Thank you very much, Deputy Speaker. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has its work
cut out for it. The Minister is technically running two departments, if one considers the fact that the work of the Energy Department had to be transferred to his portfolio. The Minister has therefore been thrown a spanner.
The Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy has also worsened the Minister's load, recommending that his department ensure the finalisation of the turnaround strategies of the Central Energy Fund.
PetroSA and Nersa ... and to carefully consider the issue of overlapping mandates between entities during the merger process, and provide the committee with the outcome. We know that PetroSA is a shadow of its former self. Its accounting and control measures have become obsolete.
We wish to commend the Minister for his stellar leadership in the mining sector. After his appointment, section 44 work stoppages have ceased with breakneck speed.
However, the Minister's hand has been found in the cookie jar, often meddling in local disputes between the mines and local communities, like Xolobeni in Alfred Nzo, in the Eastern Cape. However, the AIC supports this report.