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Cape Town - Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises Dikobe Ben Martins and Eskom chairperson Ben Ngubane said while South Africa has come a long way in electrifying the nation, key issues which require collaboration with the stakeholders attending the African Utility Week still need to be addressed.
Martins and Ngubane delivered two keynote addresses at the opening of the power conference in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Ngubane announced that Eskom would become the first energy partner to endorse Huawei’s OpenLab in smart grid innovation.
“The Huawei-Eskom collaboration will seek to develop the next-era of power internet of things, power cloud, transmission and distribution telecom and cyber security solutions, as well as advanced analytics for grid operations, in order to drive digital transformation in the industry,” he said.
Martins pointed to power outages in Africa reducing gross domestic product by 2% to 4% per year. He called on stakeholders at the conference to work together to find solutions to the power issues facing Africa and South Africa.
Eskom CEO Brian Molefe had been set to give the address, but Ngubane said he had been called away to attend to “urgent business”.
Sudden change to Molefe's plans
Earlier, African Utility Week spokesperson Annemarie Roodbol told Fin24 that Eskom spokespeople had confirmed he would attend on Tuesday morning, but then there was a sudden change to the plans.
The last-minute cancellation follows AmaBhungane’s exposé on Tuesday, where former mining minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi alleged that Molefe and Ngubane pressurised him to help the Guptas take over Glencore’s coal mine in 2016.
It also follows mass resistance to Molefe’s return to Eskom, with the African National Congress seeking a reversal of Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown's decision to reappoint Molefe and/or dissolve the Eskom board.
The Democratic Alliance on Monday asked the North Gauteng High Court to intervene in the matter by not allowing Molefe to perform his duties, and to reverse the reappointment.
Other groups likes OUTA and Corruption Watch, as well as the Economic Freedom Fighters, are seeking legal advice regarding the matter.
The conference takes places as the Western Cape South African Communist Party (SACP) picketed in front of the CTICC conference centre over Molefe's reappointment.
SACP provincial secretary Benson Ngqentsu said they will continue with the picket, despite Molefe's cancellation of his appearance. “The main culprit responsible for the mess at Eskom is board chairperson Ben Ngubane and he is still speaking,” Ngqentsu told Fin24.
Ngentsu said they did not gain approval for the picket as the relevant authorities weren’t available. The CTICC could not immediately respond to a request for comment.
