According to Cole, the PMU certainly wants to increase the amount of grants that it is going to be mobilising because grants have all kinds of benefits. “It’s a call to the international community, and that call is at different levels. It’s a call at multilateral forums such as COPs and various climate summits that take place,” he said.
The Chinese government pledged a grant of about R500 million for the energy sector during a state visit in Tshwane in August, where President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping. Participant companies from China are listed as “State Grid Corporation of China, China-Africa Development Fund, China Energy International Group, China General Nuclear Power Corporation, China National Electric Engineering Company Ltd, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, TBEA Co Ltd and Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organisation”.
“This is why we place so much emphasis on an increase in the contribution in the form of grants, mainly from development partners but also from multilateral development banks. Grants are going to enable us to address some of the ‘just’ components in the JET-IP,” Cole told“We want to be supporting those workers who are transitioning out of the coal value chain and affected communities.
Cole said at COP28, to be held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, South Africa needs to point out two things, the first being what progress the country is making in the implementation of the JET-IP.