The ANC has endorsed a market-friendly approach to the problem of SA’s energy shortage, including allowing municipalities to procure their own energy, expanding the independent power producer (IPP) programme and freeing up regulations around self-generation by business.
This is according to a report, seen by Business Day, from the commission on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the economic growth strategy at the party’s two-day lekgotla, which ended on Monday.
However, there were provisos on the trajectory of energy generation, including increasing ownership by black South Africans in renewable energy projects and the suggestion that a new public entity be established to compete alongside private producers in the market.
Access to the grids
The ANC commission report is significant as there has been much political opposition within the party to the presence of independent power producers in the market. In particular the resolution states that the government must "provide access
to the grid on a nondiscriminatory basis to Eskom generation and IPPs''.
The decision on independent procurement by municipalities comes as the DA-run City of Cape Town has approached the courts for permission to directly buy electricity from IPPs, an application that has been opposed by the ministry of energy. The case is expected to be heard in May.
On Eskom, the ANC said it should engage with labour federation Cosatu and its other alliance partners to develop a common approach on how to save the power utility.
It said agreement should be pursued, including on how workers could help mobilise funding to invest in the restructuring of Eskom; how jobs can be saved; and how ongoing public ownership could be secured.
President Cyril Ramaphosa took the unprecedented step of opening the lekgotla to the media for his closing comments so his message to ANC members and the public was unmediated. He said the party had discussed how it should foster economic growth and deal with SOEs. The commercial and developmental mandates of these entities should be clearly outlined and communicated and reviews should be done where necessary, he said.
"The ANC will continue to be guided by the vision outlined in the policy document adopted called ‘Ready to Govern’, which stated that the balance of evidence should continue to guide our structuring and restructuring of SOEs and our decisions on when we need to increase or reduce public ownership in order to advance the economic environment," Ramaphosa said.
The ANC would also examine the institutional design that should continue to support SOEs and support developmental mandates. There would be greater operational efficiency and the party would ensure it placed people fit for purpose in state entities.
"We should avoid political interference in operational matters of our SOEs and, if there is to be any, it should be on strategic matters, and also where there is mismanagement and a clear company failure."
He said the country had more than 740 SOEs and the government would start looking at either consolidating or rationalising them.
Ramaphosa said the ANC had acknowledged that its policy was failing and would revise these measures to be more realistic to tackle the shortcomings of implementation. "We all agreed that we will all speak and communicate one message with the many voices we have here."
Ahead of the lekgotla, Ramaphosa had faced pressure to remove public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan over his handling of the Eskom crisis. This followed a comment by deputy president David Mabuza last week that he believed Ramaphosa had been misled when he was told there would be no load-shedding before January 13.
It also prompted calls for Eskom to be moved from the public enterprises department to the energy department under minister Gwede Mantashe.
There was no mention of the proposal to move Eskom and nothing came of calls for Gordhan to be removed.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.