EDITORIAL: Nuclear gets the bullet
News that SA has rejected new nuclear capacity in favour of cleaner, renewable energy is just another welcome symbolic line that has been drawn under the Zuma years
There was a revealing confirmation last week of just how important the infamous nuclear deal was to former president Jacob Zuma. For years, insiders had tittered that the contracts around the mooted R1-trillion nuclear deal were a central motivator for many of the baffling actions taken by Zuma. Last week, during the Zondo state capture inquiry, former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas described how his boss, finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, had been fired because he’d refused to sign off on the nuclear deal. Clearly, Nene had been the obstacle to the cavalcade of eager Russians who visited Zuma, popping their champagne corks in expectation of gargantuan contracts. So in this context, the news that SA has rejected new nuclear capacity in favour of cleaner, renewable energy is just another welcome symbolic line that has been drawn under the Zuma years. The new Integrated Resource Plan says that renewable energy should make up 26% of SA’s power. By 2030, wind power should make up 1...
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