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Fin24 could not on independently confirm the letter. Necsa spokesperson Nkelwa Tengimfene referred all questions to the Department of Energy.
Department spokesperson Nathi Shabangu told Fin24 later on Wednesday that when the minister spoke about the matter earlier in the day he was not aware of a letter.
“But we were later informed that the letter was sent late yesterday after [5pm]. But this letter has not been seen by the minister. If there is such a letter it will be something that the minister will take into consideration,” said Shabangu.
Necsa conducts research and development in the field of nuclear energy, radiation sciences and technology. It is also responsible for uranium enrichment.
Mantashe told reporters in Witbank, Mpumalanga on Wednesday that he did not receive any resignations from the Necsa board members and that the members currently serving at the corporation did not constitute a complete board in any event.
“I have not received any resignation. The reality of the matter is that there was already no board. There were only three people left on the board and we are replenishing that board. Yesterday we were together and we identified names of people who must go to that board,” said Mantashe, according to a clip shared with Fin24 by the department.
Mantashe said the department was working with management at (South African Nuclear Energy Corporation) Necsa to give the corporation the capacity it needed to function but said he was not in the business of holding board members hostage if they wished to leave.
“We have accommodated the three, but if they want to leave, I will not stop them. Because what we are doing in the department is resuscitating governance in entities in the department which have collapsed,” Matashe said.
“We are steady and moving step by step to improve governance. If we don’t have good governance, we will have high financial and operational risks. As we pay attention to governance, we will look at financial and operational risks,” he said.
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