SA in talks with Zambia and Zimbabwe to run Grand Inga transmission line

MINISTER for Minerals and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe said South Africa is initiating discussions with Zambia and Zimbabwe on the possibility of running the electricity transmission line from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under the Grand Inga project, through which 2 500 megawatts are envisaged for the country.

- BANELE GININDZA

Mantashe was responding to questions from members of the Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Petroleum Resources on Tuesday, who had asked about the status of the project and what the country was doing to harness regional collaboration following the decision to postpone participation in the project.

"The Grand Inga project is not ours; it's a DRC project, given to the Spanish and Chinese. We have a right to buy equity in it, which would have to be approved by the DRC.

“We have not bought that equity, so we can't really pretend to be managing the Inga project. It is not our project. We have committed ourselves to a quantity of electricity that will be taken up by South Africa, but the driving of the project is out of our jurisdiction," Mantashe said.

MKP MP Crown Prince Adil Nchabaleng objected to the Minister's stance, indicating that South Africa still considered the project feasible.