Greenpeace Africa is intent on confronting energy issues in South Africa, ahead of the 2014 national elections.
The Richmond-based organisation contends that over a third of South Africans do not have access to electricity. This is at odds with the official statistics touted by government. “The country generates its electricity almost entirely from coal, which negatively impacts on the health of millions of South Africans while the country is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in Africa and the 13th highest in the world,” Greenpeace Africa’s Helen Dena revealed during its conference.
However, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s statistics contradict those provided by Greenpeace.
“In 1996, 58 percent of people had access to electricity and in 2011 its almost 85 percent,” Gordhan said at the University of Johannesburg two weeks ago.
Greenpeace Africa hosted a conference to discuss how the country can increase jobs, give power to consumers and do away with blackouts.
“Whether it’s the fast-tracking of opening coal mines, rolling blackouts, decreasing the time for public comment on Energy Information Administrations or the different government statements on the nuclear new build, the elections offer a golden opportunity to be asking how electricity delivery fits into the debate,” she maintained.
“This country would be crippled without electricity, and we believe that debating the approach of South Africa’s leaders to our energy future is critical. This future is based on the entire energy mix, rather than a certain electricity source like coal or nuclear energy.”
In a statement, Greenpeace Africa said the fact that this country generates its electricity almost entirely from coal has a negative impact on the health of millions of South Africans.
“According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on 13 April, preventing catastrophic climate change requires an urgent and fundamental transformation of energy systems around the world,” Dena revealed.
Greenpeace Africa contends that the age of fossil fuels is over and the century of renewable energy has begun. “South Africa has an abundance of solar and wind energy to power the country into a new phase of development on the continent. “
