President Yellen visits coal town to conclude South Africa trip

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen capped her visit to South Africa on Friday with a visit to Emalalleni, a coal mining town that produces most of the coal South Africa relies on to fire its power plants.

Emalaleni, which means ‘coal place’, is home to 12 coal-fired power plants and is one of the regions designated for the Just Energy Transition Project, where many plants will be phased out over time. am.

Speaking to reporters shortly after a tour of a workshop where women and young people are being trained in solar and wind technologies, he said that towns like Emalaleni would not be able to do so because their economies depend primarily on coal mining. It sought to allay concerns that the town would suffer from the transition.

“What we are doing is trying to support a set of plans that South Africa has devised on its own that will require a gradual transition and support for the communities affected by that transition. It involves recognition.Work is important,” she said.

She said the United States is committed to ensuring that existing workers are retrained to find job opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

Centers like the Nkangara Top of the World Training Center are important for developing the skills needed to carry out the transition, said Yellen, who is the president of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa. and the Minister of Minerals and Energy about potential job losses due to the transition, Gwede Mantache.

“Facilitating a transition that leaves no one behind will require job reskilling and reskilling, as we have seen today. We also need to invest in infrastructure to support the development of opportunities,” she said. she said.

Yellen was scheduled to meet with various philanthropists in Johannesburg on Friday to raise money for climate change projects and visit the Apartheid Museum. The museum documents the brutality of the segregation system enforced by the white minority government prior to the 1994 transition to democracy.

South Africa was the final leg of her 10-day African tour that included visits to Senegal and Zambia.