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5 February 2008

Johannesburg: All three spheres of government met today to map out plans which contribute to finding solutions to the current electricity emergency. The Ministers for Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi, Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica and Public Enterprise Alec Erwin met with municipal mayors and members of executive council (MECs) to discuss strategies and to prioritise delivery areas for the coming months.

Municipalities were encouraged to find immediate steps that contribute to energy efficiency in their areas, such as switching off what is not required in households, government buildings and in the business sector.

This meeting follows several meetings with government stakeholders, big business and business leaders over the past few weeks, and was essential as the municipalities play a critical role in current and future supply and demand-side management initiatives.

Priority projects have been identified, and municipalities will soon be putting in place regulations to ensure that households and industry begin to effect these energy saving initiatives. Details of the energy efficiency action plan were discussed and includes amongst others the rollout of compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) light bulbs, solar water heating and smart metering initiatives. The proposed regulations are available on the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) website (http://www.dme.gov.za/) for comment by 25 February 2008.

The issue of how the impact of load shedding on critical services can be reduced was also discussed. Planned load shedding has been introduced to reduce the consumption by 10% across all the sectors but there are targets within each category of user, which may be higher or lower than the national total.

The meeting is a positive signifier that short-term energy savings targets can be achieved if all role players make a concerted effort and co-ordinate their plans.

Issued by: Department of Provincial and Local Government
5 February 2008
Source: Department of Provincial and Local Government (http://www.dplg.gov.za)