Parliament - Nuclear energy may still be officially part of the government’s proposed energy mix, but the departure of Brian Molefe from the helm of Eskom has dealt a serious, possibly decisive blow to the plan.
He was the most articulate and astute proponent of nuclear energy, while also in a position to keep the advance of renewables at bay by refusing to enter into new power purchase agreements with private producers, therefore enforcing an artificial gap in projected power supply.
But, more importantly, whatever the extent of his involvement in dubious transactions with the Gupta family may turn out to be, his effect on Eskom’s operational and financial performance has helped improve the parastatal’s balance sheet to the point where it felt confident in its ability to fund the build programme.
Eskom head of generation Matshela Koko told Parliament’s energy portfolio committee recently that the company’s corporate plan would deliver cash balances of more than R150 billion within10 years. This could help fund nuclear energy, he said.
Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said in response to Molefe’s resignation that he had been “instrumental in developing Eskom’s turnaround strategy”.
“The mid-term results released last week showed Eskom’s liquidity improved, revenue increased by 10.5 percent year-on-year to R97.1bn, the accelerated maintenance programme improved plant availability from 71.23 percent to 78.50 percent, unplanned breakdowns improved from 14.75 percent to 9.72 percent, and we have had 460 days without load shedding.”
There is some debate as to whether the absence of load shedding and Eskom’s improved maintenance regime are the result of better operational performance or simply reduced demand thanks to a flagging economy and load shedding-induced de-industrialisation, but Molefe’s stabilising influence has been widely acknowledged.
His departure and the arm-wrestle that will probably follow over his replacement, with uncertainty over the future of the board once a commission of inquiry fully ventilates the state capture allegations, will almost certainly dampen appetite for Eskom debt, putting paid to its ambitions of funding nuclear energy itself.
How the transition to a new leadership is managed will be key to the assessment of the ratings agencies, in particular, and any suggestion of Gupta influence in the process could be the final nail in the coffin for nuclear energy.
It would be ironic if the family’s attempts to capture Eskom to facilitate nuclear energy, among others, turn out to have brought down the one man capable of delivering it.
Molefe and President Zuma have done their utmost to discredit former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report.
After Madonsela responded to claims by Zuma that she had “leaked” the recording of their conversation before the release of the report, saying she had authorised its release to show he had been given the right to be heard, the president said she should stop commenting and allow “legal and constitutional processes to unfold”.
However, his attacks on Madonsela have largely backfired, with his claim that he was never given a chance to respond to the allegations now proven to have been false.
Political Bureau