This article may contain graphic and/or adult content unsuitable for minors and sensitive readers.
The chairperson of the ANC's Economic Transformation Committee, Enoch Godongwana has given the strongest indication yet that shale mining would go ahead saying it would be "a game changer for us."
All cabinet ministers in the economic cluster serve on the committee.
Addressing an ANC-organised business breakfast in Port Elizabeth on Friday morning, Godongwana said that by 2023 old power stations would be decommissioned and the power source would be changed to gas.
He suggested that the power stations would then be constructed in Port Elizabeth adding weight to the statement by Energy Minister Dipuo Peters that the Eastern Cape was positioned to become the energy hub of South Africa that would include Nuclear 1 at Thyspunt, the oil refinery in the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) and wind and solar energy.
Godongwana said not only would jobs be created in the mining sector in the Eastern Cape but also in the construction of power stations.
Godongwana, a former MEC for Finance, Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism in the Eastern Cape said he believed that in addition to the exploitation of the country's shale gas reserves the province also needed to make use of the land and factories that were currently standing idle.
He pointed out that no revenue accrued from the empty factories at places such as Dimbaza, saying they should be used as incentives to secure investment - the area received decentralisation benefits during the apartheid era.
Godongwana stated that there was also a need to lobby Transnet with regard to the Port of Ngqura, noting that the parastatal's strategy still revolved around keeping Durban as the "major hub for domestic trade".
He said Transnet had been engaged about securing international partners to bring additional traffic to Ngqura as far back as 2010 but this had not happened.
Godongwana said that there was also a need "to establish convergence among the leadership" - government, labour and business.
"We need to make sure that the leadership in the Eastern Cape creates a structure for dialogue to make things happen. We have to make sure things happen.¨
(Source Metrominute - to subscribe mail metminutes@iafrica.com)
