28 January 2008

Government and industry have set up a joint task team to look at ways to rebuild a stable supply of power for South Africa's mining industry.

Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica and Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin met with state electricity company Eskom, the mining industry and organised labour on Saturday to discuss issues of electricity supply to the industry, and develop immediate measures to enable the re-opening of mines that were closed on Friday.

The ministers agreed to an industry request that there would be sufficient power supply to enable miners to continue with essential underground operations, particularly in deep level gold mines, to ensure safety at the workplace for mineworkers.

The parties also agreed to address the situation in a constructive manner, with the mining industry committing to continue looking at ways to reduce its energy usage.

The government announced a national emergency response plan on Friday involving immediate, medium and long-term solutions to South Africa's electricity supply emergency.

Behavioural changes on the demand side, along with other methods of power conservation, are among the immediate interventions being made. These will continue over the next six months as longer term strategies begin to kick in.

Power rationing will form the crux of the power conservation programme, along the lines of steps implemented by countries such as Brazil and Cuba, which effectively turned a similar energy crisis into opportunities to grow their economies, Sonjica said on Friday.

Erwin said interventions along these lines would be voluntary as well as mandatory, underlining the seriousness of the situation. "We must stress that the successful implementation of these programmes will give us much comfort within a two-year period," the ministe said.

"It is also critical to stress that the growth of South Africa's economy at the current healthy levels can continue if we change our behaviour and become more energy efficient."

As part of the plan, the ministers will engage other big electricity consumers this week in order to obtain a similar commitment on reducing energy consumption.

Source: BuaNews

	Gold pouring at Durban Deep mine. South Africa is the world's number two producer of gold and leading producer of platinum, manganese, titanium, chrome, zirconium and vanadium (Image: South African Tourism)

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	Eskom  Dept of Minerals and Energy  Chamber of Mines of SA

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