South Africa has plans for 10 GW of new nuclear energy capacity and to restart its pebble bed modular reactor programme as well as re-establishing the full nuclear fuel cycle in the country, a World Nuclear Symposium discussion on growing nuclear capacity across Africa heard. Zizamele Mbambo, Deputy Director General responsible for Nuclear Energy, Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, South Africa, said South Africa's policy objective was to ensure the country "becomes self-sufficient in all the nuclear value chain", noting the country's long nuclear experience and the recent lifetime extension for the Koeberg 1 unit. On the fuel cycle, he said the government had declared uranium as a strategic mineral as part of moves towards the "re-establishment of the full nuclear fuel cycle in South Africa". Zerbo said that the initial issue was public acceptance of nuclear energy in countries where there had not been any in the past and getting people to differentiate nuclear energy from a bomb. Loyiso Tyabashe, CEO, South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, agreed that an advocacy information drive stressing the benefits was important, especially the socio-economic benefits of new nuclear in terms of jobs, both direct and secondary.