The head of the president’s climate finance task team, Daniel Mminele, has stepped down after his contract expired at the end of December, leaving question marks about the next steps for SA’s R1.5-trillion investment plan for a just energy transition at a time when international partners have been urging the government to fast track its implementation.
The news of Mminele’s departure comes after EU and US leaders recently called on SA to show swift and concrete action on the plan, which was launched on the eve of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt in November. The EU, US, France, Germany and UK together committed to provide $8.5bn of funding for the transition to renewable energy. And some of the countries have since upped the amount of grant funding they are willing to contribute...