South African Lawmakers plan probe into emergency power contracts

South African lawmakers plan to probe the country’s emergency power procurement programme, the bulk of which was won by Turkey’s Karpowership.

A programme and terms of reference will be drawn up by the Mineral Resources and Energy Portfolio Committee, its chairman, Zet Luzipo, a lawmaker for the ruling African National Congress, said on Tuesday.

Gwede Mantashe, the energy minister, will be the first to testify and DNG Energy, a losing bidder that has filed a lawsuit alleging corruption in the process, will also be invited to speak, he said.

The tender aims to provide South Afirca with about 2 000 megawatts of power by August next year and is yet to be finalised as the date for so-called financial close has been extended by two months until the end of September.

The appointment of Karpowership, which produces power from gas-fired plants mounted on ships, as a preferred bidder has been challenged by DNG and environmentalists.

Read: Karpowership remains ‘fully committed’ to SA projects

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