South Africa’s nuclear energy SOE has been in meltdown for years

The board of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA) has been engulfed in turmoil over the CEO’s salary, leading to multiple resignations and the eventual dissolution of the board.

Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa told Parliament that the NECSA board spent much of this year focusing on CEO Loyiso Tyabashe’s salary rather than the strategic future of nuclear energy in South Africa.

The crisis began when a whistleblower alleged an unusually close relationship between Tyabashe and board chairperson David Nicholl, including overseas trips together.

An internal investigation confirmed that Tyabashe had misled the board regarding salary increases, prompting his precautionary suspension.

Three board members resigned, citing an unwillingness to explain the suspension, which Ramokgopa described as an attempt to avoid accountability.

The minister subsequently dissolved the board, stating that a new team would be appointed by mid-October, ahead of the current board’s term ending in 2025.

In the interim, governance responsibilities fall to the CEO, who has since withdrawn his resignation and been reinstated.

Ramokgopa expressed confidence that the new board would be technically qualified and would focus on strategic priorities rather than personal disputes.

Nothing new about the crisis

Dr. Neil Overy, Research Associate in Environmental Humanities at the University of Cape Town, told Newsday that there is “nothing new about NECSA’s current crisis.”

“It essentially collapsed in 2018, and we have reached the same position now without a functioning board,” he said. 

The NECSA board was dissolved in 2018 due to an unacceptable level of financial losses. Then-Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Jeff Radebe, said this was a result of “continued ineptitude and deliberate acts of defiance.”

“What is happening now is simply a repeat of these events, with Ramokgopa saying he will fire the entire board due to an ongoing governance crisis,” said Overy. 

Later, in 2020, the entity was again embroiled in scandal when it ran out of operating capital 7 months into the year.

“It is frankly laughable that NECSA seems to think it is capable of assisting South Africa’s intended new nuclear build when it cannot even manage its own affairs, having staggered from one crisis to another.”

Overy added that NECSA gets a sizeable budget from the Treasury. For 2025, this amount was R975 million. 

The NECSA board has been pushing its plans to build a new 4,000 MW nuclear power station in Duynefontein in the Western Cape. 

The association said in an August statement that nuclear technology is a safe, clean, reliable energy solution and a “crucial component of South Africa’s baseload energy mix.”

Overy disputed this, pointing out that the Koeberg nuclear power plant in the Western Cape has had a disappointing Energy Availability Factor (EAF) of 59% over the last four years. 

Nuclear energy currently makes up 5% of South Africa’s energy mix. “This 5% could and should easily be replaced by utility-scale, distributed renewables with battery back-up,” he said. 

Overy added that nuclear power plant builds are particularly prone to corruption. “Given the present government’s track record when it comes to corruption, South Africans should be very worried about any new nuclear build,” he said. 

South Africa’s nuclear energy future

However, CEO of the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI, Titus Mathe, said in October 2024 that nuclear energy is the only viable solution to replace dispatchable power from coal-powered stations, which will soon be decommissioned. 

“Other possible options are limited. Battery storage is extremely expensive, and the country currently cannot afford to implement this technology at a large scale,” he said. 

“Hydropower can take around 15 years to develop, and clean coal solutions such as carbon capture technology are still in the research phase.” Nuclear power stations take about 10 years to build.

NECSA began as South Africa’s Atomic Energy Board to regulate and control uranium in 1948.

The board established the Pelindaba research site and installed the South African Fundamental Atomic Research Installation Materials Testing Reactor (SAFARI-1).

In 1999, the Nuclear Energy Act transitioned the AEC to NECS. The entity is now expected to oversee commercial enterprises as well as nuclear research and development. 

Overy argues that nuclear energy has no place in South Africa’s energy mix. “Koeberg was a vanity project of the apartheid regime,” he said. 

He added that nuclear power plants are too expensive to build and too slow within the context of the urgency of climate change. 

“NECSA is simply yet another example of a failed SOE where it appears that short-term gains have been prioritised over the safety and security of South Africans,” he said.