Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Honourable ZF Khanyase (ANC)
I extend greetings to all honourable members and the people of South Africa. This budget vote takes place a few weeks before the commencement of Youth Month where we will be commemorating 50 years of the June 16 uprising. We need to work harder and more efficiently to increase accessibility to opportunities for the youth of South Africa who are educated, skilled, talented and ready to work for their future.
Chair The Department of Electricity and Energy is the backbone of the economic growth and job creation in South Africa, this will happen by providing an enabling environment to address the trilemma of energy security, energy sustainability and energy affordability.
The splitting of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in 2024 came at a critical time when the country’s national electricity utility experienced low levels of energy availability and elevated levels of unplanned outages. On the 1st of April 2025, the Department of Electricity and Energy officially became a standalone Department. It focused its efforts in ensuring that the Energy Action Plan was implemented, and today, the country has been without loadshedding for more than 341 days. It is worth noting that the department is underfunded, the majority of its budget goes towards Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP). In order to implement energy security the budget of the department has to increase.
Over the medium term, the Department will focus on electricity reforms, ensuring and extending reliable access to electricity, enhancing energy efficiency, and managing nuclear energy in accordance with international commitments. To do this, the Department has been allocated R6.1 billion in the 2026/27 fiscal year. The budget of the department is split over 5 programmes.
Programme 1: Administration provides strategic leadership, management, and support services to the Department, with an allocated budget of R281 million for the 2026/27 financial year.
Programme 2: Energy Planning and Policy Development aims to improve energy security over the medium term by:
- Implementing the revised Electricity Regulation Amendment Act (Act No. 38 of 2007) and its regulations
- Amending the 2008 electricity pricing policy
- Amending the Gas Act (Act No. 48 of 2001)
- Operationalising the 2025 integrated resource plan implementation framework
- Publishing 4 energy statistics reports per year.
The programme has an allocated budget of R68 million for the 2026/27 financial year.
Programme 3: Energy Programmes and Projects which manages all the Department’s energy programmes, including the Integrated National Electrification Programme. The programme is allocated R4 billion for the 2026/27 financial year. The Integrated National Electrification Programme is important, from 1994it has provided electricity connections to historically disadvantaged communities to correct the historical injustices of apartheid. Energy poverty must be eradicated and should have no place in our transformation project.
Programme 4: Nuclear Energy Regulation and Management manages the regulation of nuclear energy in the country. The programme has been allocated R1.6 billion for the year ahead, totalling R4.5 billion over the medium term. This area is crucial as the Department and its entities have international commitments for regulation. More importantly the domestic development of nuclear energy for electricity generation is a critical part of the green energy programme and the just energy transition. It is able to add to the base load electricity supply like the Koeberg Power Station.
Programme 5: State-Owned Companies Support Services provides shareholder management of the state-owned companies within the Department’s portfolio ensuring their performance. The programme receives R44.5 million in the 2026/27 financial year, increasing to R51.6 million in the 2028/29 financial year.
As the Department became independent a year ago, it is still in the process of finalising its restructuring and organisational design, envisaged to be finalised by the end of the 2026/27 financial year. The restructuring of the department should be completed sooner as it debilitates the optimal functioning of the department. Energy needs to be transferred to Electricity and Energy.
The important role that the Department of Electricity and Energy plays, cannot be understated. The National Development Plan calls for an integrated energy sector by 2030, promoting economic growth and providing universal electricity access. It emphasises energy security, diversifying energy sources, investing in infrastructure, fostering cleaner coal technologies, diversifying ownership, and implementing demand-side management and pro-poor tariffs. Thus, the role of the Department is to ensure an effective integrated energy sector to allow for economic growth and job creation.
The Department will ensure this through effective energy policy and planning, particularly through:
- The effective implementation of the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act 38 of 2024.
- Updating the Electricity Pricing Policy which sets the framework of how our electricity tariffs are calculated and enforced by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).
- Effective implementation of the Integrated Resource Plan 2025 to ensure security of South Africa’s electricity supply. This includes the effective implementation of the Transmission Development Plan which calls for approximately 14 494km of transmission lines and 210 transformers by 2034.
- Ensuring the effective regulation of the nuclear energy sector in preparation for the Nuclear New Build Programme.
I thank you.