ANC walks political tightrope over coal plant shutdowns

The Komati power station in Mpumalanga has been decommissioned and is being converted into a solar and battery storage facilityIn a ward the ANC won handily in local elections three years ago, party campaign worker Poppy Vilakazi has been getting a decidedly frosty reception lately.

Eskom is installing 370MW of solar, wind and battery storage at Komati. It is meant to be a blueprint for future coal station closures and create new jobs and training programmes in the renewable energy sector The EFF want to stop decommissioning coal plants and add new nuclear capacity, while the DA wants to liberalise the sector and break Eskom's monopoly.Years of mismanagement, corruption, and neglect crippled Eskom. Near daily blackouts have curbed economic growth and contributed to one of the world's highest unemployment rates.South Africa's global partners are not the only ones concerned.

"We will prove that this can work," said Thevan Pillay, Komati's managing director."We'll do that in the rest of the fleet. And it will change the mindset of people."Residents in Mpumalanga, which produces the bulk of South Africa's power and is the heart of a coal industry With thousands of unionised miners and Eskom workers, Mpumalanga is a bastion of organised labour, the bedrock of ANC support. Black coal entrepreneurs are key ANC financial backers.Despite the internal dissention, few doubt the ANC will carry Mpumalanga at the polls.

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