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ANC55 Nasrec, December 16-20

Nomvula Mokonyane fingers Eskom as ANC's 'main opposition', says national conference must end this

Deputy secretary-general hopeful says South Africa should continue with coal-fired power stations instead of 'unreliable' renewable energy

Mawande AmaShabalala Political journalist
Zweli Mkhize and Nomvula Mokonyane at the Bertha Gxowa memorial lecture in Katlehong.
Zweli Mkhize and Nomvula Mokonyane at the Bertha Gxowa memorial lecture in Katlehong.
Image: Freddy Mavunda

ANC national executive committee member and deputy secretary-general hopeful Nomvula Mokonyane has accused Eskom, under the leadership of CEO Andre de Ruyter, of positioning itself as “ANC opposition”.

Mokonyane was speaking at the Bertha Gxowa memorial lecture in Katlehong, Gauteng, on Wednesday night ahead of the ANC's 55th national conference next month.

She said Eskom had inflicted electoral losses on the ANC during the 2021 local government polls by implementing load-shedding on voting day. This was why ANC branches at the Nasrec conference centre on December 16-20 must elect a leadership that will deal with the Eskom situation which is driving away voters, she said.

“Three days before voting day, Andre de Ruyter switches off electricity. How did we expect voters of Ekurhuleni to wake up in the morning when we have cut off power and expect them to vote for us?” said Mokonyane.

“When we were campaigning for the 2021 local government elections, as the ANC Ekurhuleni was our last stop ... We were here with President [Cyril] Ramaphosa and people said, 'We will vote for you' — and power was switched off.”

Mokonyane also expressed her rejection of renewable energy, saying there was no way the country could rely on the sun and wind, which no human being has control over. In her view, South Africa should take advantage of the coal it has in abundance to produce enough power for all its people.

“We cannot depend on renewable energy which is based on the sun and wind which no human can control when we have enough coal, which is now being taken by those who are giving us money to shut down our coal mines and abandon coal,” charged Mokonyane.

“That is what we must deal with because it is about accountability as we go to conference. Bertha Gxowa would have asked how we shut down coal mines and [put our] trust in the sun and wind.”

Mokonyane's stance on coal is in stark contrast to that adopted by Ramaphosa's administration of a just transition towards renewable energy. 

At the event, Mokonyane was flanked by ANC presidential candidate Zweli Mkhize and his secretary-general hopeful Phumulo Masualle as well as Mzwandile Masina, who has been nominated to contest the position of treasurer-general. This was the first time Mkhize's slate had appeared publicly in a province other than KwaZulu-Natal. 

TimesLIVE


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