Parliament, Tuesday, 2 June 2020 – The Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy has adopted its report on budget vote 34 of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), notwithstanding reservation of opinion from some members.
The report was adopted as the culmination of a rigorous process, in which the committee listened to and interrogated presentations on the annual performance plans (APPs) and budgets of the department, together with its entities, for the 2020/21 financial year.
The committee made observations and outlined its recommendations in the report, including that the DMRE should, amongst other things, ensure that its APPs are in line with the adjusted national budget; finalise restructuring of entities in order to ensure that there is no duplication of services and eliminate unnecessary competition; and ensure that when it proceeds with the nuclear new build programme it does so at a pace and scale that the country can afford. It should also present to the National Assembly a detailed and costed plan ahead of time.
Additionally, the committee received a progress report from the department on the implementation of the National Solar Water Heater (NSWH) programme. The committee expressed its displeasure with the manner in which the NSWH programme has stalled and how it has been managed. In the first five years since its inception, from the 2010/11 to 2014/15 financial years, the NSWH programme was administered by Eskom, with a target to install one million geysers. The target was never achieved and the programme faced many challenges.
The committee impressed upon the department the importance of implementing consequence management for the officials who may have played a role in the failure of the NSWH programme. The department was further encouraged to follow up with the National Treasury regarding investigations into the maladministration of the programme. The department should then report back on that and provide a progress report on the revised NSWH implementation plan. The committee noted and welcomed the department’s undertaking to report back by no later than September 2020.
The committee will conduct an oversight visit to inspect the successful solar geyser installation pilot project in Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape. It will also visit other places reported to have dysfunctional solar water heater installation systems. The oversight visit will further include projects were installation was done subsequent to the revised and reviewed programme.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON MINERAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, MR SAHLULELE LUZIPO.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Mr Justice Molafo
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Cell: 081 424 748
Email: jmolafo@parliament.gov.za
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