WASHINGTON: On the sidelines
of a conference in Vienna on September 22d, South Africa signed an agreement for
Russian nuclear power plants to be built in the country. The deal could be
worth $50billion.
Signing ceremony in Vienna: South
African Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson and Rosatom CEO Sergei Kirienko
(photo: Rosatom)
Assuming the deal goes forward, they would be the first
Russian nuclear reactors in Africa, joining the continent’s sole nuclear
facility, the French-built Koeberg power station near Cape Town.
South Africa badly needs additional generating capacity. Its
power grid is overstretched and rolling brown outs have become common. The
African National Congress (ANC) government has long favored additional nuclear
plants to augment coal-fired facilities. The Russians would build eight VVER
reactors with a combined output of 9.6 giga watts by 2030. It would be one of
South Africa’s biggest infrastructure projects.
The opposition Democratic Alliance is calling for details of
the strategic partnership agreement to be made public. The South African energy
department says the accord is preliminary and that constitutionally mandated
procurement procedures will be followed.
With the government having a history of shady business
transactions, the Russian nuclear deal has set off alarm bells in the South
African media. Commentators are calling attention to President Jacob Zuma’s
surprise five-day visit to Russia last month, for which no official program was
released. It is known that Zuma
met with President Vladimir Putin but it is not known if the nuclear framework
was discussed.
Zuma is already under fire for financial irregularities in a
$20 million upgrade to his private residence. In 1999, long before he became president, there were charges of
kickbacks to ANC officials-- including Zuma—as part of a $5 billion arms deal
with Sweden.
Following the ANC’s victory in last May’s parliamentary
election, Zuma reshuffled his cabinet, surprising analysts by elevating his
lightly regarded agriculture and fisheries minister, Tina Joemat-Pettersson to
the energy portfolio. Last year Ms. Joemat-Pettersson, a communist from
Kimberly in the Northern Cape, was investigated for unethical conduct after
awarding a fisheries contract to a company inked to the ANC but with no experience in commercial fishing. She turned aside
opposition calls to resign.
At the signing ceremony in Vienna, Ms. Joemat-Pettersson
said the accord “opens the door for South Africa to access Russian technology,
funding and infrastructure.”
By signing with Rosatom, South Africa is ignoring the
punitive sanctions levied against Russia by Europe, America and Japan to
protest Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine. While in Washington in early August
for President Obama’s African Leaders Summit, Mr. Zuma called for increased US
investment in South Africa. The
Westinghouse unit of Japan’s Toshiba, as well as French and Chinese firms, have
wanted to build nuclear plants in South Africa, but analysts say the Russian
technology is cheaper.
South Africa is the leading beneficiary of AGOA, the African
Growth and Opportunities Act, that allows most African products duty-free entry
into the US market.
