Government awards battery storage contracts
JOHANNESBURG - The government has announced two companies, Mulilo and Scatec, as preferred bidders for battery storage projects in the Free State, worth R9.5-billion.
READ: Eskom lightens the solar load
The program aims to store power and provide reserves to the grid.
But some have raised concerns about fairness in awarding the contracts.
Black Business Council President Elias Monage discussed the contract with eNCA.
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The Citizen
8 hours ago
- The Citizen
Multi-billion Limpopo mega-project has ground to a halt
Makhado Special Economic Zone, announced in 2018, was intended to attract investments of R40-billion. The mega industrial project in the Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone has ground to a halt. Photos: supplied by Living Limpopo The Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone in Limpopo, announced in 2018 by President Cyril Ramaphosa, was intended to attract investments of more than R40-billion. But seven years later, the project has all but ground to a halt. Only one company has made a firm commitment to invest. Though more than R100-million has been spent, there are no roads, electricity or water connections; and the company contracted to build roads has terminated the contract. However, the chair of the board says a turnaround plan is in place and construction on the first infrastructure projects will start in September. Seven years after its launch by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the multi-billion Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) in Limpopo is at a standstill. R67.5-million has been spent on consultants and R50-million on roads and infrastructure. But there is no infrastructure, no electricity connection, no roads and no water. Described on its website as 'a flagship of the Limpopo Provincial Government' the MMSEZ is 'a green field investment platform consisting of two sites' – Artonvilla, near Musina, intended for light manufacturing, and Mopani, near Makhado, intended for heavy industry. The zone claims to offer 'state of the art logistics facilities promoting operational excellence' But though the MMSEZ was touted to bring in R40-billion in investments, so far only one company has made a firm commitment to invest. ALSO READ: Revival of job-creating initiative in Limpopo A report by the chair of the MMSEZ board, Nndweleni Mphephu, to the Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism department, shows how little has happened in what was to be a mega industrial park in the heart of the Limpopo Valley. The report, dated 28 May, follows questions in Parliament and an oversight visit to the area by members of the Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism portfolio committee. According to the Minister of Trade Industry and Competition Parks Tau, R2.27-billion would be needed for bulk infrastructure on the site, and R1.07-billion had been set aside between 2020/1 and 2026/7 in the provincial budget. In response to a question in Parliament in May from the DA's Toby Chance, Tau added that the DTIC's Industrial Zones Programme was helping the MMSEZ with advisory support. Some of the money has already been spent, much of it on consultants. In his report, Mphephu gives a list of consultants, service providers and contractors who have benefited to date. Spending of just over R85.2-million was approved for consultants, of which just over R67.5-million has already been paid to 17 consultants, including engineers, planners, quantity surveyors, project managers and horticulturists. Just under R40-million has been paid to service providers, including Eskom. ALSO READ: Limpopo's special economic zones expected to create 21,000 jobs According to the report, three contractors have so far benefited, including Tshiamiso Trading 1 and Tshiamiso Trading 2, which received a R200-million contract for roads and stormwater infrastructure and a R99.3-million contract for bulk sewer and wastewater treatment works. A contract for R134-million was awarded to Rembu Construction, also for the construction of bulk sewer and wastewater treatment works. But though some earthworks have been done by Tshiamiso on the northern site, there are no finished roads, electricity or water on either site. After being paid just over R50.4-million, Tshiamiso had to stop work on the northern site, after beginning bush-clearing, because the land belonged to a different organ of state and transfer had to take place first, the report says. Tshiamiso has now terminated the contract and is claiming more money from the MMSEZ, citing non-payment for standing time. This dispute is currently in litigation. Tshiamiso Trading is also accused of unlawfully removing white rock materials from another site to the MMSEZ site without the owner's consent or any formal agreement or compensation. ALSO READ: Limpopo unveils R1.8 billion budget boost for economic development The MMSEZ southern site was gazetted as a Special Economic Zone in 2017, but