Honourable Speaker,
In noting this Joint Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report, the ACDP observes that the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has achieved near-total expenditure of its adjusted R8.9 billion budget, with 99.4% spent. The ACDP also remains deeply concerned about the missed opportunities in the mining sector.
South Africa lags behind its counterparts in exploiting its mineral wealth due to factors, including an unstable regulatory and policy environment, poor electricity supply, logistical bottlenecks, and rising operational costs. These issues have led to declining investment in the sector. We have been unable to take advantage of commodity booms, and the failure to effectively beneficiate our raw materials have hindered progress and economic growth. Clearly, a failure to implement constructive structural reforms in the mining sector is an invitation for economic suicide.
The ACDP notes that the Renewable Energy Master Plan commended earlier this year, is a step towards diversifying electricity supply. We remain concerned about the cost of electricity which has increased some 600% more than the rate of inflation from 2008 to date. Many South Africans are falling prey or falling into energy poverty as a result of corruption, ineptitude, delayed transmission projects and a slow rollout of independent generation.
The ACDP insists that our mineral wealth must not be exported as raw material while importing missed opportunities. Rather, our mineral wealth must be utilised to raise the standard of living of all South Africans.
I thank you.
