House Chairperson, I rise to make a declaration on this report as I was a member of the committee that deliberated on these issues. I can confirm that it is a fair reflection of our discussions.
However, two issues of this report stand out for me, though. I believe we need to take them up urgently for the sake of our energy future. At present, we are in the midst of an energy crisis, where we are running our peaking plants for over 50% of the time at a cost of over R2,50/Kwh. We are also paying companies millions of rands each month to cut back on production in order to save energy and avoid blackouts.
This is the true cost to our economy of the delays in finishing Medupi Power Station; a delay caused by Hitachi - in which the ANC, through Chancellor House, has a 25% stake - not fulfilling its contractual obligations in the specified timeline. Hitachi must be forced to pay penalties for this delay, which can compensate us for the damage being wrought on the South African economy. [Interjections.]
HON MEMBERS: Hear, hear!