In what one almost vaguely dismissed as a souped-up reflective jacket, Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul swiftly whisked himself away from the SABC’s cameras to welcome his national principal to the fifth Presidential Imbizo in Upington last month. This, a gathering that would invariably draw attention on a mixed marsala of challenges. Anything from service delivery to the energy crisis, bucket toilets, still, our province that is usually at the laggard end of things got to bask under the unfamiliar spotlight.
Judging by the attire – bluecollar stuff – unbuttoned, loose-fitting shirts, sports caps and jackets slunk over hired chairs, it seemed that the powers that be were looking forward to either getting their own hands dirty or to remind us that the road ahead may be paved with good intentions but we should never forget the hard work.
It was a sight for sore eyes.
Not every day that so many famous names are caught sat under the same marquee in a province not famous for much and find themselves leaning over for Afrikaans-to-English translators.
Despite being the biggest province in area, the NC ambles behind its counterparts both in population numbers and economic activity. Like that massive soccer defender who can’t dribble passed his own penalty area.
Fortunately with President Cyril Ramaphosa sauntering about, all was a hive of activity as we were told of the massive potential that the province harbours inasfar as renewable energy is concerned and how these power sources could contribute towards alleviating the national energy crisis. With some – quite a few, actually – political heavyweights in tow, national attention was cast on a province that, according to Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries minister Barbara Creecy, “[has] the greater potential to generate electricity than anywhere else in the country.”
Together with Eskom, the government aims to erect electricity pylons that will move power from the Northern Cape to the rest of the country, said Creecy. Moreover, in this year’s State of the Nation address, President Ramaphosa assured us that R270bn would be allocated for the development of a hydrogen pipeline.
Said the President, “almost R200bn has been invested in our renewable programme and 64% of that has come here in the Northern Cape.” With conspicuous excitement, the President expressed his hopes that we would be ready because we are apparently “a big target for big investments that are going to come.”
The issue of climate change, despite what detractors would have you believe, has all but reduced coal to an almost outdated fossil – pun unintended. As such, there is a global scramble to generate the sort of energy that relies on environmentally-friendly sources that reduce one’s carbon footprint. If you hope to walk in step with the rest of the world, then get rid of all the smokey and toxic stuff and then we can talk. That seems to be what the sane world is telling anybody who’s still young or caring enough to listen.
One of these, which NC Premier Dr Zamani Saul is particularly keen on, is green hydrogen. In summary, this relies on hydrolysis – the process of “using electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen gas and oxygen atoms,” according to Daily Maverick. However, it is only called “green” when achieved through renewable energy sources rather than fossil energy sources, in which case it is called “grey” hydrogen which South Africa currently significantly relies on. Dr Zamani Saul pointed out that we are amongst the ten most sunniest countries on the globe and that the green hydrogen route is a path we must tread.
Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele was singing from a similar hymnal. “What they call a redstone,” Gungubele said, “which is an aqua power investment [with] huge concentration of energy, a solar power collector” was of particular interest to him. Referring to the Redstone Solar Thermal, a solar power tower located in Postmansburg, the Minister was – as were many of his colleagues – showering praise on the immense energy-producing capability in the province.
Of course there were issues more immediate to the communities than wind turbines and solar panels.
At a gathering at Upington’s Mxolisi Dicky Jacobs stadium, president Ramaphosa lamented the excessive levels of youth unemployment in the province as well as nationwide increases in the price of food and fuel which invariably hit the poor hardest.
This being an Imbizo, the locals had come a long way to address the leadership face to face.
Amid obvious frustration, with residents making it clear that they were tired of platitudes and that their patience was wearing thin, the local community charged the microphones as soon as the floor was opened up to them. When calm was finally restored, a certain Katrina Jobson rose to tell her story of how she, with Matric, has struggled to land so much as a cleaning job. After years of unsuccessful job applications and interviews, she finally was absorbed into the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) only to go four months without being paid.
Nthabiseng, a coordinator for the NPO Nation Against Gender-Based Violence, mentioned how her organisation has struggled to acquire funding, office space and as a result are forced to conduct their operations from her own home.
Natasha Mbovana, a community health care worker with apparent emotion went on at length about working in often life-threatening situations for a measly R4000 a month. There are no schools for the disabled in that area, said one resident. Another said that the government was sitting on large chunks of unused land which could be of great benefit to local communities. Unsurprisingly, the SABC journalist asked how it was still possible in post-’94 South Africa to still have entire settlements relying on bucket toilets.
On this last score Dr Saul responded that “in 2019 we promised to build 25 000 service sites in the province.” His most urgent goal is to create formal sites “so that even if people are staying in informal housing [there should be] running water, proper sanitation and electricity.” He says that his government has already achieved at least 8000 of such sites.
The theme of the imbizo was Leave No One Behind. At eparkeni, we trust that as the presidential cavalcade was whisking the Commander in Chief back home to Mahlamba Ndlopfu or to the Union Buildings, that he would have taken a moment to look around the communities that he was leaving behind. How they live. Their toilets. Their clothes. Asked himself whether he could do anything about the caked-on dirt on the barefoot children’s faces. Or the youth who’ve resigned themselves to drugs, crime because agh! what’s the point anyway, man? The disabled kids languishing outside of formal schooling. And if he has, we hope that of all the things that he’s left behind, empty words are not one of them.