Commission head Mmamoloko Kubayi. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
ANC delegates from the Mpumalanga province have called on government to consider communities dependent on coal mining when transitioning to cleaner energy.
Mpumalanga is central to South Africa’s coal industry, with the province’s economy dependent on that industry and tourism.
The issue around the transition from coal to clean energy has been a bone of contention in president Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration, as one of his closest allies, energy minister Gwede Mantashe, stuck to his guns by insisting that coal mining could not be excluded from the government’s energy project, saying it would exacerbate job losses.
In a previous interview with Mail & Guardian on the sidelines of this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba, Mantashe said jobs would be lost during the transition from coal-fired energy to renewable power in a country that was already grappling with an expanded unemployment rate of 46.2%.
On Saturday, the second day of the ANC’s policy conference, delegates in the commission on economic transformation discussed a just transition that they said should not compromise on the security of energy supply.
Commission head Mmamoloko Kubayi said that delegates, in particular those from Mpumalanga, were of the view that when Eskom decommissioned its plants, it should not only concern itself with its employees but also consider the coal mines that are supporting and supplying the affected plant.
She said that Eskom must undertake a just transition at the pace and scale that the country could afford, with no one being left behind.
The concerns raised by the Mpumalanga province are in line with Mantashe’s arguments. He has in the past said that coal had contributed 21.4% (R130.57-billion) of total mining revenue (R608.99-billion) in 2020. It was the third-largest employer in the mining industry after precious metals and platinum group metals.
South Africa’s official unemployment rate has risen to record levels — worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic — and stood at 34.5% for the first quarter of 2022, marking the first easing since the third quarter of 2020.
Kubayi added that there was strong support for the president’s recent announcement of interventions to help stabilise Eskom and improve its plant performance.
On 25 June, Ramaphosa announced a set of interventions to be implemented in the next 12 months to improve energy generation by increasing its budget allocation for critical maintenance to boost reliability.
“We are cutting red tape that has made it difficult for Eskom to buy maintenance spares and equipment within the required period to effect repairs,” Ramaphosa said.
To address the shortage of skilled personnel and engineers, the utility is recruiting former senior Eskom plant managers and other professionals from the private sector.
Kubayi said delegates emphasised the need for Eskom to become an efficient entity, but that this should not be done at the expense of jobs.
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