Energy Minister says government may appeal nuclear judgment
Energy / Competitions by Melanie Gosling, Groundup. org. za
New energy minister Mmamoloko Kubayi may appeal the recent court judgement which found the government’ s proposed nuclear expansion programme was unlawful. Kubayi told Parliament’ s Energy Portfolio Committee in May she was to meet her legal team to decide whether to appeal the ruling by the Western Cape High Court or to seek a declaratory order.
The minister conceded that there had been“ issues around public participation” concerning the proposed nuclear programme. If necessary she would hold public hearings on the nuclear proposal. The legal advisors were also looking at whether new nuclear agreements had to be signed with nuclear vendor countries, or whether the existing agreements could be tabled in Parliament again.
Judgement
The court scrapped the nuclear agreements with Russia, the US and South Korea as it found the agreements had been tabled in a manner which circumvented Parliamentary approval and public scrutiny. This was unlawful and unconstitutional.
“ The judgement doesn’ t say we can’ t do nuclear. It says the process was flawed, so we need to look at it
… We will definitely be transparent in the process,” the minister said. Kubayi acknowledged that there were problems in the energy department, where there were 96 vacant posts, most of them technical positions.“ We are not functioning optimally as a department and need to up our game.”
There were also problems with PetroSA, which needed a“ strengthened governance model”, as did Nersa.“ I used to think the post office was a problem until I came here,” she said.
Preserve state assets
The minister told the committee that an investigation had revealed that oil reserves had been sold by the Strategic Fuel Fund in 2015, and were not part of a stock rotation, which had been claimed earlier.“ We must preserve state assets and we must be accountable and transparent. We can’ t have a situation where wrong things are happening and there are no consequences,” Kubayi said.
Liz McDaid, spokesman for SA Faith Communities Environment Institute, one of the organisations that took the nuclear deal to court, said yesterday she welcomed the minister’ s commitment to strengthening Nersa and contributing to its independence.“ Nersa was definitely found wanting in the court case. Let’ s see if she can deliver on her promises,” McDaid said.
Budding mechanics challenged To restore Vintage Stationary Engines back to life
Entries for the Engen Engine Restoration Challenge 2017 are now open
Engen, a leading supplier of fuels and lubricants to the agricultural sector, has once again partnered with the South African Federation of Vintage Tractor and Engine Clubs( SAVTEC) to bring budding mechanics an exciting initiative.
Following last year’ s successful inaugural competition, this year entrants stand the chance to win a share of R200 000 for the best restoration of a vintage engine back to full operational status.
Engen’ s long heritage within the agricultural sector is built upon a tradition of quality that has seen the company consistently recognised as the preferred fuels and lubricants brand for farmers in South Africa. This long association underpins Engen’ s drive to help develop the youth’ s technical skills.
“ We are very excited to be involved in this initiative for the second year,” says Paul Leask, Engen Lubricants National Sales Manager.
Develop skills
Leask says that Engen, along with SAVTEC continue to embrace the opportunity to transfer and develop mechanical skills through the mentorship elements of the competition.“ In the process we are able to develop a culture favouring preservation of, and respect for, the vintage equipment used to develop the agricultural sector” he adds.
While all entrants will receive a hamper of Engen products, the top two regional entries in the Senior and Junior categories will be eligible to go on to the finals which take place on 8 October 2018.“ Key to the spirit of the competition is the transfer of knowledge to the youth, with youth skills development essential to the future sustainability of SAVTEC and the country at large”, says Christo Pieterse, Chairman of Savtec’ s Central Free State Club.“ The low cost of approximately R2 500 to buy an old engine and R3 000 to restore it, will continue to make the competition very attractive. Last year’ s competition commanded good interest, with 27 seniors and 14 juniors competing,” he says.
Pieterse was also thrilled with the standard of entries received last year, as well as the impact that the competition had to improve basic skills and determination on a human level.
Precision work
In the Senior class the top five results only differed by 3.5 %.“ The winner from Gauteng,
Torsten Löwe had an absolute beauty of a machine a 1951 Deutz MAH914 diesel stationary engine. Torsten is passionate about precision work which is why he is studying to become an engineer,” adds Pieterse.
The winner of the Junior class was Liezel Gouws, who is a true winner. Liezel had a stroke at the age of four which paralysed the right side of her body. But that only made Liezel fight harder and become more determined. Proof of this is that she progressed to the final rounds of the 100m and 400m sprint at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio.
Entries for the junior and senior class categories opened on 1 May 2017 and the last date for submission is 30 November 2017. Winners of the event will be announced in 2018.
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