Day: December 2, 2022

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SA needs R1.5 trillion for Just Energy Transition

South Africa requires an initial funding of about R1.5 trillion to transition to a low carbon and climate resilient society for the five-year period 2023–2027, says Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) Commissioner Joanne Yawitch.

 

Addressing a hybrid Special Sitting on Understanding the contents of South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP) on Thursday, Yawitch said achieving the JET IP outcomes is dependent on the scale and nature of financial support that South Africa can secure from the international community to complement domestic resources.

 

“At the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP) in 2021, a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) was forged with France, Germany, United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States (forming the International Partners Group [IPG]) in which the IPG undertook to mobilise US$8.5 billion (~ ZAR 128 billion) over five years to support South Africa’s Just Energy Transition.

 

“The initial IPG offer of US$8.5 billion is thus a catalytic contribution towards addressing the JET IP priorities,” she said.

 

The IPG funds will be primarily directed towards the electricity sector for the decommissioning of coal plants; the expansion and strengthening of the transmission grid and distribution infrastructure; supporting economic diversification in affected coal mining areas and the deployment of renewable energy.

 

The IPG US$8.5bilion offer comprises grants, concessional and commercial loans, and guarantee instruments, contributing to approximately 12% of South Africa’s JET IP funding needs for the period.

 

“South Africa’s dependence on fossil fuels gives rise to a range of climate, energy and transition risks, especially for affected workers, communities, businesses and exporters.

 

“However, embracing new economic opportunities in green technologies can drive industrial development and innovation, leading to a sustainable and resilient future with decent work, social inclusion and lower levels of poverty,” Yawitch said.

 

The JET IP represents the initial building blocks of managing South Africa’s Just Energy Transition and climate response, which will be a managed, phased, long-term process of economic, social, and environmental change.

 

It will involve multi-year, multi-sectoral, and multi-jurisdictional initiatives with many stakeholders, including significant capacity building to manage the scale of the Just Energy Transition.

 

“Implementation must be based on solid foundations for a sustained, focused, and visible effort across government, civil society, trade unions and the private sector that can adapt as needed over time. It will be grounded in existing South African institutions and systems and will adopt both local and global best practice,” Yawitch said.

 

The JET IP is premised on South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) 2030, with its focus on tackling the country’s systemic challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment.

 

It is in line with South Africa’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) which was lodged with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) prior to its 26th Conference of the Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow in November 2021, and South Africa’s long-term Low-Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) submitted to the UNFCCC in 2020.

 

The NDC commits the country to reducing its emissions to within a range of 420-350 megatons carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2-eq) by 2030.

 

 

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Eskom engages Cogta on Tshwane debt mediation

Eskom says it has approached the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to mediate in the debt repayment matter between the power utility and the City of Tshwane municipality.

 

“The Public Finance Management Act requires that institutes recover what is owed to them. It is for this reason that Eskom sought the intervention of Cogta in this matter. The overdue debt has contributed negatively to the liquidity, financial performance and sustainability of the organisation where Eskom has to borrow to meet its financial obligations,” the power utility said.

 

According to Eskom, the municipality owes it some R1.6 billion for its unpaid bulk electricity supply account.

 

“The City of Tshwane failed to settle its account despite numerous engagements with the municipality. Tshwane’s bill as at 30 November was R1.6 billion after it failed to pay the September bill of R887 million…and it’s arrears of R699 million. The October bill of R894 billion…also remains unpaid.

 

“The power utility relies on municipalities and all its customers to pay their accounts timeously in order for Eskom to continue delivering on its mandate to supply electricity,” Eskom said.

 

Meanwhile, the power utility has begun attaching assets belonging to the Emfuleni Local Municipality after it obtained a R1.3 billion court order against the municipality for failure to pay its bulk electricity supply debt exceeding R5 billion.

 

 

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Senior EC Education official in court for PPE corruption

A senior Eastern Cape Education Department official, his wife and a businessman have appeared at the Zwelitsha Magistrate’s Court on charges related to a R4 million PPE tender.

Supply Chain Management chief director, Marius Harmse, his wife Elanore and businessman, Sigqibo Makupula, appearted in the court on charges of fraud, money laundering and corruption. They were granted R10 000 bail each.

The arrests come after an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) that revealed that Harmse had indirectly received some R328 000 in kickbacks for awarding the tender to Makupula’s company, Kups Trading.

“The SIU probe found that Makupula transferred a sum of R573 000.00… towards the purchase price of a vehicle, which was to be purchased by Mr and Mrs Harmse to the value of R850 000. Mr Harmse paid the balance of R277 000 to Star Motors, with the view to settle the balance of the purchase price. The vehicle was registered in the name of Mrs Harmse on 3 February 2021,” SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said.

