Last board members leaving ‘sinking’ Necsa ‘long overdue’ – Nehawu

The outgoing Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) board members are leaving a sinking ship, with the organisation facing uncertainty on its financial capacity to pay this month’s salaries and meet other financial obligations.

Its financial and management decay has been blamed on the departing board, with the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) saying the departure of remaining board members was long overdue.

Three remaining board members tendered their resignations to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe this week, citing, among other reasons, his failure to give the agency adequate financial support.

The union has charged that the trio jumped ship to escape responsibility and accountability for pushing the agency – responsible for uranium enrichment, conducting research and development in the field of nuclear energy, radiation sciences and technology – to the brink of collapse.

“According to the Bargaining Forum briefing [on Wednesday], Necsa has a cash shortfall of R27 million in order to be able to pay salaries on 24 January and this excludes other financial obligations the company must honour,” Nehawu’s secretariat said in a statement yesterday.

It believed their continued stay would have inflicted grave and permanent damage to the very existence of Necsa, given they recently recommended to Mantashe that Necsa be placed under “final liquidation”, in violation of section 12 of the Nuclear Energy Act.

“Their departure therefore closes a sad chapter in the history of Necsa…” the union said.

Meanwhile, chair of the portfolio committee on mineral resources and energy Sahlulele Luzipho has called on Mantashe to speedily appoint a new board for Necsa.

He said this was critical for the stability of all entities in the energy sector and that state entities had a key role to play in the economy, so could not be mired in governance challenges.

Mantashe’s office said Necsa’s board was being “replenished” to ensure it was properly constituted and had the requisite mix of skills.

The list of proposed names has been finalised for submission to Cabinet.

Necsa was established as a public company by the Republic of South Africa Nuclear Energy Act in 1999, replacing the Atomic Energy Corporation, dating back to the ’40s.

The corporation’s functions include processing and storing nuclear material and other restricted material, as well as to coordinate with other organisations in matters falling within these spheres.

Its main operations are at Pelindaba, west of Pretoria, but Necsa also operates the Vaalputs radioactive waste disposal facility in the Northern Cape.

According to Wikipedia and NTP website, its subsidiary, NTP Radioisotopes SOC Ltd, was established in the ’70s to supply the local market with commercial radiopharmaceuticals, growing to become one of the world’s top producers and distributors of key medical radioisotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), radioisotope-based diagnostic imaging and therapy products.

It currently supplies up to a third of global demand for Mo99, which is the most widely used medical isotope.

– siphom@citizen.co.za

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