Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe’s address at the Africa Energy Indaba was interrupted by Greenpeace Africa activists on Tuesday.
The minister was delivering the keynote address at the conference, which started at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Tuesday.
After Mantashe greeted the audience, a handful of activists stood up from their tables and demonstrated in front of the stage with bright yellow banners, protesting against coal and delays in getting renewable energy online.
Mantashe paused his address and said that they should be left alone to have their say. He then continued his speech.
A few moments later, conference staff came up to the protesters and asked them to leave. Mantashe then stopped his speech again and instructed the staff to “stop giving them attention”.
The minister proceeded with his speech – but didn’t miss the opportunity to punt the longevity of coal.
“Coal will be with us for many years to come,” Mantashe said “Those who see it as a road to corruption, they will be disappointed for many years. Coal is going to outlive many of us.”
Mantashe said that solving the energy crisis would require improving the Energy Availability Factor of power stations, accelerating the acquisition of emergency energy and focusing on building skills. The focus should not be on turning away from coal, he said.
Mantashe also noted the importance of the energy transition being just for multiple communities dependent on the coal value chain for their livelihoods. He said that the African continent is well positioned to meaningfully benefit from the just energy transition, as it is endowed with minerals suitable for green energy production.
“Many of the people who are demonstrating think we must not mine because we are tampering with the environment. But those minerals are important to move from high carbon emissions to low carbon emissions,” Mantashe said. The mining of minerals like vanadium and lithium – useful for battery storage and platinum – useful for the production of green hydrogen – should be allowed.
The protestors remained in front of the stage throughout his speech, but were later escorted out of the building by security.
Speaking to News24 after the address, Thandile Chinyavanhu, spokesperson for Greenpeace Africa, said they wanted to convey the message that coal is blocking renewable energy and that Mantashe is a “coal fundamentalist”.
Chiyavanhu said that Greenpeace research shows that “coal is killing South Africans”. There is a danger in using coal as an energy source, including health problems, she said.
“We are demanding that government brings online renewable energy to ease the constraints of load shedding and deploy them for energy security,” she added.
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