Until the lion learns to write its story!

SIPs to the rescue!

Just the other day I had a quick read through the government’s Strategic Integrated Projects (SIP) and what's been happening in that space lately. I was astounded. This was not merely government spin-doctoring. Top of the list was the Waterberg Coal Corridor. Incidentally, I’d been invited during the past week to give a talk on the environmental overview of the Waterberg. Now the Waterberg has been identified as a strategic coal corridor in the country during last year’s State of the Nation Address. In case you haven’t heard this yet, the coal mines in Mpumalanga are running low and the Waterberg is being earmarked to supplement the declining production from Mpumalanga. And the Waterberg Coalfields contain tonnes of the black gold. And as it so happens, we depend on coal for our not-so-cheap electricity and things will remain that way for the longest time. As the Superfreakonomics gang elegantly argued in their book, generating electricity from coal is a no-brainer for poor countries!

There are a variety of Bus Rapid Transit projects at various stages of development in the country to improve public transportation - yet another SIP project. Water supply in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality (as well as other impoverished and neglected areas in the country) is being revamped - yet another SIP.  The Durban Corridor is another strategic project geared to moving freight from the roads to rail to reduce traffic congestions. This indeed is the most important corridor in South Africa. Renewable energy projects are being promoted in line with the Integrated Resource Plan 2010 – whose overriding objective is to ensure energy security in the country and to diversify our energy mix to include more green options. In a world with a green hangover, that surely is a worthy objective!

A flicker of light

Reading though the news on the government website (which I hardly ever do I must confess - http://www.info.gov.za/issues/national-infrastructure-plan/), it occurred to me that there is much out there that we don’t bother about (and simply depend on the media for our daily dose of negative news). Now here is a case of government telling its own story. I was inspired enough to download and read the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for Bushbuckridge Local Municipality - one of the presidential poverty nodes during Thabo Mbeki’s tenure. Much to my astonishment, millions of Rands are being spent on improving infrastructure and addressing basic needs in the area. I read through pages detailing projects being implemented and millions of Rands being spent in the process. Understandably, some of that money may leak out through the pervasive black hole of corruption. But granted, some of the money will be well spent and will definitely make a tangible difference in the lives of poor people. These projects, by the way, also fall within the ambit of the SIPs being implemented countrywide. There is apparently 93% electrification in the municipality, even though most of that is used only for lighting purposes; roads are being tarred; and there are generally signs of progress everywhere. This of course is far from the mainstream and chances are the media is busy digging for sensational stories elsewhere to take notice of developments in sleepy Bushbuckridge. It occurred to me that someone ought to tell this story.

As some of you may be aware, there is a brilliant plan for the future of South Africa developed by Manuel and his crew. Informed by the famed (or much maligned in the case of Cosatu) National Development Plan, most of the SIP projects are already quietly making a difference in people’s livelihoods in various parts of the country – some away from the media glare.

Ask not what your country can do for you!

As it stands, the NDP is about citizens lending a hand in building a future South Africa we can all be proud of. Often all that is required is ideas about how things could be improved. In the green energy space, all South Africans are encouraged to participate in energy generation using renewable energy sources (solar, biomass, wind, etc.). The limit is our imagination. The door is not shut to South Africans like myself. Instead of wasting time complaining endlessly and spewing vitriol in talk radio stations about corruption and all that (so I can feel good listening to myself), I'll spend my time wisely and get involved in projects of whatever sort in the country. That would surely be time well spent. So off to do my bit to build a better South Africa!