Gwede Mantashe Pushes Gas Master Plan, Public Comment Deadline Looms

• Gwede Mantashe's "Gas Master Plan" is open for public comment until Monday 31 January 2022
• The plan, officially called the Gas Amendment Bill, consists of 100 pages and details how South Africa's energy will be mostly generated by natural gas
• Mantashe has received criticism for not including a detailed risk analysis of how the gas will be source in the proposal

JOHANNESBURG - Gwede Mantashe, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, presented his Gas Master Plan, which the public have under 31 January 2022 to comment on.

Mantashe's plan is 100 pages long and details how South Africa's energy source will be gas extracted from under the Karoo and along the coast. However, the minister's proposal has been criticised for not including a detailed risk analysis.

According to News24, there is a chance that South Africa will have to buy its natural gas resources back from international companies due to the convention for gas to be traded in dollars, whose prices fluatates constantly.

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Mantashe's gas-powered vision

The minister's plan proposes that six power stations operated by Eskom be converted to run on gas and for public transport vehicles to be gas-powered, the Daily Maverick reports. The official name of Matashe's proposed plan is the Gas Amendment Bill.

If the Bill is gazetted, it will provide guidelines for the energy sector's future. Although it is not clear at this stage how the proposed Bill, drawn up by EPCM Holdings, will be intergrated with existing policies.

“The Gas Master Plan, once developed, will serve as a policy instrument, providing a roadmap for taking strategic, political and institutional decisions, which will guide industry investment planning and coordinated implementation,” Mantashe's office said.

Reactions to Gas Master Plan

@JusDarron said:

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"Don't be fooled by Gwede saying fossil fuels is our only option for development. He's lying, looking out for huge fossil fuel companies, and his own elite-status, not the masses. There's plenty of opportunity in a greener economy."

@DedonSydney remarked:

"President and so called ministers have many visions without any plans of implementing them."

@Corne_Electr believes:

"Shame he wants to retire and need one more big kickback!"

@Iec92175079 shared:

"I have a vision of putting the entire ANC in quarantine for life."

@makhanip asked:

"Can somebody enlighten me, what is wrong with gas?"

"I am old": Gwede Mantashe denies that he wants to be deputy president

In other news about Mantashe, Briefly News previously reported that Gwede Mantashe, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, has killed rumours that he wants to be the next deputy president of South Africa and the African National Congress.

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“Anybody will know I do not want to be the deputy president. I think the deputy president must be a younger and more energetic person who is also considered for succession. I am old,” said Mantashe.

Besides his age and energy level, Mantashe said he has no interest in the position at this stage in his life and career. Several ANC leaders are in the running to be elected as the new president of the ANC in the 2022 party election.

Source: Briefly News