Department of Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe. (Photo: Julia Evans) 
Alarm bells have been ringing about the proposal to bring Eskom under the oversight of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), and with good reason. Much of the shock stems from Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe’s unrepentant pro-coal stance, his touting of procuring unaffordable nuclear power, and his obvious aversion to green energy under the transparent smoke-screens of “base-load” and job preservation.
Then there was the whole Eskom is “agitating to overthrow the state” remark, uttered without any sense of irony or self-awareness by a minister belonging to a party and government overseeing a failing state.
These are legitimate reasons for concern, but perhaps the biggest one is the DMRE’s own slide into dysfunction in recent years, a slide that mirrors Eskom’s. The DMRE has repeatedly shown that it hardly has the capacity to change a light bulb. So how on earth is it going to address the complex challenge of Eskom? The idea that it can is, appropriately, dim, and takes ANC “policy making” to new levels of absurdity.
This correspondent for the past few years has been covering the DMRE’s ongoing train smash. It hardly inspires confidence.
Shambolic
Its shambolic state was thrown into sharp relief in October by a tender it put out for an assessment of its data and phone networks. The document indicated that the department’s systems had become so obsolete that it could no longer source spare parts and that it had not had managed services for almost a decade.
Read more in Business Maverick: “Mineral Resources and Energy data and phone networks assessment tender reveals the lights may be off and nobody home”
The same lack of basic maintenance is one of the key factors behind Eskom’s deterioration. If the DMRE cannot maintain basic IT services, is it seriously going to oversee the care and constant repairs of Eskom’s ageing fleet of shoddy power stations?
Imagine if the DMRE was a candidate for the job and needed to submit a CV. One of the requirements would surely be an excellent track record of actually maintaining stuff.
And the list goes on. With the seeming exception of its health and safety arm, the DMRE is a perpetual saga of screw-ups, unable to simply carry out its day-to-day job functions.
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There was the period in 2021 when it was unable to provide monthly production data on a timely basis to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) — crucial for compiling gross domestic product figures, among other important statistics.
Read more in Business Maverick: “Stats SA unable to publish June mining data due to energy department’s capacity woes”
In March 2022, Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke released a damming report which found the DMRE has been mismanaging its responsibilities for the rehabilitation of the derelict and ownerless mines that scar much of South Africa’s landscape, posing grave health and environmental risks to mostly poor communities.
Mantashe has been a periodic no-show at scheduled events with the mining sector — when it was clear he was simply double-booked — highlighting the point that either his staff can’t get little things like his diary right, or he doesn’t give a you-know-what.
Read more in Business Maverick: “Mantashe a no-show at Joburg Mining Indaba, but Anglo’s former CEO Cutifani comes to the rescue”
The DMRE may now provide oversight over an SOE that is one misstep away from plunging South Africa into a weeks-long blackout that will almost certainly trigger a tsunami of lethal social unrest and transform the economy into an investment wasteland.
Mining cadastre
And of course, there is the unfolding disaster around the DMRE’s obvious reluctance to adopt a proper mining cadastre, which is why there is a logjam of applications for mining and related rights, thwarting investment flows into the sector.
This state of affairs also conveniently means the public and investors are in the dark about the real state of play of mining rights, a situation that is made to order for the corruption and incompetence that have been hallmarks of ANC rule.
Read more in Business Maverick: “After the Bell: Botswana transparently displays what SA’s DMRE may reluctantly provide”
Many have come to regard Mantashe as the real power behind President Cyril Ramaphosa’s throne, and the minister’s enthusiasm for all things hydrocarbon is not just a fossilised fragment of recent economic history.
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-01-11-dont-be-fooled-by-ramaphoria-2-0-king-gwede-rules-south-africa/
This brings us back to the first concerns laid out above.
It’s clear that huge chunks of the coal value chain have been hijacked by criminal syndicates, and oil and gas have mostly had a corruptly corrosive impact on African economies. A cheerleader for the sector from the ANC who has stymied efforts to shine the light of transparency on it while showing an aversion to green energy is hardly going to bring Eskom up to speed with the emerging global economy.
When you throw in the DMRE’s abject failure to do anything, it seems, beyond making a cup of Ricoffy, you know it’s time to stock up on candles. It will be ironic indeed if the total blackout comes under the DMRE’s watch, which is a plausible — some would say probable — scenario. Who will take the blame then for agitating to overthrow what’s left of the South African state? DM/BM