBMR company, which between them have swallowed up R13 billion of public money with very little to show for it.
The ID also questions the logic of giving SAA a further R1,6 billion when there are so many other pressing needs in our country, especially in terms of education and health.
And in terms of Eskom, Minister, the ID, along with many other stakeholders, including business representatives, is calling for a public review of Eskom's New Build Programme. This programme represents the largest public procurement in this country's history, and it is vital that we maximise its potential benefits and minimise its negative impacts, and in this regard the ID has a number of serious reservations about this programme due to its high import intensity, limited employment opportunities and the fact that renewable energy is projected only to supply 1% of the new generating capacity.
Minister, this build programme will lock us into an energy feature for the next 50 years. It is therefore vital that this programme takes into account the way in which energy is being reconceptualised in the world, so that we don't lock ourselves out of new global opportunities. Eskom's lack of commitment to renewable energy is also legendary, and is evidenced by the fact that its 100 megawatt concentrated solar plant has remained in the design phase for over ten years, with Eskom refusing to put the necessary funds towards it.
The ID therefore calls on your department to take it over as a strategic project so that we can finally build on our potential to become a world leader in solar energy, which is proving to be the fastest-growing industry in the world. Doing this will not only reduce our country's considerable contribution to climate change, but also create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the renewable energy industry, and build up a new industrial base. This is surely a vision that we can all get behind. I thank you.