As world leaders fete President Cyril Ramaphosa for his green agenda in Egypt, his minister of mineral resources and energy insisted this week that coal will continue to play a critical part in electricity generation in South Africa. Gwede Mantashe believes coal, along with gas, nuclear and hydropower should be the main baseload. Ramaphosa submitted South Africa’s R1.5 trillion investment plan to use less coal to a group of rich countries this week – to a rapturous response from the UK, US, Germany, France and the EU at the COP27 climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
