WHAT ABOUT INVESTING IN SOUTH AFRICANS?
Many government ministers have cited their motivations for fast-tracking certain developments as being in order to “alleviate poverty” and help the plight of suffering, starving South Africans. But this is patently not true when the companies who are receiving the construction tenders and being paid millions by the South African taxpayer, are foreign companies.
The Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa), established as a public company under the Nuclear Energy Act, 1999 is wholly-owned by the State. They announced that nuclear plants would be built in South Africa using French or Westinghouse technology. A US$ 20 million contract was given to Uhde, in 2005 to build a nuclear fuel plant at Pelindaba near Pretoria – Uhde being a local subsidiary of Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Engineering. Yet South African scientists have developed new solar power technology that would provide sufficient energy and eliminate the reason to build nuclear power stations.
The South African environmental group, Biowatch, a public interest NGO, was forced to go to court to exercise its constitutional right to certain information and though winning the case, was ordered to pay the legal costs of the Monsanto Corporation – a foreign industry selling genetically modified seed and herbicide products. Why would a South African group protecting local interests have to pay a foreign corporation for information that is supposed to be guaranteed in “transparent” governance?
The Coega industrial development removed land that could have been used for agriculture or an extension to the Addo National Park for proposed investors such as the Alcan smelter that require large amounts of fresh water and electricity. The government was prepared to offer these industries preferrential deals on the water and energy they would use, in the process depriving local farmers and industries of these resources.
Now the government is stating that in order to meet requirements for the World Cup soccer stadiums they would have to tender out to Chinese companies, as South African construction companies are not cheap enough.
How does any of this make sense? The government is obviously not investing in the people of South Africa and allowing them to prosper. Instead certain individuals seem to be benefiting from making deals – looking only to their own future comfort and not the stability of the people who put them in office.
Yours sincerely
INGELA RICHARDSON
