The development for our people, especially the rural poor, is a matter very close to my heart. Just recently the Eastern Cape had been hard hit by the forces of nature when tornadoes struck and people lost loved ones, homes and property. But nature can also nourish us and today we celebrate a new way of harnessing the life-giving power of the sun. We are greeting the dawn of a new life that is becoming increasingly dependent on electricity. Indeed electricity is a basic need in our modern society.
Storekeepers can stock perishable foods and new opportunities are created for small business.
Most of our people in the rural areas have had to do without electricity. In most cases this has meant having to walk long distances to collect wood. Many are using other expensive sources of power to meet their needs such as batteries or petrol and diesel driven generators. All these things are expensive. In the RDP, our Reconstruction and Development Programme, electrification is central to improving the lives of those neglected by apartheid.