South Africa cannot afford large-scale expansion of its nuclear power fleet, but would still be open to future nuclear deals with Russia, African National Congress treasurer-general Paul Mashatile said on Thursday.
Mashatile said the government would not take the “Big Bang approach” to nuclear expansion.
He was speaking during a business breakfast on the sideline of the Brics summit in Johannesburg.
Mashatile said the ANC wants greater private investment in struggling state-owned power utility Eskom.
He also said the ruling party was holding discussions about splitting up Eskom’s operations.
Cash-strapped Eskom reported a R2.3-billion loss for the financial year which ended in March.
The Democratic Alliance on Wednesday called on Eskom to make public the terms of its R33.4-billion loan from the China Development Bank.
Meanwhile, the power utility has been locked in wage negotiations with three trade unions for over a month now.
Negotiations are set to resume on Friday.
Source: eNCA
