The construction of the Medupi power station is facing a significant hurdle - the road to be used for construction material needs an R 1 billion upgrade - without it, the construction of the power station itself cannot take place. The problem is that National and Provincial Government departments have yet to coordinate on who should take responsibility on this matter - but this delay is placing serious pressure on the possibility of completing the project on time.

According to an Eskom senior executive, 210 trucks are expected to travel between Medupi and Richards Bay during construction - in addition to the abnormal freight carriers transporting items such as the boilers and other large components.

R 1 billion is certainly a large amount of money, but it needs to be seen in the context of the R 125 billion to be spent on the power station itself. Improving the roads is not a nice-to-have, it is crucial towards ultimately building the power station.  

The DA is calling on the respective government departments - Public Entities, Transport and Finance - to set up a joint task team to coordinate efforts on upgrading the respective roads. This cannot be delayed any further - poor road access to power stations has played a significant role in energy supply problems in the past, including during the load shedding period. This cannot be allowed to happen again, especially not with such an important power station. The general leadership vacuum that exists at Eskom is by no means an excuse to delay on this.

Statement issued by Pieter van Dalen, MP, Democratic Alliance deputy shadow minister of public enterprises, November 26 2009

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