it turns out that the northern site at Artonvilla has yet to be gazetted, according to a response by Tau to a question in Parliament. Tau said the Limpopo government had indicated it would submit a request before the end of June 2025 to gazette the northern site. In his report, Mphephu noted fierce 'oppositions, dissenting views and pushbacks' mostly from environmental groups, over the southern site. Some of these were challenging the Environmental Impact Assessment in the Polokwane High Court. But in the absence of an interdict, the report says, 'all activities leading to the development, including township establishment processes are expected to proceed.' Tshiamiso Trading is one of the contractors which has been paid. When President Cyril Ramaphosa publicly announced the MMSEZ in September 2018 following his return from the Forum for Africa and China Cooperation, it came with the promise of an initial investment value of more than R40-billion. To date, little of that money appears to have materialised. ALSO READ: It's war on power, water theft to save Limpopo economic zones Responding to questions in Parliament in May, Tau gave a list of investment pledges amounting to more than R8.64-billion, of which R2.1-billion has been verified and validated from eight prospective investors. But according to the report, only the China-based Kinetic Development Group has come to the party, with a R16-billion promise of a ferrochrome smelter on the southern site, once township development on the site is approved, and subject to EIA approvals. If investors do come, one of the biggest questions will be: where is the water going to come from in this semi-arid area? The MMSEZ has approached the Water Services Authority (Vhembe) and the catchment management agency (the Department of Water and Sanitation, DWS) in the region to determine whether they have capacity, either from treated or raw water, to supply the developments. According to the report, Vhembe agreed to provide the MMSEZ with some of its allocation for raw water to kickstart development on the northern site. The DWS said treated water could be brought from Zimbabwe by pipeline for the future development of the site. 'For the south, a few boreholes were drilled in order to start the development of the site. For further development, a pipeline needs to be built to connect to the bulk pipeline from Zimbabwe. Furthermore, two dams are earmarked to be constructed in future to specifically provide water to the site as it grows,' the report says. According to the report, the MMSEZ has now implemented a 'turnaround plan' including a review of the design of roads and stormwater. A division of the Industrial Development Corporation has been appointed as implementing agent, with four professional engineers assigned to the MMEZ full-time. Construction on the first projects will start in September, the report says. This article is published in association with the Limpopo Mirror/Zoutpansberger. Correction on 2025-06-19 09:53 This article has been amended to clarify that the visit to the site was by members of the Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism portfolio committee, not by MPs. This article was republished from GroundUp. Read the original here.
IOL News
16 hours ago
- IOL News
EEskom employees pocket R3bn in overtime during turbulent year
Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has disclosed that R10 million was paid to Eskom board members and R3 billion in overtime to employees. Image: Henk Kruger / Independent Newspapers ESKOM employees pocketed R3 billion in overtime during the 2023/24 financial year. This was for work outside the normal working hours that was approved for an emergency during a standby period, breakdown of plant, pre-arranged plant maintenance, commissioning of plant, authorised construction work on site or critical personnel shortages only for short periods not exceeding one month, among other things. 'Approximately 92% of the workforce is eligible for overtime,' said Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. He was responding to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Mandla Shikwambana, who enquired about the annual expenditure on overtime for Eskom employees and the circumstances under which overtime was paid. Shikwambana also wanted to know whether the 22 board meetings, averaging two meetings per month, as reported in the 2024 annual report, were pre-planned and the reasons for not planning them. He also asked the total remuneration of each board member and whether the board members were subject to individual performance reviews. The board of directors was paid more than R10 million in board fees. He said 22 board meetings were held, and at least 10 were pre-scheduled for the period between April 2023 and March 2024. He said non-executive directors had not been paid per meeting but had received a fixed annual fee based on their committee allocations. 