Statement from Brett Herron, Secretary-General of the GOOD Party
18 OCTOBER 2020
The publication of regulations last week allowing municipalities to procure electricity from private producers is a potential game-changer for a South African economy held hostage by electricity failures and the mismanagement of Eskom over the past dozen years and more.
The publication of the regulations completes a four-year journey kick-started by GOOD Leader Patricia de Lille. In 1996, De Lille, the then-Mayor of Cape Town, went to court to secure the rights of towns and cities to procure renewable energy directly from independent power producers or to produce their own power.
The GOOD Party welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ambitious commitments in his address to the nation last week to add nearly 12 000 MW of new generation capacity to the system by 2022 – and to fix Eskom, with its crippling R450B debt. These plans must be implemented without delay.
The quickest route to clean and sustainable energy security, however, lies in well-managed cities developing their own generation and procurement plans that insulate residents and businesses from the potential for destabilising blackouts.
By leaning towards renewable energy sources, cities are also able to take local responsibility for reducing carbon emissions and other pollution.
There are significant opportunities for renewable and green energy generation in sunny and windy South Africa.
The new procurement regulations are an opportunity for independent power producers to grow their businesses and for the green energy sector to create new generation jobs – especially in the renewable energy supply chain.
Independent producers are ready to produce this additional electricity capacity. Our towns and cities must embrace the opportunity without delay – and Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe must fast-track applications received from municipalities so that we can get on with the business of energy and economic recovery.
ENDS