Johannesburg - Leaders of the EFF Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu have vowed to oppose President Cyril Ramaphosa's plans to shut down and decommission coal mines in the country.
This comes after Ramaphosa approached The International Partners Group of five nations to back the country's Just Energy transition investment plan amid the climate talks taking place in Egypt. The group comprises France, Germany, the UK, the US and the EU.
Ramaphosa appealed to the chairperson of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) meeting in Egypt for higher-scale funding streams and technological support for South Africa after the five nations agreed to give South Africa's Just Energy plan the green light.
According to media reports, the partners plan to make an additional R10 billion available to South Africa on top of the already agreed upon $8.5bn (about R150bn) for the first phase of the programme.
However, on Tuesday, the EFF issued a damning statement opposing any plans Ramaphosa had to decommission coal-fired power stations and mines. The party condemned these “nonsensical and suicidal commitments” which would render the country's coal industries redundant.
“The Economic Freedom Fighters distances itself and condemns the nonsensical and suicidal commitments made by Cyril Ramaphosa at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt (COP27), where he has recommitted himself to destroy the coal industry in South Africa,” the party said.
The EFF has accused Ramaphosa of surrendering the country's future to environmental imperialists, saying that the plan would put paid to the economies of small towns such as Emalahleni, Secunda, Lephalale and many others whose economy is based on coal extraction.
“We are going to oppose this thing. There won't be any America who will build energy security here in South Africa. We have got our own capacity. There are also a lot of options that we can explore in relation to coal. There are coal technologies that we can explore because we have 400 years of lifespan and we are just instructed by Americans,” Shivambu said.
The Star