CAPE TOWN, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Energy minister David Mahlobo on Tuesday denied allegations that he was rushing through a nuclear deal with Russia despite strong opposition to the deal.
There is no nuclear deal on the table and the government has not yet started the procurement process, Mahlobo told Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Energy.
"I can tell you as honourable members, there is no nuclear deal on the table. But we are not going to say we are not actually going to have nuclear," he said.
Only after the cabinet approves the revised Integrated Energy Resource Plan (IERP), the procurement process will begin, the minister said.
He also denied alleged corruption involving senior government officials in relation to the nuclear deal.
Members of Parliament can report to law enforcement agencies any information they may have about money changing hands with regards to the nuclear deal, he said.
Mahlobo, appointed by President Jacob Zuma to his current position in October, was reportedly fast-tracking the government's controversial nuclear deal, which is expected to cost one trillion rand (about 71.4 billion U.S. dollars).
The South African government has approved its IERP of 2010-30, which provides for coal, gas, renewables and 9,600 megawatt nuclear as part of the energy landscape by 2030.
There have been speculations that South Africa would soon reach a nuclear deal with Russia, under which the latter would help the former build nuclear reactors.
But environmental groups, which question the safety of nuclear energy, have launched a series of campaigns against the plan.
Last week, Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and the Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute said they had approached the High Court in Pretoria to ask for an order to interdict any nuclear deal.