He explained that the vehicle was then sold months later and Harmse allegedly tried to conceal the proceeds.

“Harmse approached the Sales Manager at Star Motors, Mr Hubbard, during April 2021 to place the said motor vehicle on their pre-owned stand as a consignment unit to try and sell it on Mr Harmse’s behalf. Mr Hubbard agreed . The said motor vehicle was sold on 10 May 2021 and on the instruction of Mr and Mrs Harmse, to the value of R800 000.00.

“The purchase price was paid into Mr and Mrs Harmse’s Standard Bank account in the name of Trentrade 23 (Pty). Furthermore, the SIU investigation revealed that this is where the integration took place, the purchase of the said motor vehicle and it being transferred into the name of Mr Msimango [another Star Motors employee] and not that of Mr or Mrs Harmse shows their intent to hide the proceeds and reintroduce [them] as part of the financial system,” Kganyago said.

 

 

 

Source: South African Government News Agency

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Scrap metal export ban a boost for Transnet

Transnet says government’s ban on the export of scrap and waste metal will go a long way in the fight against metal theft.

 

Government recently announced that the six-month ban is aimed at making it difficult for criminals to sell stolen copper cables and other metals.

 

State-owned companies (SOCs) such as Transnet, Eskom and PRASA [Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa] have become a target for metal and cable thieves, costing South Africa’s economy billions of rands annually.

 

“We are pleased that government has acted decisively against the scourge of metal theft, which doesn’t just plague Transnet. Transnet Freight Rail [TFR] has a rail network infrastructure of 30 400 km in track, and theft and vandalism of our infrastructure results in delays on the system and possible derailments.

 

“TFR has long viewed this as economic sabotage. Since 1 April 2022, there have been more than 377 export coal trains cancelled due to security incidents, which is about an average of 11 trains a week. Whilst this is an improvement compared to the 2021/22 financial year, the security solution is not sustainable,” the SOC said.

 

Transnet revealed that since the beginning of the financial year, it has lost some 742km of cable to criminality.

 

“Transnet has received assistance from coal customers in funding security on the North corridor from Ermelo to Richards Bay. This allowed the company to deploy additional security task teams and drones. As a result, there has been a 30% reduction in security incidents. However, the security incidents have not reduced sufficiently to completely reduce the impact on train cancellations.

 

“The announcement by government will go a long way to mitigate the security challenges experienced by TFR and industry. TFR looks forward to government’s finalisation of a more permanent legislative solution to curb cable theft,” the company said.

 

Source: South African Government News Agency

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PowerChina achieves common development through diversified cultural integration with countries across Southeast Africa

BEIJING, Dec. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — A report form CRIOnline:

Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina), one of the first batch of Chinese companies to expand their international business into Africa, has implemented many large-scale infrastructure construction projects in multiple countries across the southeastern part of the continent, making positive contributions to African economic development and the improvement in the livelihoods of local populations.

Karuma Hydropower Station, the largest such station under construction in Uganda, makes full use of water resources from the upper Nile River and will give a strong impetus to the country’s economic development once completed. Prior to commencing the project, PowerChina undertook eight impact studies during which experts were invited to evaluate the local biological environment and help decide the construction model, before finally deciding in tandem with the station owner to bury the generator set, large transformer and other equipment in an underground space. In addition, during the construction process, all work will be handled in such a way that all the original ground vegetation will be preserved to the greatest extent possible for peaceful coexistence with local indigenous wildlife.

In Zimbabwe, a country rich with local traditions and cultures, PowerChina conducted a series of systematic surveys with the local population before building the Hwange Thermal Power Station, the largest ever such facility in the country. To avoid conflicts due to misunderstandings, all Chinese employees were required to receive cultural competency training to respect local customs, while Chinese management concepts and systems were  made fully transparent to Zimbabwean employees.

Since the establishment of the project team for the Andekaleka Power Plant in Madagascar in 2018, PowerChina has pulled out all the stops to overcome the obstacles due to cultural, habitual and professional differences, and finally succeeded in implementing the project. The facility is expected to meet 50% of the electricity demand for the country’s capital of Antananarivo once it is put into operation by the end of 2022.

Despite the cultural differences, people have the same thoughts and aspirations everywhere. Every employee at PowerChina firmly believes that only by proactively engaging with the world’s many diversified cultures and interacting with the many social groups of every country and region in which they operate, can they inject lasting vitality into their international business and achieve common development with all customers, partners, stakeholders and local residents.