South Africa (SA) was not bullied to the Just Transition agreement. We were never compelled, we joined on our own volition.” These are the words of President Cyril Ramaphosa, answering questions at the National Assembly yesterday. He was responding to a question posed by Reverend Meshoe of the ACDP (African Christian Democratic Party) at the National Assembly today, the 11th May 2023.
The question asked by Meshoe centered around inconsistencies from the Northern hemisphere, where European countries are buying coal from South Africa, and not scaling up on cleaner energy sourcing as required by the Just Transition.
“Are they also told to transition as quickly as South Africa?” he asked.
“SA was not told, we were part of an inclusive process, we were participants in conferences of parties since COP 20” said Ramaphosa.
He added that the decision was motivated by these reasons : SA being the biggest carbon emitter, due to fossil fuels making up 80% of the country’s energy mix. A growing number of people with respiratory diseases that are associated with emissions.
“We will transition to cleaner energy at our own pace, at our own time.”