Cape Town — In March 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Kgosientshoa Ramokgopa as minister of electricity to help address growing power cuts (load shedding) across the country.
Power utility Eskom has been the centre of South Africa's energy woes for more than a decade. The entity has been plagued by mismanagment, the breakdown of infrastructure at power stations, sabotage and corruption. The country's erratic electricity supply has impacted businesses, with some saying it has led to wide-scale job losses. Power cuts are expected to become more frequent during winter.
Ramokgopha does not have any ministerial powers yet, thus making his role and function within the Cabinet unclear. There also appears to be friction between the minister, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Energy and Minerals Minister Gwede Mantashe.
Despite President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissing allegations of a "territorial war" between the ministers, Eyewitness News reports that Ramokgopa is awaiting the president's assistance in clearing the impasse between himself and Ramaphosa's two powerful allies. Gordhan is concerned that Ramokgopha wants to keep coal-fired power stations online. Mail&Guardian reports that Mantashe and Gordhan said he should take this proposal to the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom).
President Ramaphosa told the media that the electricity minister's mandate and task is to "focus on the generation of the energy that we need so that we reduce and eliminate load shedding".
Ramaphosa's statement came hours after Ramokgopa tabled his plan to ease load shedding, during the ANC's national executive committee meeting held in Boksburg.
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According to TimesLive, Ramokgopa's plan includes a proposal to extend the life of several coal-fired power stations. He also amended his plan to eradicate load shedding by the festive season, saying: 'it is also not technically possible to end load shedding by the end of the calendar year 2023, and that's why we are at pains to illustrate the kind of steps we are taking."
Extending the use of an ageing, costly fleet of coal-fired power stations goes against the policy signed by the president, aimed at replacing them with cheaper renewable energy infrastructure. Finding sustainable forms of energy has been met with resistance - even at the highest level of government - when discussions around coal and its unsustainability as a resource was discussed by environmental groups.
Eskom, where the CEO office seems to have a revolving door, is ready to announce five new candidates for the position after the hasty departure of Andre de Ruyter, after an explosive eNCA interview in which he exposed massive corruption, even at the upper echelons of government.
News24 reports that the Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana confirmed that the power utility has narrowed down its search for a new CEO.
Eskom's Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer will also be leaving the utility after 30 years of service, when he retires this month.
