Activists from Greenpeace Africa interrupted Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe's keynote address at the Africa Energy Indaba, on Tuesday, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Picture: @EnergyIndaba/Twitter
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has once again denied claims that he is a coal fundamentalist and that he is the reason government is taking too long to bring renewable energy online.
Mantashe, who was retained as the country’s energy minister during President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet reshuffle on Monday evening, has hit back at his detractors who accuse him of blocking renewable energy, saying he believes in mixed energy technologies to address the country’s energy crisis.
Mantashe’s keynote address at the Africa Energy Indaba on Tuesday was interrupted by Greenpeace Africa activists at the three-day conference taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
A group of activists from Greenpeace Africa stood in front of the stage, where the minister was delivering his speech, with bright yellow placards that read: “Gwede stop blocking renewables”, “Coal = corruption”, and “coal = load shedding”.
ALSO READ: Mining Indaba: ‘Load shedding cost the economy about R1 billion a day’ – Mantashe
The environmental activists accused Mantashe of being behind government’s continued use of coal to generate electricity and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s (DMRE) reluctance to push for more investment in renewable energy.
When the organisers of the Africa Energy Indaba tried to ask the activists from Greenpeace Africa to leave the plenary, Mantashe insisted that they should be given a the space to air their views through protest.
The minister also called on the event organisers not to give the activists the attention they were seeking.
“Can I advise you to leave them because you’re giving them the attention that they’re looking for. They’re looking for attention and now you are giving them attention,” said Mantashe.
ALSO READ: Eskom agitates for ‘overthrow of the state’ by not dealing with load shedding – Mantashe
Responding to the claims that he is a coal fundamentalist and against renewables, Mantashe defended his track record in the DMRE, saying under his watch government had done much to support the Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP).
“Let me make this point, the Gwede who blocks renewables has done a few things. We have released bid window 5, bid window 6 [and] we’re going to release bid window 7 now. We have removed any celling on embedded generation; it used to be 1MW and we’ve increased it to 100MW… So embedded generation is totally deregulated,” he said.
The minister said environmental activists were creating an impression that renewable energy was “the only thing that came from heaven to save us”.
“And I can tell you that [renewable energy] is not going to save us because it has limitations, it doesn’t have baseload, it depends on partnering with other technologies to provide sustainable and secure energy supply and security,” said Mantashe.
Mantashe said coal will be around for a very long time and government had a responsibility to invest in coal technology that is more sustainable.
“We’re endowed with coal. Coal corruption is fine; corruption is everywhere including in renewables, I can tell you that.
“Corruption is greedy individuals who steal. You steal everywhere you work, it’s not about coal.”
NOW READ: SA is not an island – load shedding happens everywhere, says Mantashe
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
