Engineering News reports that the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Black Business Council (BBC) have called for amendments to the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2018.  

They told Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Energy on Friday that the draft plan, with its emphasis on renewable energy rather than coal, would lead to job losses and reverse empowerment gains.  “Black people are the face of unemployment in South Africa.  Some of our members who are engineers are unemployed.  We can’t destroy jobs in coal mines and in power stations.  We have to create them,” said the NSBE’s Seponono Kekana.  She pointed out that the quality of jobs in coal-fired power stations was far more complex and long-lasting than in the renewable energy industry, while far more jobs were created in operations in power stations than in wind and solar energy plants.  “You have mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, boiler makers, welders and many people working on site at coal-fired plants.  A solar plant is very quiet.  Very little is being done there,” Kekana noted.  She pointed out that an economic analysis of five Eskom coal power stations showed that 92,961 jobs had been sustained on average per year, with R21.1bn in total income going to households on average per year.  “For every power station, there are mining jobs too and small businesses.  A lot of our members live in those areas,” said Kekana, who is an engineer.  She added that the organisation considered jobs in coal-fired power stations as far more viable and long-term.  The BBC said the IRP 2018 was "forcing" a non-developmental direction of the economy in the long run and would also risk investor confidence in SA.

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