Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy Samantha Graham-Maré reaffirmed government’s commitment to involving local players in South Africa’s Independent Transmission Project (ITP) Programme.
Government has confirmed its commitment to involving local players in the ITP Programme to expand the national grid.
The deputy minister made the point to counter misinformation in the public discourse. She was speaking at the Disinformation Dialogue hosted by the Institute of Security Studies this week, a dialogue aimed at countering disinformation and safeguarding local democracy.
South Africa’s ITP Programme is a flagship initiative to draw private investment into the expansion of the national grid. The expansion of the grid is estimated to require about R440 billion – a bill government is unable to meet on its own.
“There has been some misinformation, specifically on the involvement of local industry where it has been indicated that we are only targeting internationals. This is not true. It speaks to the creation and graduation of future local ITP players as the programme rolls out.
“We need to ensure that we involve players who have previous experience in the space. On economic development related elements, we have used dtic [Department of Trade, Industry and Competition] designations for local content and have ensured compliance with the dtic’s National Industrial Participation Programme, as well as other socio-economic development obligations,” she said.
Graham-Maré also rebuffed any “inferences” on the possible privatisation of the grid.
“The ITP programme is structured as a long-term concession with transfer back to the state at the end of the concession period.
“On operations, there will always only be one network operator, that is, the [state owned] National Transmission Company South Africa,” she explained.
Regarding disinformation in general, Graham-Maré emphasised the damage that false information can bring about.
“Protecting the integrity of information is not simply about correcting what is false. It is about safeguarding how democracy functions in people’s everyday lives, especially at the local level.
“If that information is delayed or unclear, however briefly, a vacuum forms. And where credible information is absent, falsehoods can take root and become fact,” she said.
She emphasised the importance of public interactions as a cornerstone of South Africa’s democracy so that no vacuum is created.
To avoid the risk of disinformation she said, ‘we need to be consistent in our interactions with the public and communicate regularly with the people throughout the country”.
For more information visit: www.sanews.gov.za
