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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 on Wednesday.
Necsa briefed the Committee that, during the 2018/2019 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 the organised labour [sic] 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 expects that the requested plan and information will 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 human factor [sic] was involved, consequence management must be applied,” he affirmed.