Minister must put City before self-interest and licence it to procure solar and wind power

IT’S mind-boggling that ANC politicians are unable to put city interests before party interests.

The City has had to go to court to compel Minister Gwede Mantashe to make the required Section 34 determination, in accordance with the new generation capacity regulations attached to the Electricity Regulation Act, to licence the City to procure 150MW of solar energy and 280MW of wind energy from independent power producers.

Considering that Cape Town is a premier holiday destination, every political party based in the city should be vociferously clamouring for Gwede Mantashe to give his consent.

Load shedding is bad for everyone but entirely inimical to the tourism industry. Tourists don’t need to put up with load shedding. Why Mantashe has to be pushed is in itself something to be rightly furious about.

Cope fully supports the City’s request to the judge president of the Gauteng High Court to give his permission for the case to be brought forward.

Every day’s delay will just add to the city’s woes as Eskom continues with its load shedding into the new year.

Citizens of Cape Town, regardless of which political party they support, should be indignant that Minister

Mantashe and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) are unable after so many months to allow the city to purchase energy from Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

It’s common cause that Eskom has plunged the country into a serious energy crisis.

Therefore, instead of prevaricating and dilly-dallying, the minister and Nersa ought to have thrashed out an agreement expeditiously on the legal framework to facilitate the issuing of a licence to the city to purchase energy directly from IPPs.

Eskom is ailing. Each year its ailment grows progressively worse.

It’s the most severely stricken “sick man” of South African stateowned enterprises. It can’t be depended on anymore.

If the minister fails in his solemn duty and the provincial ANC has no success in applying friendly pressure, the court must adjudicate, and in doing so it must ensure that Minister Mantashe is censured and made personally responsible for a punitive cost order.

It is nothing but glaring and inexcusable dereliction of duty.

No minister has the right to place impediments on the economy of a city. Furthermore, no minister has a right to imperil jobs.