Cape Town – Former energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, who was fired in President Jacob Zuma’s midnight Cabinet reshuffle in March, created nuclear hurdles that will help opponents of the procurement programme.

That is according to Democratic Alliance MP and shadow energy minister Gordon Mackay, who was speaking in a recent studio interview with Fin24.

Mackay said the Cabinet reshuffle was all “about facilitating and accelerating the nuclear deal”, with the appointment of Malusi Gigaba as finance minister and Mmamoloko Kubayi as energy minister central to this. “(Their) sole mandate is ‘get this thing through and get it through quickly’,” said Mackay.