WHILE Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s statement that the country has no money to go for a major nuclear plant building, has been heralded as a sign that the incoming President is opposed to a nuclear program, estimated to cost around R1 trillion, environmental group, the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), says the response by the Deputy President does not go far enough and simply means that when government is granted more loans it will then embark on the nuclear build.
Ramaphosa, who was speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland said: “We have excess power right now and we have no money to go for a major nuclear plant building.”
According to the organisation, what civil society has been calling for is the scrapping of the entire nuclear build development and the removal of this from the integrated energy plan. It also wants legislation put in place that protects the country’s limited resources and reduces its climate footprint.
“This undermines the campaign for renewable energy, given the strong winds we have and wonderful sunshine that makes the renewable option the best and competes favorably with EU states like Germany and the USA where the development has increased and the unemployment has been reduced,” said SDCEA’s Desmond D’Sa.
D’Sa however, conceded that the change of leadership in the ruling party, will bring about change regarding the previous leadership stance on nuclear but cautioned that as civil society they could not take their foot off the pedal.
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“The signs are there, but as civil society we cannot take our foot off the pedal, lest we forget that those with huge interest will not go away easily but continue to lobby and curry favour with our politicians. Those who sided with the wrong, did not have a sudden Damascus Road moment and are still entrenched in the ruling party, waiting for the right to pounce and portray their destructive and corrupted technology,” he said.
“We have to be on guard and continue to play a role to educate and empower our communities about the danger of nuclear energy . Other countries are moving away because of an enlightened civil society, we in South Africa need to get there as well and this I reckon is near at hand,” added D’Sa.
According to the country’s Integrated Resource Plan, South Africa is planning to build eight nuclear reactors that will generate 9.6 gigawatts of power. The price tag is estimated to be around R1 trillion. Meanwhile, following the medium-term budget policy statement in October last year, Finance Minister Malusi said: “Over the next five years, SA will not be able to afford nuclear energy because the economy is growing too slowly. We can’t afford it, we have excess electricity. The budget can’t afford it and the country can’t afford it.”
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