The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Energy and the Select Committee on Economic and Business Development on Tuesday recommended that the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces ratify the Department of Energy’s (DoE’s) report on the treaty of the Grand Inga hydropower project.

The Grand Inga project was to be built on the Congo river, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and would have the ability to generate 40 000 MW.

Transmission lines to distribute power from the generators to markets in the DRC and elsewhere, were also associated with the project, with a new transmission line to South Africa expected to be part of the first phase of the Inga project.

This transmission line would probably go through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

The committees, however, noted with concern the issues of security and political instability in the DRC, also questioning the funding of the project considering the financial situation the country faced.

Briefing the committees, Deputy Energy Minister Thembisile Majola recommended that the committees visit the DRC to enable them to play an effective oversight role.

Meanwhile, South African Ambassador to the DRC Ntshikiwane Mashimbye explained that the questions raised should be seen in the context of the role that South Africa had to play in the DRC.

“We have lost lives in the DRC. We continue to be present to try and secure that country not because it’s a nice to do, but because we know that the day when the giant rises the continent will also rise,” he noted.

Owing to time constraints, not all questions asked by members of the committees were answered; however, the DoE committed to responding to these in writing.