Remarks by Ms Samantha Graham-Maré, Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, Budget Vote Address to the National Assembly – Budget Vote 10
Honourable Chairperson
Minister of Electricity and Energy
Honourable Members
Fellow South Africans
It is both a privilege and a responsibility to debate the electricity and energy budget, today of all days – Global Energy Independence Day.
In doing so, we affirm a principle that transcends line items and spreadsheets: that every rand spent by this government must deliver value, drive transformation, and forge a measurable difference in people’s lives.
We are building more than megawatts. We are building a future.
And that future must be visible in every rural classroom lit by clean energy, in every township enterprise powered by industrial opportunity, and in every young woman who no longer wonders if she belongs in the energy sector – because she already does.
Chairperson
This year, we secured a long-awaited and significant breakthrough, when Cabinet approved the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM).
This is not just an energy roadmap – it is our renewable energy industrialisation masterplan.
SAREM lays the foundation for a renewable economy, one where we don’t just consume green technologies, we manufacture them. It maps out localisation opportunities across the value chain, such as solar PV, batteries, inverters, and other critical components that should be made in South Africa, by South Africans.
It links procurement to economic justice, and ensures that manufacturing, servicing, and innovation become sources of decent jobs and industrial growth.
Through PowerUp, our national platform for sector-wide skills development and transformation, we are equipping women, youth, and persons with disabilities to enter these value chains – not as spectators, but as participants.
SAREM is not the end of the transition. It’s the engine that will power it forward, inclusively and on an industrial scale.
Green hydrogen development
Our green hydrogen programme is no longer aspirational. It is moving, and it is doing so with clarity, purpose, and scale.
Backed by the Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy, we are unlocking catalytic investment through three high-impact hydrogen development corridors in:
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The Northern Cape
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The Eastern Cape
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Gauteng and the Free State
These corridors will link production zones to water access, port logistics, transmission capacity, and export infrastructure.
Work is underway to establish a Hydrogen Special Economic Zone (SEZ), aligning industrial policy and spatial planning to attract global partners and unlock green value chains.
This programme is also shaping a new continental energy diplomacy agenda.
Through the G20 Energy Transition Working Group, South Africa is leading the development of the first-ever Roadmap for Sustainable Industrialisation Hubs in Africa.
This roadmap aligns national and regional energy, industry, and infrastructure planning, while catalysing cross-border trade corridors, regional power pools, and shared infrastructure development.
But our greatest opportunity is not only in exports – it is in jobs.
That is why we are investing in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, integrating it into skills academies, bursary schemes, and enterprise support programmes tied to the green energy value chain.
Through PowerUp and the EWSETA, we are supporting women and young people to become the welders, technicians, plant operators, and entrepreneurs of this new frontier.
We are also laying the groundwork for green hydrogen pipeline infrastructure – both physical and regulatory – to move us from pilot projects to export-scale production.
Nuclear science leadership
South Africa is already a global leader in one of the most critical and life-saving fields of nuclear science: medical isotopes.
Through our NTP Radioisotopes division at NECSA, we are among the world’s top producers of isotopes for cancer diagnostics and treatment, reaching patients in over 60 countries every day.
To expand this capability, government is prioritising the construction of a new Multipurpose Reactor (MPR). The MPR will:
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Ensure continuity of isotope supply
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Enable cutting-edge research
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Support industrial and agricultural applications
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Boost South Africa’s role in global nuclear medicine markets
NECSA is working to ensure that the MPR programme also drives transformation – through skills development, STEM pathways, and inclusive enterprise participation, especially for women and youth.
We are pleased to announce the appointment of a new CEO at the National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI), strengthening leadership in this strategic area.
NRWDI will now assume operational responsibility of the Vaalputs Waste Facility – already internationally recognised for excellence – and progress plans for a Centralised Interim Storage Facility (CISF) for used nuclear fuel.
The CISF will be:
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Built with 80% local content
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Create over 100 permanent jobs
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Feature strong gender and youth mainstreaming
Regulatory progress
No nuclear programme can function without a respected, independent, and scientifically rigorous regulator. The National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) continues to play this role with excellence.
The NNR:
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Achieved over 98% of its performance targets
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Approved the long-term operation of Koeberg Unit 1
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Is currently reviewing Unit 2
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Conducted full-scale safety exercises
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Expanded radon monitoring in high-risk areas
The NNR Amendment Act, effective from 4 June 2025:
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Enhances enforcement powers
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Modernises regulatory tools
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Provides clear licensing pathways for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)
The NNR also promotes civic education to ensure nuclear safety is well-understood by the public.
Electricity transmission and grid reform
If generation is the engine of the energy system, transmission is its circulatory system. For too long, it has been under strain.
Now we are fixing it – with action, not aspiration.
The Electricity Regulation Amendment Act (ERA):
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Enables open access to the grid
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Introduces multi-market structures
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Facilitates competitive electricity trading
On 1 April 2025, the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) became fully operational. NTCSA now functions independently from Eskom, operating a transparent, rules-based grid environment.
To expand the grid, the Department launched the Independent Transmission Projects Procurement Programme (ITPPP). This initiative:
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Targets high-congestion corridors
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Leverages private capital
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Aligns transmission capacity with generation growth
As always, localisation, transformation, and transparency are non-negotiable pillars of procurement.
Innovation through SANEDI
The South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) continues to drive applied energy innovation and policy support.
Its focus includes:
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Smart meters and digital grid pilots
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Electric vehicle and clean mobility programmes
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Clean fuels and carbon capture technologies
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Local beneficiation of critical minerals
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Support for the Hydrogen Society Roadmap
A current priority is the rollout of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), which become mandatory by 7 December 2025 for:
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Public buildings over 1,000m²
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Private non-residential buildings over 2,000m²
SANEDI is supporting municipalities and enabling a growing market for energy efficiency services.
Universal energy access
Access remains the unfinished business of energy justice.
South Africa is a signatory to the World Bank and African Development Bank’s Mission 300, aiming to provide energy access to 300 million Africans by 2030.
We are not just participating — we are leading.
Universal access is about dignity, opportunity, and redress. It ensures no household, clinic, or school is left behind.
Conclusion
Honourable Members, this budget is not just a collection of numbers — it is a blueprint for a different future.
A future where a young woman codes a solar inverter, a township entrepreneur installs rooftop panels across her community, and a local factory opens its doors to build the components of our renewable economy.
We are not just building an energy system. We are building a future that is industrial, inclusive, innovative, and proudly South African.
I thank you.
#ServiceDeliveryZA
