By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Cabinet was consulted on the updated Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity during its meeting on September 13, but the document will be further consulted and revised before it is released for public comment.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni stressed in her post-Cabinet briefing that the document would undergo various iterations and that consultations with the executive represented only the first part of that iterative process.
“So, it came to Cabinet through the relevant Cabinet committee … for the Ministers to make inputs and as the consultation continues and is concluded it will then be returned back to Cabinet for Cabinet to approve the consultation with the public,” she explained.
Ntshavheni denied that the intention had been for the document to be approved for public comment, as consultations with “other sectors” besides Cabinet would have to be undertaken ahead of its public release.
“When that phase is done, they will return back with a revised version, which will then be approved for public comment, “she said, without providing any specific timeframes.
In late August, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe revealed that he intended to personally present the “IRP 2023” to a Cabinet committee meeting during the first week of September, which was being held to prepare for the document’s possible presentation to Cabinet on September 13.
He indicated his desire that the updated IRP should be finalised during 2023 and also confirmed that he was obliged to take the update through a public consultation phase once he had received approval from Cabinet to do so.
Mantashe did not offer insight into the the draft document’s contents, nor its authors.
Intense load shedding ‘a short-term phase’
Ntshavheni, says Cabinet has been updated on Eskom’s current planned maintenance plan which has resulted in higher stages of load shedding.
The increased maintenance is aimed at ensuring the sustainability of Eskom’s plants.
“The concerted implementation of the planned fleet maintenance programme has resulted in increased stages of load shedding in recent days.
“The implementation of Stage 6 load shedding in the last week was a regress from the trends that prevailed in the previous weeks of lower stages of load shedding,” she remarked.
She said “the current implementation of increased stages of load shedding is a short-term phase as Eskom prepares for more sustained and lessened stages of load shedding in the not-so-distant future”.
“The Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, will continue to update the nation on the progress being made to address the current electricity challenges and the steps being taken to ultimately end load shedding,” she said.
Budget shortfall should not impact service delivery
Cabinet has reiterated that measures to address the budget shortfall must not impact negatively on service delivery.
This as a Cost Containment Letter was issued on 31 August 2023 with proposals to close the fiscal gap.
“Cabinet appreciates the current fiscal constraints which are not unique to South Africa but has resulted in-her budget shortfall. The Minister of Finance will shortly issue Guidelines clarifying the unintended misunderstanding arising from the Cost Containment Letter issued on 31 August 2023.
“In addition, as part of the in-year performance review of progress in implementation priorities agreed to with Ministers, the President and Deputy President will meet with individual Ministers to ensure that fiscal management does not derail the agreed to priorities, “Ntshavheni, said.
Cabinet firmly committed to NHI implementation
Cabinet is forging ahead with “its firm commitment for the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI)”.
Ntshavheni explained that the NHI represents a way to ensure that all South Africans have access to quality healthcare.
“The commitment to NHI is premised on the fact that both public and private health sectors are not sustainable. The current parallel and fragmented systems must be integrated into a national system so that all resources are accessible to all people.
“The implementation of the NHI is premised on the implementation of a comprehensive approach to accelerating infrastructure improvement in the public sector. This is not something that should be contemplated separately from the reforms in the NHI Bill,” she said.
Ntshavheni explained that through the NHI, the pressure on “congested public facilities” will be lifted.
“Focusing narrowly on the intended reforms of private financing of healthcare has detracted from the Bill’s intended reforms of public and private provision of services. It is in reforming the service platform that space will be created for decongesting public facilities.
“When the NHI Fund is able to purchase services from both public and private providers, we will begin to see the pressure lifted from highly pressured public facilities,” she said.
Cabinet vows to reclaim all hijacked buildings
Ntshavheni says the government is working to reclaim all its buildings in Gauteng which have been hijacked.
Last month, 77 people lost their lives when a fire broke out at a hijacked building in Marshalltown in the Johannesburg CBD.
The blaze has placed a renewed focus on the number of abandoned or hijacked buildings in the Joburg inner city.
It has already led to Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda and the city’s metro police conducting a sting operation to flush out suspected syndicates illegally occupying and vandalising city property.
Twenty-three suspects were arrested and detained at Johannesburg Central Police Station.
Ntshavheni told a post-cabinet media briefing on Thursday that the government is working to reclaim all its hijacked buildings.
“We work as an integrated government, where the national government is able to assist they will assist. The Department of Public Works as the overall custodian of the public infrastructure of government in particular real estate, have offered themselves to assist with the project to make sure that we reclaim all government owned premises through the provincial department responsible for infrastructure development in Gauteng.”
Ntshavheni said the government is also working to solve the issue of illegal mining in the province.
“Law enforcement arrested nine zama zama kingpins and were granted preservation orders against their assets that included luxury vehicles, precious metals and cash to the value of R34 million. This goes against the narrative that says in our fight against zama zamas we are only targeting runners…we are targeting kingpins.”
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