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Crucial nuclear power deal issue cleared

Cape Town – The agreements that South Africa signed with five countries in preparation for its nuclear energy procurement programme are not financially binding, a parliamentary committee heard on Tuesday.

A technical issue was raised at the Portfolio Committee on Energy in Cape Town about whether the agreements were signed off as 231 (2) or 231 (3) of the Constitution, but chairperson Fikile Majola clarified that it was 231 (3).

The difference is that 231 (2) assumes there is a financial consequence for the country and would need to be approved by resolutions in both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, while 231 (3) does not require that approval, but needs to be tabled nonetheless.

Important clarification

The clarity was important, said Professor Philip Lloyd of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

“In terms of the rules of Parliament, if they had anything to do with money, they couldn’t have been treated the way they had been,” he told Fin24. “As there was no money involved, it seemed likely that they were perfectly legal and it was alright to discuss them.

“There has been a lot of suspicion about the agreements with the various international organisations and governments and they were really brought out into the open today,” said the 2015 co-author of Nuclear Power is Essential for National Progress.

“People were able to see that they were comparably bland and there was nothing particularly hidden,” he said.

Gordon Mackay, the DA shadow minister of energy, told Fin24 on Tuesday that there was a concern that the agreements may have been tabled incorrectly and that a potential legal challenge existed that could delay certain processes.

Joemat-Pettersson contradicted herself - DA

In a statement released after the meeting, Mackay said Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson had “shamelessly contradicted herself as to the affordability of the Nuclear Build Programme”.

Mackay said her statement that the “procurement of nuclear energy, as opposed to any other form of energy, is an absolute certainty” contradicted her earlier statement that an affordability study will be undertaken as part of the procurement process.

“We are committed to a thorough cost benefit analysis of nuclear energy,” she said. “It is part of the procurement process. We are not going to compromise our country in any way.”

READ: Minister dismisses R1trn cost for nuclear plan

Mackay said she “unequivocally committed to nuclear over any other possibly more affordable energy source”.

He said she should clarify this contradiction immediately. “To this end, I will be submitting written questions in the National Assembly to provide her with an opportunity to do so.”  

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