EFF CONDEMNS THE GOVERNMENT’S DECISION TO CONTINUE WITH THE NUCLEAR BUILD PROGRAMME
24 December 2015
The EFF rejects government’s decision to proceed with the nuclear build programme regardless of how much it will cost the fiscus as an irresponsible and corruption promoting decision. The gazzete published by the Department of Energy says 9 600 megawatts will be procured from the nuclear programme towards energy security (see here).
The new generated capacity (electricity) will be procured through a tendering process and the Department of Energy will be the procurement agency responsible for all tendering processes. The gazette also clarifies that only Eskom is the buyer unless the Minister specifies otherwise. Thus, Eskom will also have to go through a tender process to buy electricity from the Department of Energy.
During the adjusted budget, R200 million was allocated to the Department of Energy to do preparatory work and cost the nuclear project because as it is, it is not clear how much it will cost. The figures that have been predicted by experts in the filed amount to an excess of R1.6 trillion. This the Department of Energy has not verified or even denied. Therefore, the decision to proceed with the nuclear build programme is not influence by how much it will cost. Whether it will cost R1.6 trillion and cripple our fiscus is not important for the government of the day.
The EFF rejects this type of fiscus planning as an indication that the ANC government does not care about the country’s resources. It is part of a broader scheme by the ANC predatory elite to simply drain the resources of the country and leave it in deep crisis. A project of this magnitude must be preceded by a proper feasibility study which establishes its costs to determine whether the country can afford it or not, yet the government has not done so.
The EFF knows for a fact that this decision is driven by ANC elite's uncontrollable and individual desire to benefit from the tendering process of the nuclear build programme. It is also based on the fact that the ANC does not have money to campaign for the 2016 local government elections, thus, like it did with the arms deal, it is going to use this programme to corruptly raise funds for its campaign activities.
In the end, it really does not matter which Finance Minister is in charge, the predatory tendencies of the ANC continue as they always have. The gazette was signed in 2013 when Pravin Gordhan who is thought to be the savior of SA's fiscus was Minister of Finance.
This time, the decision comes with a much more bigger programme that will surely leave our fiscus in a crisis. We call on the people of South Africa to reject the ANC in 2016 local government elections because it is going to use corrupt money for its campaign activities - the #ANCMustFall.
Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, 24 December 2015
