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aviation|energy|financial|nuclear|resources|services|transport

Parly committee against retrenchments at Necsa

13th September 2019

By: Rebecca Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy is opposed to any retrenchments at the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) in order to cope with the corporation’s current financial crisis. This was made clear during an oversight visit by the committee to Necsa late last month.

Necsa informed the committee that, during the 2018/19 financial year, it had had a cash shortfall of R463-million. It had also forecast an additional shortfall of R325-million during the current financial year.

“Although a turnaround strategy will be finalised in two months, in the meantime, the committee should be provided with a written plan that will be implemented urgently to prevent imminent job losses,” said committee chairperson Sahlulele Luzipo. “We also invite organised labour to write to the committee with regard to what they believe to be problem areas within the entity and proposed intervention.”

The Parliamentarians also asked Necsa and its subsidiary companies, NTP Radioisotopes and Pelchem, to supply them with information about their mandates, board structures and renumeration packages. The committee expected that the plan and information requested would be supplied to it by September 13 at the latest.

Necsa assured the committee that it would develop a turnaround strategy that was consultative, would deal with its cash shortfalls, and ensure its sustainability in the long term. This commitment was welcomed by the committee.

“We are interested in the root cause of cash losses and, if the human factor was involved, consequence management must be applied,” he affirmed.

In parallel, on a week-long oversight visit to Johannesburg, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport called for continuing demographic transformation in the country’s aviation sector. But the committee did express satisfaction with the governance of the aviation agencies it visited, particularly Air Traffic & Navigation Services.

“Entities need to work hard on transformation targets – it is what is best for the country and previously disadvantaged persons,” affirmed committee chairperson Mosebenzi Zwane. “This has got to be a constant matter entities report achievable targets on.” (Zwane, who was Mineral Resources Minister in the previous administration of President Jacob Zuma, and before that MEC for Agriculture in the Free State provincial government, has been implicated in major corruption scandals.)

“ [Aviation] is a sector that can make or break our economy – this sector generates billions of rands,” he asserted. “Transformation had to be all inclusive and embrace all elements of aviation, including management, procurement of goods and human capital.

“The industry is highly technical, but needs to reflect the demographics of the country in all [respects], and needs to ensure representation of women,” he said. “The entities are doing well and are internationally recognised, but acknowledging lack of transformation is not enough.”

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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