CAPE TOWN - The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) condemns the way the Energy Indaba currently underway in Johannesburg has been arranged.
OUTA says the Indaba is not a consultation. OUTA's chief operating officer, Ben Theron said, "We absolutely reject the Indaba as any form of public consultation as the Ministry chose who should attend. OUTA will fight this manipulated and flawed process."
On Thursday - the opening day of the Indaba, the civil society organisations picketed outside the venue with placards conveying anti-nuclear messages.
Protesters at the Energy Indaba Photo: Twitter
Greenpeace Africa‚ Groundwork‚ Earthlife Africa and the Centre for Environmental Rights said on Thursday, they did not regard the Indaba as a legitimate process for the discussion of SA’s energy future, Businessday reports.
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"The Department of Energy tried to keep the indaba as quiet as possible and, when that didn’t work, tried to block opposing voices - including OUTA - from attending. The programme seems to indicate that the indaba is regarded as consultation despite a detailed complaint to Minister of Energy David Mahlobo" OUTA said in a statement.
Mahlobo told the organisations that the Energy Indaba was not intended to address the Integrated Resource Plan in any way‚ shape or form - instead, it was for business‚ labour‚ and government to discuss ways to reinvigorate the energy sector in order to stimulate economic growth.
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OUTA further claims that last week it asked Mahlobo for urgent clarity on this Indaba. "Minister Mahlobo still hasn’t responded," says Theron.
"We applied to attend the Indaba but again, there was no response," he added