Another Nuke Deal delay – Is cabinet at war with itself?
27 September 2016
Confusion reigns regarding the commencement of the trillion rand nuclear new build programme, which was expected to begin officially on Friday. This follows comments made by Minister Naledi Pandor at the National Development Plan Cabinet Briefing this afternoon, where she indicated a further potential delay is expected.
In a response to a question from a Johannesburg based journalist regarding the commencement of the nuclear new build programme on Friday September 30th – Minister Pandor categorically stated that the RFP could not possibly be issued as the underlying energy policy document determining South Africa’s energy mix (a precursory document) known as the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) had not yet been passed by Cabinet.
While the statement by the Minister should be cautiously welcomed- as the procurement of costly nuclear technology cannot currently be justified- the Minister’s comments raise a series of very important questions:
- If the RFP is to be further delayed on the basis of the need to adopt and updated IRP document – why then did Minister of Energy Tina Joematt-Pettersson announce to Parliament this month the nuclear new build programme would commence on September 30th?