South Africa’s plan for China’s generator donation

Hospitals and schools across South Africa that receive one or more of the generators donated by China will be responsible for their installation, security, operation, and maintenance.

This is according to Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who secured the generator donation from China.

Responding to parliamentary questions from Democratic Alliance MP Samantha Graham, Ramokgopa said each facility had requested that they be responsible for costs associated with their generator.

“The respective facilities have requested to install, secure, operate, and maintain the allocated units and, furthermore, these facilities were requested to record the generators in their individual asset registers,” the minister said.

“The individual facilities are responsible for the operational budget of the generators.”

He added that fuel procurement at each site will be done through the regular procurement process of the respective facilities.

According to Ramokgopa, the generators have been allocated for distribution to their respective facilities but have not been deployed yet.

“The first consignment consisting of gasoline generators officially received in November 2023 for backing up several public service facilities across the country were allocated for distribution,” he said.

The first round of generators has been allocated as follows:

• 306 generators for the National Department of Health to be distributed to clinics in various provinces.
• 44 generators for public facilities in KwaZulu-Natal.
• 50 generators for disaster relief in KwaZulu-Natal.
• 50 generators for schools in Gauteng.

In late November 2023, Ramokgopa shared photos of the first round of generators South Africa received from China.

“The generators will be used as backup to alleviate the impacts of load-shedding in the delivery of services in clinics, schools, and courts,” the minister said when he accepted the gift Chen Xiaodong, Chinese ambassador to South Africa.

Chen Xiaodong, Chinese ambassador to South Africa (left). Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, South Africa’s electricity minister (right).

However, he faced significant backlash on his post, with several commentators describing the donation as embarrassing.

Although it wasn’t made clear then, the photos Ramokgopa shared were only of the first consignment of generators. He told MyBroadband that more are expected to arrive in late March 2024.

“The second shipment, which is estimated to arrive at the end of March 2024, will include 39 diesel generators (230v/400); 35 (100KW/h) photovoltaic energy storage power supply systems, and 25 (200KW/h) photovoltaic energy storage power supply systems,” the minister said.

This aligns with his original announcement in August 2023, when he said the generators would range from 6kW to 200kW.

“200kW can support a clinic and a medium-sized hospital, so this is true relief to the South African people,” the minister said.

However, Ramokgopa has confirmed that a third and final consignment is also still to come. This will include five power supply vehicles with mounted 600-800kVA generators.

According to the minister’s original announcement, more than 500 public facilities in South Africa are set to benefit from the generator donation.

“Yesterday, we exchanged letters in relation to the technical equipment that will be assisting us to provide sustainable electricity to some of the major public installations like clinics, hospitals and police stations,” he said.

“It means that over 500 public facilities…are now going to have access to uninterrupted alternative power supply and thank you to the Chinese for the generous contribution.”

He made the announcement after he visited the Chinese ambassador to South Africa in March 2023 to ask for China’s assistance in fighting load-shedding.