The green economy is shaping the next wave of industrialisation and is a key sector in the New Growth Path. National Treasury has allocated R800 million over the next two years for South Africa’s Green Fund, which aims to provide finance for high-quality, high-impact, job-creating green economy projects throughout the country.
About 250 000 solar water heaters have been installed in South Africa, a solid step towards the million target. This has been a partnership between a number of departments and public entities. The department worked with industry to manufacture more of the units in South Africa. In January 2013, the South African Bureau of Standards approved a new factory in Alrode with a capacity to produce 8 000 units a month.
The IDC committed about R5 billion in industrial funding for projects in the Department of Environmental Affairs’ green energy programme, including to support entry of community empowerment groups.
The department unblocked projects in green energy stuck in bureaucratic delays, for example a wind farm in Coega in the Eastern Cape.
