For the first time in the democratic era\u201a the office of the auditor-general has complained about a minister unwilling to commit to addressing the root causes of trouble in her department.<\/p>\n
The minister accused is Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson. In an unprecedented step\u201a in Tuesday\u2019s presentation on the energy budget\u201a the page for \u201cministerial commitments to address root causes\u201d was left blank by the auditor-general\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
When MPs of the African National Congress (ANC) and Democratic Alliance (DA) asked the officials about the blank page\u201a the rueful officials said they had been trying for a year to meet with Joemat-Pettersson\u201a but had \u201cjust been out of luck\u201d.<\/p>\n
DA MP Gordon Mackay quipped that he was not surprised at the officials\u2019 apparent run of bad luck.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is part of the minister\u2019s continuing disappearing act. She should really try to focus on South Africa. She is abroad so often other countries think she is their minister of energy\u201a\u201d Mackay observed.<\/p>\n
All in all\u201a there was much bad news for South Africans from the auditor-general\u2019s report into the department of energy and its entities.<\/p>\n
Regarding PetroSA\u201a South Africans will have to fork out unbudgeted additional billions to the troubled entity this year because it drastically overestimated both the oil price and\u201a more worryingly in the long term\u201a the country\u2019s strategic energy reserves\u201a which have now suddenly been readjusted to much lower levels than previously thought.<\/p>\n
The black hole facing PetroSA is R9.2-billion\u202c. The funding deficit (ie\u201a that part which PetroSA cant fund from its own balance sheet) is R4.2-billion.\u202c Therefore\u201a the parent company\u201a the Central Energy Fund\u201a has made commitments to cover this amount.<\/p>\n
Further trouble lies ahead in the nuclear field.<\/p>\n
Firstly\u201a there are clearly massive problems with the audit of the books of the Nuclear Company of South Africa (Necsa).<\/p>\n
Necsa has not been able to table its annual report for this year. The office of the auditor-general refused to divulge the facts\u201a and portfolio committee chairman Fikile Majola said the auditors might have to brief the committee confidentially.<\/p>\n
When The Sunday Times reported in April on signs that Necsa was in serious financial trouble\u201a the company reacyed angrily but now the situation seems very serious indeed.<\/p>\n
Secondly\u201a The department of evaluation monitoring and performance management admitted that\u201a as of April\u201a which is the latest date on which it can comment\u201a no plan had been tabled for the country\u2019s much-vaunted nuclear build programme.<\/p>\n
Majola and ANC MP Tandi Mahambehlala commented that this and other aspects of the report were so far off the mark that it was unrealistic.<\/p>\n
The officials were instructed to return with a realistic report on the prospects and planning for the country\u2019s department of energy.<\/p>\n
Renewable energy could be huge for Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n New solar energy project launching in SA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Why SA doesn\u2019t need nuclear energy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n