Ministers of Public Enterprises, Energy and Economic Development,

Deputy Minister of Public Entreprises,

MECs and Mayors

Presidency Director-General,

Chairpersons of Eskom and Transnet and Chief Executive Officers and management,

Grootvlei staff,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Sanibonaninonke, good day to you all!

 

I am pleased to join you today here in Balfour to celebrate progress in our energy generation and rail transport plans.

 

Infrastructure implementation, planning and coordination have become a major focus of the current administration, particularly from 2011 with the launch of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission.

 

We have prioritised infrastructure development because it is critical to enabling and promoting economic growth. Our roads, railways, ports, pipelines, airports, dams, power stations, transmission and distributions lines form the backbone for economic growth and also contribute to an improvement in the quality of life.

Through the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission, the bulk of the state's infrastructure programme is now being monitored on a quarterly basis ,looking at spending levels, construction activity, jobs and localisation.

 

Due to that intensive monitoring, we can celebrate progress.

 

Grootvlei Power Station adds to the progress we are making with Eskom’s return-to-service projects which also include Camden and Komati power stations.

We are pleased that this station, which was built in the late 1960’s  and was mothballed in 1990 due to excess power at the time, is being returned to service following the 7,2 billion rand upgrade.

The reopening of Grootvlei and other build programmes will help us to reverse the electricity difficulties we have been experiencing since 2007.

The return to service of this PowerStation will also contribute to easing the electricity demand requirements on the National Grid by providing maintenance space for other power stations.

Since the reopening of the Grootvlei PowerStation also forms part of the celebrations of Eskom’s 90th year anniversary, let me use this opportunity to congratulate Eskom and to reaffirm the ability of this state owned company to continue providing reliable security of supply to the country and the continent for decades to come.

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Beyond the re-opening of Grootvlei Power Station, today we also have an opportunity to celebrate the significant progress that has been made nationally through the largest new power station built in South African history.

 

We have a simultaneous construction of three major power stations that will bring a vast increase to the country’s energy supply, Medupi Power Station in Limpopo, Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga, Ingula Power Station on the border between KZN and Free State.

 

And already, as we move towards marking 20 years of freedom and look back at progress made by the country, we proudly add the fact that 3 200 kilometres of new transmission power lines have been laid in the past few years, to take energy to more parts of the country and ensure that rural communities increasingly have access to electricity.

 

Just over one million new households were connected to electricity, with benefits to more than four million South Africans over the past five years. As a matter of interest, in the 104 years between 1892 and 1996, only 5,2 million households were connected to electricity.

 

In the 20 years of democracy, a further more than 7 million households were connected to electricity.

Therefore, democracy has done more in 20 years than what colonialism and apartheid did in over 100 years, thus demonstrating the value of freedom and democracy in our country.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today we have also witnessed progress in the implementation of the Transnet plan to migrate freight volumes to rail.

I announced in the State of the Nation Address that Mpumalanga roads were being damaged by heavy coal truck volumes each day.

As part of the solution, Transnet is re-instating the Grootvlei-Balfour railway line to initially transport three million tons of coal per annum to the Grootvlei power station.

We expect the first phase of the project to be completed by December this year and the second phase by April 2014.

Already 9 kilometres of track have been successfully installed on this rail line which will ultimately be 30kilometres long.

The Grootvlei-Balfourline contributes to our road-to-rail migration plan which is intended to protect the road network.  It also makes business sense to move to rail as rail transport is cheaper. Despite this advantage, rail transportation has over the last decade declined by almost 12% whilst road transport has almost doubled.

Shifting from road to rail will also ease traffic congestion and reduce carbon emissions.

To support the road to rail migration strategy, Transnet has expanded its capital expenditure budget from110 billion rand over five years to 300 billion rand over the next seven years.

Two thirds of the capital budget will be spent on rail as Transnet’s Market Demand Strategy aims to significantly increase rail transportation by 2019-2020 and to capture 95% of the mineral mining and chrome business by 2015-2016.

Furthermore, Transnet is buying of1064 (one thousand and sixty four) locomotives which is unprecedented in the history of this country. This process will not only provide reliable modern trains for the road to rail migration plan. It will also increase the local content in the manufacturing of these locomotives from this procurement. This assists to create local capacity and local jobs.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me hasten to add that the infrastructure programme is not a standalone project. It is a long range project that is also included in our New Development Plan.

It also forms part of our six job drivers mentioned in the New Growth Path.

The others are tourism, the green economy, manufacturing, agriculture and mining and beneficiation.

We will be opening other infrastructure projects around the country which have been completed or are nearing completion, adding to much needed services and jobs.

The Grootvlei power station has created jobs for 3800 people during peak operations with 1100 employees coming from the local community.  In total over 200 jobs would have been created over the railway project lifespan.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We congratulate the management and workers for the hard work and progress being made at both the Grootvlei power station and the Grootvlei-Balfour railway project. 

It is my honour and pleasure to officially re-open Grootvlei Power Station today.

I thank you.