DA requests deadline extension for comments on draft IRP 2023
19 January 2024
The office of the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, has acknowledged receipt of a request submitted by the DA on Wednesday in which we are calling for an extension of the public comments deadline for the draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2023, from the current cutoff date of 23 February 2024 to 30 April 2024.
Our request follows representations made to the DA by stakeholders across the country in which they expressed concern that the current deadline does not afford them enough time to properly interrogate the underlying assumptions and projections made in the IRP 2023, and to make substantive comments based on the evaluation thereof.
It is the DA’s considered view that the public comments deadline for the IRP 2023 should be extended in order to enable exhaustive input on what is essentially the energy policy that seeks to shape South Africa’s electricity supply landscape for the foreseeable future. The release of the IRP 2023 was inexplicably delayed and as such, the least that Mantashe could do is give South Africans adequate time to make their voices heard.
The DA remains deeply concerned about the draft IRP 2023 in its current form due to its lack of ambition, reluctance to move away from fossil fuels and assumptions that are not reflective of South Africa’s current energy realities. Instead of taking a more pro-active approach towards a renewable energy future, the draft IRP 2023 has taken South Africa several steps back and increased the risk of a perpetual energy crisis in the country.