Cape Town - Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger has set aside R1.1 billion to ramp up the province’s energy security and decrease reliance on Eskom over the next three years.
She made the announcement during the tabling of the 2023/24 provincial budget themed the “budget of action” in the provincial parliament on Tuesday.
Wenger’s R242.31bn budget includes R39.82bn allocated to boost economic growth and to create opportunities; R4.76bn for safety and R170.91bn allocated for wellbeing, including on key services such as Education and Healthcare that the province will spend over the three-year Medium-Term.
“The single biggest threat we face right now, which compromises our collective future, is the ‘missing in action’ stable supply of electricity, upon which all else rests,” Wenger said.
She added that R11.5 million would be used to develop the provincial Integrated Resource Plan in relation to grid generation, and financing planning, to provide a least- cost plan for new generation and give policy certainty and attract investment.
“R11.1m is allocated to the Demand Side Management Plan work, which seeks to identify short-term options for the province to mitigate some load shedding, by managing demand.
An amount of R444.5m over the 2023 MTEF is allocated for the New Energy Generation programme.
This includes Project Preparation Support to help ensure that the province has expertly-designed and well-prepared projects to deliver more energy, faster.
Wenger said that R4.76bn would be used to ensure that citizens are safe in their communities.
She said R987.38m would go to the crime prevention and support programme within the Department of Social Development, to support children at risk, and R49.32m would support the work of the new, data led violence prevention unit within the Department of Health and Wellness.
GOOD Party Secretary-General, Brett Herron, said the investment in energy security was welcome in addressing the current energy crisis.
“This crisis requires all spheres of government to step in to address additional supply of electricity and to transition to renewables. We will wait to see how the government plans to implement this.
“Our experience is that they’re good at announcing Programmes that are not fully prepared or ready.
“A good example is the announcement of the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) crime-fighting programme which was announced without a plan and which has a dubious success rate and raises questions as to whether the large-scale investment is warranted,” said Herron.
DA Western Cape spokesperson on budget, Deidré Baartman, said the province continued to suffer due to the problems “created by the ANC at the national level, as exemplified by load shedding”.
“But this Budget of Action represents the Western Cape Government taking the initiative to ensure our people are safe, employed, educated and healthy.
“It represents this government’s desire to improve our infrastructure, supercharge the provincial economy, and give power back to our people.
“The DA constantly strives to improve the lot of every one of our citizens, and this budget represents the next great leap in that process,” Baartman said.
Cape Times