DA urges Zuma to explain nuclear deal

The Democratic Alliance has asked President Jacob Zuma to reveal the full extent of negotiations he had with Russia regarding nuclear power for South Africa.

The DA has also launched an application for access to all documentation regarding the deal, after the government earlier announced its intention to keep the matter secret.

DA leader Helen Zille yesterday told the parliamentary press corps the possible nuclear deal, its costs and veil of secrecy smacked of a “mega arms deal in the making”.

She said her party believed various questions remained unanswered regarding the negotiations, which both Russian nuclear vendor Rosatom and the South African Department of Energy announced as a “deal” earlier this week, only for the latter to then retract the statement.

These were:

• Why was Zuma committed to nuclear energy expansion, contrary to the National Development Plan which saw renewable energy as a far more cost-effective option, even in the short term?
• On what legal basis was the president by-passing normal due process for procurement?
• The president was not an energy expert and thus on what basis was he making his choice and pursuing it with such urgency?
• President Zuma had been to Russia on numerous occasions over the past 18 months. What were the details of these visits? Why were they so secretive?
• Why had Zuma clearly given preferential access to himself for the Russians, in the absence of witnesses or experts in nuclear energy? What incentives were attached?
• What procedure did the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Energy Security, chaired by Zuma, follow when it considered the feasibility of the proposed nuclear build programme?
• What was the mechanism through which it would be funded, and why was it shrouded in secrecy?
• What projections were made to justify such a level of investment?

“Like the arms deal, the nuclear programme smacks of a fund-raising vehicle for the ANC and, by extension, President Zuma himself,” Zille said.

“It is astounding that the government is pursuing this option so brazenly at a time when the court challenge around the withdrawal of corruption charges against President Zuma, relating in part to the arms deal, are coming to a head,” Zille said.

“It is worth noting,” she continued, “that in September 2013 the ANC sent over a delegation of their fund-raising initiative, the Progressive Business Forum, to Russia for the first time.

“At the same time a pact was signed between the ANC and President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party, committing the two political parties to work together, despite the fact that the United Russia Party stands for values which run counter to South Africa’s constitution.”

DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane claimed the cost of nuclear energy generated by Russian technology could be twice the cost of current locally generated wind energy.

DA MP Lance Greyling said the DA had already lodged an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) for all documents relating to the decision to do business with Russia by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Energy Security, which Zuma chairs.