The Department of Minerals and Energy is in the process of finalising an integrated plan to ensure there is security of electricity supply in the country, minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica said.
Addressing the media during an economic cluster briefing on Monday, Sonjica said the plan will be submitted to the Cabinet in July.
”We are working on a policy to ensure there is security of supply that we intend submitting to Cabinet in July,” she said.
The plan, called the Integrated Security of Supply Strategy, Sonjica said, covers liquid fuels and electricity.
The minister’s announcement comes at a time when calls for her department to come up with concrete measures aimed at addressing the country’s electricity supply problems are mounting.
The Democratic Alliance said the absence of such measures means that people are kept in constant fear that they may be plunged into darkness at any moment.
”Our citizens and our business people need a real sense of certainty in terms of this matter [electricity supply] … I therefore request you to step up and reveal what government’s plan is to deal with the matter — over the short, medium and long term — in a clear and unambiguous manner,” DA spokesperson on minerals and energy Hendrik Schmidt said in a recent letter to Sonjica.
Speaking at the same briefing, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said ensuring security of energy supply in the country is a key priority, ”especially in the light of the significant economic growth that the country has experienced”.
He said government will continue to develop the local nuclear industry as an affordable and environmentally sound alternative.
”To that end we are finalising a national nuclear energy strategy, which will be a comprehensive policy that will look at the utilisation of nuclear energy,” he said.
While establishing the Regional Electricity Distributors, Erwin said the government will ensure electricity prices are affordable to both businesses and households. — Sapa