Cabinet forges ahead with South Africa going green but Mantashe digs in heels

The cabinet has come out in full support of talks between countries to reduce carbon emissions and go green.

This two days after energy minister Gwede Mantashe warned in parliament that South Africa must not be “pressured” to move towards renewable energy and abandon coal.

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently attended the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt.

Minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele on Friday said the cabinet was calling for “countries to remain on track to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting the global temperature rise”.

“Our support for the 1.5ºC target is of utmost importance to South Africa as an African and developing country that is highly vulnerable to environmental, social and economic effects of climate change,” he said.  

“Cabinet also endorsed the Africa group position to call on developed countries to honour their pledges and commitments made under both the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement. These include a call for developed countries to take the lead on reducing emissions and providing developing countries with financial resources for their own climate action.”

The cabinet position is in stark contrast to Mantashe’s determination to continue with coal as the baseload energy producer in the country.

The minister believes South Africa can draw lessons from developed countries where attempts to venture into renewable energy have stumbled. He particularly mentioned Germany, which is among those funding and advocating for South Africa to abandon fossil fuels while they have gone back to coal.

Mantashe told a National Assembly plenary on Wednesday: “My view is that if there is confusion of an entity [Eskom] about what it should do because it is under pressure to go green, then we are going to be in darkness.

“I have said in my capacity as minister of energy that sometimes we like what is appearing nice.

“Germany is dismantling a wind farm to expand operations of a coal mine. Coal miners in the US are putting pressure on President Biden to invest more in coal production.”

Mantashe said it was unfair to expect South Africa to abandon coal.

“I am one of the people who say we can have a transition but that coal is not just about numbers, it is about human beings. So if you just talk recklessly about that, you are going to leave many people in darkness and starving.”

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