During a recent gathering of key government officials, Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, announced South Africa’s intention to pursue the construction of a nuclear power plant as part of its energy strategy, emphasizing affordability and transparency in the process.
Speaking at the Cabinet Lekgotla in Tshwane, Minister Ramokgopa highlighted nuclear energy as crucial for securing stable baseload electricity supply in the long term.
“In the long term, we need to ensure that we anchor the baseload and nuclear is an important part of that intervention. We are working on the framework for procurement because we don’t want to discredit the process through a procurement process that is not transparent. We will do it at the scale and speed that we can afford as a country,” he explained.
The Minister’s remarks come as President Cyril Ramaphosa led discussions at the first Lekgotla of the Government of National Unity (GNU), outlining the administration’s agenda for the seventh term.
Addressing concerns over electricity affordability, Minister Ramokgopa expressed worries about the impact of rising costs on disadvantaged communities.
“The poor and those that are located in the townships are finding it exceptionally difficult to afford the increases in electricity. The pricing and the tariff is prohibitive and a lot of our people across the length and breadth of the country are not in a position to afford electricity,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau assured the public that Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) policies would remain integral to the government’s transformation agenda.
“These are foundational principles to the establishment of the Government of National Unity. Included in there are priorities in relation to social justice, equity and redress. Therefore, these are parties that have come together on the basis of collectively addressing transformation because we have committed to redress in the foundational principles,” Minister Tau emphasized.
He reiterated the administration’s dual focus on industrialization and transformation, citing Operation Vulindela as a key program to drive progress in network industries such as energy, logistics, and the digital economy.
“This would be a focus on network industries amongst others…looking at energy, looking at logistics in particular, the digital economy and other areas. The fact that we’ve made significant progress in that regard enables us to use that as a springboard to grow the economy focussed on industrialisation and re-industrialisation,” Minister Tau stated.
He emphasized the importance of broadening economic participation and creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to contribute to job growth in South Africa.