Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe has said that the government and his department were “not ashamed” at the prospect of “importing gas from Russia”. He also alleged that PetroSA had been “stripped to nothing” during the Zuma presidency.
The minister was speaking during a debate in Parliament on Thursday.
Taking to the floor for his maiden parliamentary address, uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party MP Nhlamulo Ndhlela said the government’s “latency” regarding its upstream operations had been to the advantage of other African states.
“The current system overwhelmingly favours established white-owned businesses, leaving our most disadvantaged communities behind,” he argued.
“The wealth generated from our national resources must be used to address unemployment, poverty and inequality in the townships as well as the rural areas. Now, when we look at the issues relating to nationalisation and equitable growth, the MK party believes in the nationalisation of the mineral sector.”
Ndhlela pointed to the South African Petroleum Refinery (Sapref), saying it “should be refining its own product for sale and distribution via PetroSA as a retail network”.
Without taking a breath, he asked his fellow members of Parliament, “Why should we be dictated to as to where we should be getting our oil from?
“For example, why can’t we source our oil from Russia, who is a member of BRICS when it’s to the benefit of our country and its people?”
Earlier in the debate, Democratic Alliance (DA) MP James Lorimer said: “The government has not got its act together on oil and gas. Now we have reports that oil and gas major Total is going to walk away from its offshore oil discoveries … The company is not confirming this, but sources say it may happen.”
Read more in Daily Maverick: TotalEnergies Plans to Quit South African Offshore Gas Finds
“Their biggest reason for the lack of interest in developing it is said to be the failure to secure a solid offtake customer for the product,” said Lorimer.
“Another possible destination for gas is the Mossgas gas to liquid fuel plant, which [the] government wants Russian funding to refurbish,” he said.
‘Laundering Russian gas’
“People are speculating that the reason for Russian involvement is so that Russian gas can be imported and whitewashed through the plant and sold as South African fuel to get around sanctions.
“The minister has a chance now to say this is not going to happen. I hope he uses that chance. We can’t sacrifice the prospect of jobs and income for our people because the ANC wants to remain friends with Russia,” Lorimer said.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Cabinet signs off on controversial R3.7bn Gazprombank deal to reboot Mossel Bay refinery
Responding to both MPs, Mantashe took to the podium and rattled off a list of points. “Number two: Russian gas to be imported.
“I don’t think we are ashamed of importing gas from Russia. We are members of BRICS. We want to increase trade with Russia, so if it is their allergy for the DA to trade with Russia, we don’t have that allergy.”
In a thinly veiled swipe at former president Jacob Zuma, Mantashe — directly addressing Ndhlela — said the “MK party talks about refining at PetroSA and business with Russia. I want to remind my comrades there that in the years that somebody was leading the ANC, PetroSA was stripped to nothing. That is asset stripping by a leader that we know. That leader that we know stripped PetroSA to nothing.”
‘Enabling war’
Mantashe’s comments come just days after Ukraine accused Russia of using a cruise missile in an attack on a hospital in Kyiv on Monday that injured 32 people, including eight children, and killed two.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that a falling Nasams missile, which Ukraine uses for air defence, was responsible for the damage to the hospital, a claim Ukraine has since denied.
The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air has previously noted that “global reliance on burning fossil fuels perpetuates conflict and energy insecurity as well as air pollution and climate change”.
The centre also confirmed that in the week of 24 to 30 June 2024, Russia exported an estimated “€4.58-billion worth of fossil fuels: €2.11-billion oil, €1.57-billion oil products and chemicals, €0.4-billion gas and €0.5-billion coal”.
It stressed that “fossil fuel exports are a key enabler of Russia’s military build-up and brutal aggression against Ukraine”. DM
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