Emergency power round hits new delay

The high court in Pretoria on Thursday granted DNG Power a postponement for the hearing of its application to stop the award of energy contracts to Turkishowned firm Karpowership SA.

The case has now been set down from December 8 and effectively means the government’s risk mitigation independent power producer procurement programme (RMIPPPP) intended to provide SA with emergency power will be unable to reach financial close until at least the end of December or until judgment.

The financial close deadline has already been postponed once from the end of July to the end of September.

The RMIPPPP was first mooted by the government in December 2019 but has faced numerous delays. The objective was to urgently plug SA’s electricity supply gap and it awarded contracts to 11 bidders to supply 2,000MW. Most 1,200MW went to Karpowership SA.

DNG has alleged corruption, claiming that senior energy officials and a former business associate of the wife of mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe solicited a bribe, which is why its bid failed. It wants the contracts cancelled and awarded to it instead.

Judge Joseph Raulinga said he had carefully weighed the interests of justice, which was in favour of a postponement, and the public interest to relieve the power supply constraint, and decided to grant the postponement. However, this would be the final postponement, he said.

DNG, which initially said the matter was urgent, is to pay the wasted costs of the postponement application, Raulinga said.

DNG argued it needs more time to gather evidence since the case had been reported to the Hawks and the portfolio committee on mineral resources & energy had started an investigation into the RMIPPPP.

The respondents, including Mantashe and the department’s independent power producer procurement office, argued that DNG came to court without a case and was now asking for time to prepare one.

Raulinga asked whether the Hawks and parliament would have completed their investigations by the end of November, the date of postponement DNG requested. However, he decided on balance to award the delay.

Aldworth Mbalati, group CEO of DNG Energy said, “We ... requested a postponement on a pragmatic basis when it became clear that direct and material information will come to light from current investigations ... the outcome also has the ability to significantly narrow the issues.”