Chief director for clean energy at the Department of Minerals and Energy Sandile Tyatya has said that South Africa could commit itself to biofuel production confident that increased demand for maize would not burden food prices. Guidelines and limitations on what could be done would be implemented when the sector got off the ground he said.

Tyatya was responding to a statement by Absa economist Ian Marsberg who had said that biofuels would be a profitable business that most people would want to be part of and this effect of the industry would keep food prices high. South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni in August had questioned the viability of using maize and sugar as a source of the biofuel additive ethanol as trends around the world showed that this increased the price of staple foods.

Tyatya indicated that a biofuels strategy was being finalised by the government. It is expected that South Africa would produce 1.2-billion litres of bioethanol by 2010.