Mining giant Sibanye-Stillwater has donated vast tracts of land to the commercial hub of Gauteng, with at least 1,500ha of this earmarked for the development of a solar farm to help ease the energy crisis in the province.
The Gauteng provincial government said it is finalising plans to release the land to six independent power producers (IPPs) for the Merafong Solar Farm Cluster by the end of March. The solar farm is expected to generate about 800MW for Gauteng and forms part of the province’s interventions to mitigate the effects of load-shedding.
The 1,500ha is part of a 30,000ha land parcel donated by Sibanye to the province as part of a public-private partnership. The remainder of the land will be used to facilitate the creation of a postmining economy in the West Rand region of Gauteng.
“The project will go live in 12-18 months after developers have adhered to all compliance requirements and construction is completed,” Gauteng government spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga said.
Presenting the provincial budget, finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo said: “The process of allocating land parcels to the IPPs is under way and will be completed in March when lease agreements are signed.”
The solar farm cluster project will also benefit from the R1.2bn in seed capital set aside by the provincial government to fund projects that are shovel-ready and can contribute to ending load-shedding in the province.
“What this entails is that we are going to engage municipalities to do offtakes on the amount of electricity.
“It then goes to the municipalities to say whether they are ready to take on the [generated renewable energy electricity] and to the grid,” Mamabolo said during a prebudget media briefing on Thursday.
“So there are negotiations that will happen with municipalities that have completed supply chain [processes].
“Once they [the IPPs] are set up and are ready we will engage with municipalities because electricity is provided directly by the municipalities.”
Mamabolo said the provincial government is pushing ahead with phases 1 and 2 of its rooftop solar photovoltaic project on government-owned properties, especially education and health institutions “to generate close to 8MW from selected hospitals”. This is to ensure that critical infrastructure, including hospitals, is spared from the worst effects of power cuts.
The provincial budget is estimated to grow by an annual average rate of 3%, from R158.945bn in 2023/2024 to R164.785bn in 2024/2025 and R169.703bn in 2025/2026.
Mamabolo also announced that R39bn will be allocated for infrastructure development, including R574m to develop the Tshwane and OR Tambo International special economic zones, and another R7.68bn to improve infrastructure in townships, informal settlements and hostels.
Fighting crime remains a priority. The province allocated R4bn to train and absorb 6,000 crime prevention wardens.
E-tolls
On e-tolls, Mamabolo said negotiations between Sanral, the Treasury and the provincial government continue for the national government to take over 70% of the debt owed by nonpaying toll users.
This will pave the way for the scrapping of the controversial highway freeway improvement project.
Ending the scheme requires formally declaring that Gauteng freeways are no longer tollways, in a gazetted notice by the department of transport.
As a result of the negotiations, there will be no allocation for e-tolls.
“Negotiations with the national government are still under way. Once these engagements have been finalised, the [memorandum of agreement] will be concluded and proper feedback and update will be given,” Mamabolo said.
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