President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday announced the composition of the ‘Energy Security Cabinet SubCommittee’, which he said would oversee the development of South Africa’s future energy mix.

Delivering his Budget Vote in the National Assembly, Zuma said the committee would comprise: Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson; International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane; Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown; Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene; State Security Minister David Mahlobo; Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies; Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel; Mineral Resources Minister Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi; Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa and Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

The subcommittee would “explore various options including nuclear power, gas, solar, wind, coal, hydropower and fuel refineries”.

The planned formation of the subcommittee was announce by the President during his June 17 State of the Nation Address, when energy security was identified as a priority for enabling South Africa to achieve economic growth of 5% by 2019.

Inadequate electricity supply, together with protracted strikes in key sectors, have been blamed for South Africa’s current weak growth performance, with South African Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus recently cutting the bank’s growth outlook to 1.7%, from 2.8% at the start of the year.

The other focus areas included infrastructure development, manufacturing and mining, on which Zuma said progress was also being made.

This issue of energy security also featured strongly in the Budget Votes delivered by Brown and Joemat-Pettersson, with the latter saying that the establishment of the Cabinet subcommittee would “contribute immensely to positioning the energy sector at the apex of our National Development Plan”.

For her part, Brown stressed that the fifth democratic administration had placed resolving the electricity-supply problem at the centre of its agenda. She also reiterated that critical talks were under way within government to address Eskom’s financial problems, adding that the issue was being addressed “not as an Eskom problem but as a national priority”.

Joemat-Pettersson stressed government’s commitment to the development of gas, including shale gas, and nuclear to support the diversification of South Africa’s coal-heavy energy mix.

She said a road map for the implementation of the nuclear procurement programme was progressing and that her department was working with sister departments and entities to finalise work in this area.

The Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa (NIASA) welcomed Joemat-Pettersson’s restatement of government’s commitment to the development of 9 600 MW of new nuclear capacity, as outlined in the current version of the Integrated Resource Plan for the period between 2010 and 2030.

MD Knox Msebenzi said NIASA had strategies in place to support localisation and skills development, particularly in the construction and manufacturing sectors. “NIASA looks forward to being part of an exciting future for the nuclear sector in South Africa.”