Mantashe wants Eskom to abandon trucking of coal and use conveyor belt to avoid sabotage

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says Eskom needs to reconsider how coal is transported to its power stations to avoid sabotage.

There have been instances where rocks were found in coal delivered to Eskom’s power stations as well as inferior quality coal being swapped with good coal, among other incidents of sabotage.

Answering questions from MPs in a National Assembly plenary on Wednesday, Mantashe said it was not the responsibility of the department of energy and mineral resources to ensure that proper coal was delivered to the power stations.

“The quality of coal going to Eskom is an operation matter. It requires the management of Eskom to actually verify what quality and what quantity coal they received. It’s not a departmental matter,” he said.

Cost plus mines

The minister also refuted the suggestion that there was a shortage of coal in the country.

“No, there is a quality of coal that is inferior… that’s why I always ask to the minister of electricity the question why Eskom would opt for trucking in coal instead of getting it in cost plus mines next to the power station so that the coal can come to the power station on a conveyor belt.

“That debate has started and it is something serious because you are taking coal through a conveyor belt, the quality is not going to be tempered with. It will be more secured and protected.”

He, however, said his department could not take a decision on Eskom’s behalf regarding the transportation of coal.

“We can only raise it as an issue,” he stated.

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ANC MP Matthews Wolmarans questioned why Eskom was not using high quality coal and asked Mantashe what his department was doing to attract investment into existing and new coal mines.

“How will such large investments minimise the uncertainty around the adequate supply to Eskom’s power stations and the impact that this uncertainty may on energy security in the country?” Wolmarans said.

In his response, Mantashe said: “Coal mines are a very viable business. The turnover in 2021 was R140 billion… it’s quite a good industry. Contractual agreement between Eskom and the coal mines is not actually facilitated by a department. [The agreement] is between Eskom and business people called coal miners and they supply the quality of coal.”

Watch the plenary below:

Load shedding

Last month, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa indicated that the quality of coal was an issue plaguing some of Eskom’s power stations such as Matimba, which is one of the best performing stations in country.

Ramokgoka said government needed to invest in the coal mines to improve the station’s performance and in turn, reduce load shedding.

“Some of these coal mines are what we call cost plus mines and what that means is that Eskom has an obligation to invest in those mines to get the kind of quality coal that they want,” he said.

According to Mantashe, load shedding costs the country an estimated R1 billion a day.

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