Thank you and good afternoon, hon Speaker and hon members. Hon member, Cabinet recently approved the establishment of the National Nuclear Energy Executive Co-ordination Committee, NNEECC, with broad terms of reference that are being refined by the Energy Ministry following due consultation with all relevant stakeholders. Membership and chairing of the committee will be finalised along with these terms of reference. Cabinet, in its public statement, approved its establishment and indicated that the NNEECC is to implement a phased decision-making approach to the nuclear programme. Cabinet further approved the establishment of a nuclear energy technical committee to support the NNEECC. Thank you.
Mr Speaker, the procurement of nuclear power stations will, according to reports, cost South Africa anywhere between R400 million and R1 trillion. This will be the single biggest tender by the government in its history. Whilst South Africa's economy needs a stable and affordable electricity supply in order to grow and create jobs, the magnitude and the cost of this programme raise a number of concerns.
The multibillion rand arms deal, which was just a fraction of this cost, was mired in corruption. We need to protect the public interest, Mr Speaker. Already there are reports that the government is being strongly lobbied around this tender by companies such as Areva and Westinghouse, who are desperate to get in on the action.
Mr Speaker, what steps will the Deputy President, as head of the National Nuclear Energy Executive Co-ordination Committee, take in order to ensure that we do not witness a repeat of the corruption associated with the arms deal, and will the Deputy President assure this House that Parliament will be kept informed of all aspects of the tendering process? I thank you.
Speaker and hon members, in setting up this committee Cabinet is essentially taking the overall risk into account. It is my view that the men and women who will be selected to serve on that committee will be men and women of integrity, who will discharge that responsibility keeping in mind issues of accountability and transparency. I can assure this House that the processes will be managed in a manner that will leave no grey areas or dark corners. Thank you.
Hon members, I am told that, unfortunately, the electronic system is again giving problems. It is called "system fatigue", maybe from too much use yesterday! [Laughter.] Will members please indicate by a show of hands if they wish to ask a supplementary question? Are there any supplementary questions? There are two questions at the back. Mr Greyling, yes, you are first, followed by Mrs Dudley.
Speaker, I see that we have gone back to the nontechnical age! Hon Deputy President, the ID supports the establishment of this committee, because we believe that our decision regarding the proposed nuclear build programme will have profound effects on our economy. If the wrong decision is taken, we could literally bankrupt our fiscus and usher in an era of runaway electricity prices.
After yesterday's passing of the secrecy Bill, the public is rightly concerned that a decision of this magnitude will be taken behind closed doors and that we will not be able to scrutinise the documents and deliberations.
Will the Deputy President therefore be opening up channels for public participation in this forum, and will we be able to scrutinise all the outcomes before the actual tender documents are published? Thank you.
Speaker and hon members, as I said, the terms of reference are to be refined by the Ministry of Energy. Once they have been refined, including the composition of the committee itself and all that kind of detail, they will be made public. So, there shouldn't be a conflation of issues.
I think it is important for us to come back to the issue of the secrecy Bill and so on. All of a sudden dark chambers are being created! From my own background as a negotiator, when there is agreement on 90% or whatever, you separate from that the issues that keep the parties apart, and they are what you deal with. You focus on them until you find a meeting point. I don't understand why people just dig into their trenches on a matter like that. Thank you. [Applause.]
Speaker and Deputy President, the costs involved are of huge concern and, with this in mind, what is Cabinet's take on issues around hazardous waste? For example, Greenpeace says that nuclear reactors create radioactive waste that will remain hazardous for 240 000 years. Are we even able to calculate the cost of handling nuclear waste over 240 000 years?
Speaker and hon members, we have had nuclear energy in this country for ages, for years. We even had nuclear warheads. The International Atomic Energy Agency inspects our nuclear facilities each year. We set an example by voluntarily getting rid of our nuclear weapons, so the management of nuclear waste is an easier problem. As a country, our credentials speak for themselves in that regard. I don't think we should harbour any serious doubts about the attitude of South Africa towards the task of managing nuclear waste here. We will do so with a great sense of responsibility. Thank you.
I thank the hon Deputy President. We agree with you that South Africa is the first and only country in the world to do away with its nuclear arsenal. Hon Kilian, you are the last speaker on this question.
Speaker, to the hon Deputy President, first of all, we concur with him that it is a pity that, after 90% consensus was achieved in the secrecy Bill, the last 10% was where the problem lay, and that was on a critical matter. We are happy that he is also concerned that the ANC dug in their heels on that issue. [Interjections.]
Secondly, I would like to say the following in regard to his comments made in respect of the processes. He said that, taking the risks into account, government would come up with the necessary processes and procedures. Can we confirm the following with him? With international perceptions about South Africa's rate of corruption really reaching an all-time low after Transparency International released the latest figures, where only 12% of those surveyed believed corruption was under control under the reign of President Zuma, will he concur that it will be very important to ensure open and transparent bid adjudication processes and also concur that government should make every effort to avert a repetition of the corrupt practices that dogged the previous process? Thank you. [Time expired.]
Speaker and hon members, I can assure this House that corruption, in whatever form it manifests itself, has to be eliminated. Processes must have the requisite checks and balances to prevent it. In our fight against the pandemic of HIV and Aids we are making sure that we use methods that can be embraced by all and that can be checked by all. The same must apply to corruption and, particularly where we have mega projects, we should always make sure that any deviation can be tracked and identified early enough. There is no point in having mechanisms that review the whole project when the damage has already been done. We are learning, and we believe that that is the best way to deal with these matters. Thank you.
Position regarding filling of funded vacant posts
14. Mr Z C Ntuli (ANC) asked the Deputy President:
Whether departments are complying with the President's announcement in his state of the nation address that all funded vacant posts would be filled, if not, what (a) are the challenges in this regard and (b) what is the way forward?