Premier appeals to Finance Minister to be bold

Media release: Premier appeals to Finance Minister to be bold & give local governments, small businesses & citizens monetary support for renewable energy transition

Ahead of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget speech, Premier Alan Winde has urged him to allocate funds to make it easier for municipalities, SMMEs, and private households to become energy resilient by transitioning to renewable energy sources.

Premier Winde’s expectations from the budget speech include:

•          Funds to support municipalities’ transition to increasing their self-generation capacity. Local governments need to become less reliant on Eskom and look to renewable energy sources and increasing their own generation capacity;

•          Treasury should allocate money to subsidise private households’ transition to renewable energy;

•          Incentivise the use of alternative energy options for SMMEs that do not have the capital to support their transition to renewable energy.

“Given the enormity of this crisis, I urge Minister Godongwana to be bold and to act with urgency,” said Premier Winde.

He added, “The private sector, particularly small businesses, and citizens have borne the brunt of this long-running crisis. The economic devastation cannot be allowed to continue. It is time for national government to demonstrate that it is taking this economic catastrophe seriously by offering our citizens and businesses hope in the form of real financial support that allows us to reduce our reliance Eskom.”