South African Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe was accused on Sunday by the opposition of delaying the energy transition after ignoring a major agreement on green hydrogen in partnership with the Dutch and Danish governments.
Minister Gwede Mantashe did not sign the agreement on a billion-dollar fund launched on Tuesday by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The action was deemed “unacceptable” by the Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party.
“Mr. Mantashe’s recent decision to snub a high-level meeting” planned “with European leaders to launch a European-funded green energy initiative is deeply worrying”, the DA party said in a statement, calling for the minister to be sacked.
The initiative was launched in the minister’s absence. Although invited, Mr. Mantashe did not attend the launch of the agreement in Pretoria, choosing instead to attend a separate energy summit organized by a major trade union federation.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy, Nathi Shabangu, indicated that the Minister’s absence did not mean that he disapproved of the agreement. Mr. Mantashe did not sign it “because he had not seen the memorandum of understanding and could not sign what he had not seen”, according to the spokesman.
This fund should “accelerate the development of the green hydrogen sector”, according to the South African Presidency earlier this week.
In the past, Mr. Mantashe has been active in supporting the coal lobby, arguing last year that abandoning coal too quickly was not in the country’s interest and could, in his view, lead to economic damage and job losses.
The miners’ unions have long been supporting the South African government’s transition to cleaner energy, and the case has reignited the debate.