Photo by: Bloomberg
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Monday confirmed a government decision to proceed with nuclear procurement.
“There will be a formal procurement process,” Gordhan said at a press conference in Pretoria on Monday.
However, Gordhan insisted that while he was back in the seat as South Africa’s Finance Minister, government would not spend more than it could afford.
“We will act in a financially responsible way,” he said. “We can’t spend money we don’t have.”
Gordhan was holding his first media briefing after being reappointed to the position by President Jacob Zuma on Sunday night. He said he was aware of Cabinet’s decision about embarking on a procurement process for new nuclear power capacity, but was not present when it was taken on Wednesday.
Former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s summary removal by Zuma last week has, in part, been attributed by observers and insiders to his cautious stance towards the nuclear build project.