South African motorists may soon be able to charge their electric vehicles at public charging stations when the government makes a “big announcement” regarding this development, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula promised on Thursday.
He made the remarks during his keynote address at the Presidential Climate Commission’s Just Transition Multi-Stakeholder Conference in Gauteng where he highlighted the importance of renewable energy in the local automotive industry. Mbalula is a member of the commission.
"We will make a big announcement in the near future in terms of the installation of charging stations in the country. That announcement is coming your way very soon,” he said.
The government was committed to achieving “a just transition” to move away from coal to a renewable energy-powered economy, he added.
“We cannot forget the burden that climate change poses to our economy and our people. We live in one of the most affected regions in the world and frequently experience droughts, storms and floods associated with global warming. The recent devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal put these climate impacts in sharp focus.”
He pointed out that the science was clear. “We must keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, to avoid the worst climate impacts.
“We must reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically over the next three decades to reach net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.”
He said the transition to renewable energy would require domestic and international investment and “profound and systemic change” across all sectors of our economy.
“We must decarbonise our electricity grid and modernise the electricity system. We must continue to bring more renewable energy capacity online as our cheapest available energy source as part of a long-term shift towards a renewables-based power system.”
South Africa needs to install roughly three to four gigawatts of renewable energy per annum over the next 30 years.
“At this pace, we can generate sufficient economies of scale for local manufacturers to produce the parts for wind and solar and utility scale batteries. This manufacturing can create real jobs, not just intermittent jobs in the installation and construction but decent permanent jobs linked to large-scale manufacturing,” Mbalula said.
“We must invest in peaking power to provide the energy security that our country so desperately needs. We must continue to phase out coal in a manner that is carefully structured and planned. We must equip our automotive industry for the new opportunities of a cleaner transport system, including electric vehicles.
“Renewable energy production will make electricity cheaper and more dependable, which will have positive knock-on effects on our energy-dependent economic sectors, including mining, cement, and manufacturing,” he added.
Investments in electric vehicles and hydrogen are expected to open new markets for the supply of clean energy minerals, like platinum, vanadium, cobalt, copper, manganese, and lithium.
“We need to invest in projects that accelerate a low-emissions and climate-resilient transition, while ameliorating the negative impacts on workers and communities whose livelihoods are tied to high-emitting industries.”
He said that South Africa’s historic $8.5-billion deal with the European Union, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, struck at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in October 2021, would help to drive the transition.
