TRUST US FOR A SECURE ENERGY FUTURE
South Africa faces a severe energy crisis. Due to corruption, mismanagement, and lack of strategic vision, our country’s energy supply has become unreliable, unsustainable, and unable to support an effective and growing economy. Alternative sources of energy must be embraced as we go into the future.
AN IFP GOVERNMENT WILL:
- Stabilise the electricity power grid. Eskom is a national asset which has been mismanaged into a state of severe disrepair. Eskom must be managed through a public-private partnership.
- Further subsidise the price of electricity for poor and historically disadvantaged communities.
- Deregulate fuel. The fuel industry is excessively regulated. Fuel imports should be thrown open to anyone who can provide the necessary guarantees and who can build refineries that meet the essential safety standards laid down in law.
- Cut unnecessary fuel levies, as these should not be used to subsidise expenditure in hidden areas unrelated to the fuel industry.
- Maintain coal production, acknowledging that coal remains a key source of energy. Whilst coal is being used for energy generation, it also has the potential to produce a
large variety of chemical products. - Favour the extension of the use of gas for domestic purposes, especially cooking and heating.
- Promote wind turbines and solar power, which present an enormous opportunity for private investment in the generation of power for own use and supply into the grid.
- Install solar panels in all the new government houses we build.
- Ensure that nuclear energy remains part of the mix, in the hands of the State.
- Support hydroelectric power generation, efficiently utilising the water resources of the country. The benefits must be explored, researched, developed and made available to local communities and companies. Local and indigent communities must benefit from reduced rates.
