The City of Cape Town has taken Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi to court to force her to give it permission to buy renewable energy. This comes after a three-year running battle between the city and Kubayi’s office over the matter. The city has set a target to source at least 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. However the city cannot buy the energy directly from producers unless there is a prior determination by the minister and the National Energy Regulator of SA. City mayor Patricia de Lille told a full council meeting on Thursday that they had served Kubayi with the papers. "Recently the minister informed the City of Cape Town that she has placed a hold on all new determinations‚" said De Lille. "The hold is [about] nothing else — [she] wants to force all of us to continue to buy electricity from a corrupt Eskom." De Lille said the city was determined to purchase from independent power producers to mitigate against Eskom’s huge price increases. "The majority of Es...
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