EASTERN Cape House of Traditional Leaders (ECHTL) chairman Zolile Burns-Ncamashe laid the blame on “imperial agents” for diminishing the Eastern Cape’s capacity to attract renewable energy investments.
Burns-Ncamashe was commenting to the Daily Dispatch following a session hosted by the deputy minister of energy on opportunities in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer (REIPP) programme.
He said “imperial agents” opposed the Communal Land Rights Act (Clara) of 2004 which he said provided security of tenure that could have unlocked potential of rural Eastern Cape as investment destination.
Part of the mix to qualify as a supplier in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Programme (REIPP) is availability of land. The current communal land model creates a bureaucracy for potential investors and turns them away from these areas.
In the last bidding phase that closed last year, the Eastern Cape’s rural areas lost out of the lucrative REIPP despite natural wind and solar resources being plentiful, the Dispatch reported in January.
At the time, security of tenure bureaucracy – described as the biggest failure of post-apartheid government by Dispatch sources – was identified as the reason the Eastern Cape lost out.
However Burns-Ncamashe laid the blame squarely on “prophets of doom” and “imperial agents” for opposing Clara, eventually struck down in 2010 by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
“We believe that the agents of imperial colonialism masquerading as democratic proponents undermined what could have been a gain of rural people when they opposed the Clara, distorting facts and saying traditional leaders are given too much power.
“With that legislation , the government wanted to stabilise the land tenure system in communal land, but prophets of doom saw it necessary to frustrate the aspirations of rural communities,” said Burns- Ncamashe.
CLara was struck down after the Legal Resources Centre launched a constitutional challenge together with four communities from Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West provinces.
The bill was aimed at converting plots in former apartheid homelands to freehold title to unlock economic potential.
The lucrative REIPP programme is estimated to be worth between R120-billion and R150-billion to contribute 6725 MegaWatts to the national grid.
Where power plants are stationed, there is an opportunity for nearby communities to benefit as the DoE requires that REIPP investors give at minimum of 1% stake to local communities and 40% equity to South Africans with Black Economic Empowerment and enterprise development considered.
DoE’s Maduna Ngobeni said there were other opportunities for entrepreneurs in the Eastern Cape in the renewable energy value chain, but the department could not control which areas investors chose. — siyam@dispatch.co.za
Storm brews over renewable energy
Burns-Ncamashe was commenting to the Daily Dispatch following a session hosted by the deputy minister of energy on opportunities in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer (REIPP) programme.
He said “imperial agents” opposed the Communal Land Rights Act (Clara) of 2004 which he said provided security of tenure that could have unlocked potential of rural Eastern Cape as investment destination.
Part of the mix to qualify as a supplier in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Programme (REIPP) is availability of land. The current communal land model creates a bureaucracy for potential investors and turns them away from these areas.
In the last bidding phase that closed last year, the Eastern Cape’s rural areas lost out of the lucrative REIPP despite natural wind and solar resources being plentiful, the Dispatch reported in January.
At the time, security of tenure bureaucracy – described as the biggest failure of post-apartheid government by Dispatch sources – was identified as the reason the Eastern Cape lost out.
However Burns-Ncamashe laid the blame squarely on “prophets of doom” and “imperial agents” for opposing Clara, eventually struck down in 2010 by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.
“We believe that the agents of imperial colonialism masquerading as democratic proponents undermined what could have been a gain of rural people when they opposed the Clara, distorting facts and saying traditional leaders are given too much power.
“With that legislation , the government wanted to stabilise the land tenure system in communal land, but prophets of doom saw it necessary to frustrate the aspirations of rural communities,” said Burns- Ncamashe.
CLara was struck down after the Legal Resources Centre launched a constitutional challenge together with four communities from Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West provinces.
The bill was aimed at converting plots in former apartheid homelands to freehold title to unlock economic potential.
The lucrative REIPP programme is estimated to be worth between R120-billion and R150-billion to contribute 6725 MegaWatts to the national grid.
Where power plants are stationed, there is an opportunity for nearby communities to benefit as the DoE requires that REIPP investors give at minimum of 1% stake to local communities and 40% equity to South Africans with Black Economic Empowerment and enterprise development considered.
DoE’s Maduna Ngobeni said there were other opportunities for entrepreneurs in the Eastern Cape in the renewable energy value chain, but the department could not control which areas investors chose. — siyam@dispatch.co.za
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