Mantashe says alternative plans in place to avoid gas shortage
The country faces a gas shortage from June 2026 after chemicals company Sasol announced that it will stop supplying natural gas from Mozambique.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, for the Africa Energy Indaba Conference
CAPE TOWN - Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has said alternative plans to counter the looming gas shortage in Mozambique is not the responsibility of government only but the gas sector as well.
The country faces a gas shortage from June 2026 after chemicals company Sasol announced that it will stop supplying natural gas from Mozambique.
Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) said that the government has not come up with concrete plans to develop alternative infrastructure despite several warnings.
However, addressing the media on the sidelines of the Africa Energy Indaba at the Cape Town convention Centre On Tuesday, Mantashe disputed this.
He said the government has plans in place to counter the challenges, but the plans are sometimes sabotaged by NGOs protesting against them.
"We're finalising regulations for shale gas for example. Will people protest against shale gas, but they want gas? Those are the things that we must confront. That is already talking about alternatives. In the input we indicated that there's gas discovery in Mpumalanga, that is part of the overall plan on the part of the state," said Mantashe.
The department's Director General Jacob Mbele adds that government's gas masterplan to develop its gas market will be taken to cabinet for approval before the end of this month.
"There are proposals that are inside the gas masterplan in terms of the pursuit of other sources of gas," said Mbele.