Hidden voice behind SA’s nuclear plans
Thobejane has direct channels to the two most important people regarding energy in SA,
PRESIDENTIAL and Department of Energy adviser Senti Thobejane is certainly no household name, but the consequences of his advice will be felt in years to come in each household and business of the future.
Mr Thobejane is one of SA’s most influential people. As adviser to Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson and a frequent adviser to President Jacob Zuma, he is in the uniquely powerful position of having direct channels to the two most important people in the Cabinet at the precise moment that SA contemplates radical decisions in its energy future.
So who is Senti Thobejane and what are his views on the big questions of the day?
Mr Thobejane is a US-schooled physicist and an ardent supporter of nuclear energy, a sector in which he has been involved for a good part of his life. His passion for nuclear energy and knowledge of energy matters has put him at the side of Mr Zuma in recent trips to China and Russia.
It has also made him a key figure in the Cabinet’s subcommittee on energy security that is overseeing SA’s nuclear procurement, as well as in the negotiations on international agreements for nuclear co-operation.
He has a degree from one of the US’s most prestigious private colleges, Haverford College in Philadelphia — which he attended on a United Nations (UN) bursary — and an MSc from Georgetown. Prior to attending university in the US, he was a student at the famous African National Congress (ANC) school in Tanzania, Somafco. In a short resumé, he says he was among the first ANC students to be sent to the US on a UN scholarship.
On returning to SA in 1995 he set up a range of businesses and is described by an ANC leader who recently worked closely with him as “a person with very good business acumen”. However, he is no longer associated with any of the companies — which include mining interests, logistics and investment vehicles.
He headed the health department of Limpopo for several years before leaving in 2001 to become CE of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa).
At around this time it emerged that Mr Thobejane had been responsible for “a blatant” waste of funds as head of Limpopo’s health department. This was the finding of a commission appointed by the premier at the time, Sello Moloto, which said Mr Thobejane cancelled an IT contract with IBM and awarded it to another company, which replaced its systems. The matter died down and no action was taken in the end against Mr Thobejane.
At Necsa, former colleagues describe him as “having a rough ride” under difficult circumstances. Necsa was battling financially and, in looking for alternative revenue, the organisation became somewhat defocused. However, says the colleague: “No one spoke ill of him.”
But his tenure at Necsa came to an abrupt end in 2005, when he resigned after a disagreement with the board over his salary. Although Mr Thobejane had persuaded staff that Necsa could not afford a salary increase that year, he negotiated a hefty one — reportedly 25% — for himself, through an arrangement with some members of the board. The energy minister at the time, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, was reported in City Press as expressing concern that the increase had been negotiated without ministerial consent.
By virtue of history and his own experience, Mr Thobejane now finds himself perfectly positioned to influence SA’s energy decisions. While not formally contracted by the Presidency, he is acknowledged as Mr Zuma’s point man on energy, in particular on nuclear power. His direct relationship with Mr Zuma, whom he has accompanied to Russia, has given him additional status and authority in the Department of Energy. It is an open secret that this has caused tension with Ms Joemat-Pettersson, who is said to not support his appointment as energy director-general, a post for which he has applied.
Whether or not he is appointed, Mr Thobejane already wields enviable power. He was instrumental in negotiating the nuclear co-operation agreements with Russia, France and China, which have been kept secret not just from the public but also from top government officials in the Department of Energy and the Treasury. The Cabinet is also yet to see the agreements.
The government’s energy policy promises that energy planning will be done in accordance with a rational and considered process and published in the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), a document which is reviewed every two years. The last update of the IRP was completed in 2013. But possibly because the 2013 plan recommends delaying a decision on nuclear power, while the earlier version of the IRP published in 2010 urges immediate action, the government has said it is using the 2010 plan for planning purposes.
With rational planning processes set aside, Mr Thobejane’s advice could turn out to be more influential than all the well-laid plans on paper.
Mr Thobejane was unable to make himself available for an interview for this article.