Head of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Body Asked to Leave Over “Unstable” Environment

The head of the Independent Power Producers Office, Karen Breytenbach, who has overseen more than R200 billion invested in renewable projects in South Africa since 2011 – at a time when the country has been trying to move away from coal energy – has been asked to vacate her position early because of what the government overseers said was “operational instability.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the IPP’s controllers, the Department of Energy, the Treasury and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, said there were “issues that were creating operational instability at the IPP office. These matters had a negative impact on the IPP office and if unresolved as a matter of urgency, had potential to destabilise operations and affect personnel negatively.”

The Democratic Alliance said it had written to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, about the “shock removal” of Breytenbach, who “stated in an interview that she was not provided with a reason for her removal – she only knows that the Department of Energy would like to appoint someone else in her place.”

Professor Anton Eberhard, a specialist and advisor in energy infrastructure policy and investment, said about Breytenbach on Twitter, “Since 2011 she has overseen R209 billion investment in 112 renewable energy projects – zero corruption. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s investment drive needs good institutions and people to succeed.”

The three controllers of the IPP said they had unanimously agreed that the environment at the IPP was unstable and sought to take action. They said numerous attempts had been made by the department to find a resolution to the matter, but had proven unsuccessful.