'This fixed fee implicitly covered participation in up to eight scheduled board meetings. The remaining 14 meetings that exceeded the planned schedule did not attract any additional fees.' Board chairperson Mteto Nyati was paid R1.3m, Fathima Gany R1,081,000, Claudelle von Eck R1,061,000, Clive Le Roux R1 058 000 and Tryphosa Ramano R1,018,000. Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Image: Jairus Mmutle/GCIS Other board members - Leslie Mkhabela, Busisiwe Vilakazi, Bheki Ntshalintshali, Tsakani Mthombeni, Ayanda Mafuleka and Lwazi Goqwana - were paid amounts ranging from R933,000 to R676,000. Ramokgopa said the amounts paid included fees for both board meetings and sub-committee meetings. The additional meetings had been convened on an ad hoc basis to address urgent and time-sensitive matters that had required the immediate attention of the board. 'Several of these engagements had been necessitated by unforeseen and evolving developments. These additional meetings had not resulted in any additional payment of fees to the non-executive directors,' he said. The additional meetings had primarily dealt with the group chief executive recruitment, National Transmission Company of South Africa board of directors recruitment, and the unbundling matters. CAPE TIMES
IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
Eskom financial report reveals board fees over R10 million and R3 billion in employee overtime
Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has disclosed that R10 million was paid to Eskom board members and R3 billion in overtime to employees. Image: File The Eskom board of directors was paid more than R10 million in board fees during the 2023/24 financial year, while the entity's employees pocketed R3 billion in overtime during the same period. This was disclosed by Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa when he was responding to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Mandla Shikwambana, who enquired about the annual expenditure on overtime for Eskom employees and the circumstances under which overtime was paid. Shikwambana also wanted to know whether the 22 board meetings, averaging two meetings per month, as reported in the 2024 annual report, were pre-planned and the reasons for not planning them. He also asked the total remuneration of each board member and whether the board members were subject to individual performance reviews. In his written response, Ramokgopa said employees pocketed R3.03 billion during the 2023/24 financial year He said the payment was for work outside the normal working hours that was approved for an emergency during a standby period, breakdown of plant, pre-arranged plant maintenance, commissioning of plant, authorised construction work on site or critical personnel shortages only for short periods not exceeding one month, among other things. 'Approximately 92% of the workforce is eligible for overtime,' Ramokgopa said. He said 22 board meetings were held, and at least 10 were pre-scheduled for the period between April 2023 and March 2024. He said non-executive directors had not been paid per meeting but had received a fixed annual fee based on their committee allocations. 'This fixed fee implicitly covered participation in up to eight scheduled board meetings. The remaining 14 meetings that exceeded the planned schedule did not attract any additional fees.' Ramokgopa also said the additional meetings had been convened on an ad hoc basis to address urgent and time-sensitive matters that had required the immediate attention of the board. 'Several of these engagements had been necessitated by unforeseen and evolving developments. These additional meetings had not resulted in any additional payment of fees to the non-executive directors,' he said. The additional meetings had primarily dealt with the group chief executive recruitment, National Transmission Company of South Africa board of directors recruitment, and the unbundling matters. Board chairperson Mteto Nyati was paid R1.3m, Fathima Gany R1,081,000, Claudelle von Eck R1,061,000, Clive Le Roux R1 058 000 and Tryphosa Ramano R1,018,000. Other board members - Leslie Mkhabela, Busisiwe Vilakazi, Bheki Ntshalintshali, Tsakani Mthombeni, Ayanda Mafuleka and Lwazi Goqwana - were paid amounts ranging from R933,000 to R676,000. Ramokgopa said the amounts paid included fees for both board meetings and sub-committee meetings. 'The non-executive directors were remunerated by way of a fixed annual fee, which was determined based on their allocation to specific committees. This fee structure was not linked to the number of meetings attended. In addition to the fixed fee, non-executive directors were reimbursed for any reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the execution of their duties,' said the minister. He further said that a collective assessment approach was currently in place based on the principle of a board of directors functioning as one unit. 'The last collective performance assessment of the board was undertaken in the financial year of 2024, and the outcomes of this assessment were shared with the shareholder representative.' [email protected]
