Who is Kgosientsho Ramokgopa? 7 questions answered about SA's new minister of electricity

07 March 2023 - 09:33 By Unathi Nkanjeni and Kyle Zeeman
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Get to know newly appointed minister of electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa .
Get to know newly appointed minister of electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa .
Image: Freddy Mavunda

Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has been appointed minister of electricity to fix South Africa's power crisis.

His appointment was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday evening.

Announcing several changes to his cabinet, Ramaphosa said the newlycreated electricity minister portfolio in the presidency would be tasked with “significantly reducing the severity and frequency of load-shedding as a matter of urgency”.

“To effectively oversee the electricity crisis response, the appointed minister will have political responsibility, authority and control over all critical aspects of the energy action plan.

“This will help to deal with the challenge of fragmentation of responsibility across various departments and ministers which, while appropriate under normal circumstances, is not conducive to a crisis response,” Ramaphosa said.

 

Here's what you need to know about Ramokgopa and the job ahead:

WHERE WAS HE BEFORE THIS?

He was Tshwane mayor from 2010 to 2016. He was also a member of the executive council in the Gauteng government in 2019.

He was MEC for economic development, agriculture, and environment for less than five months before he resigned amid reported pressure from the ANC to replace a male MEC with a woman.

Before his appointment as electricity minister he worked in the presidency as head of investment and infrastructure.

WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DOES HE HAVE?

Ramokgopa holds a number of academic qualifications, including a BSc civil engineering degree from the University of Durban Westville (now a campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal), a Master of Public Administration (University of Pretoria) and Master of Business Leadership (Unisa).

He also has a certificate in executive development from Stellenbosch University and a PhD in public affairs from the University of Pretoria.

HE KNOWS THAT LOAD-SHEDDING IS ‘NO LONGER A CRISIS BUT AN EMERGENCY’ 

In a 37-page document titled SA’s Infrastructure Emergency: An Urgent and Collaborative Intervention, Ramokgopa said the country is headed for economic collapse, including water and port infrastructure.

He said energy provision was the government’s biggest failing.

“In terms of the state of energy, it is no longer a crisis but rather an emergency. The country’s inability to provide sustainable and reliable sources of power has long posed an immediate risk, with the situation drastically deteriorating daily,” Ramokgopa wrote.

WHAT WILL HIS JOB INVOLVE? 

The president said Ramokgopa will work with departments and entities involved in the power crisis response, including Eskom leadership, to turn around the performance of existing power stations and speed up procurement of new generation capacity.

Ramaphosa said to enable Ramokgopa to do this work, he would transfer certain powers and functions to the ministry.

Under the recently announced national state of disaster regulations, the minister will have the power to issue directions to exclude critical facilities from load-shedding where technically feasible; speed up various regulatory processes for energy projects; and enable Eskom to perform critical maintenance more quickly and efficiently.

“The minister in the presidency for electricity will liaise with other relevant ministers to ensure coherence in the issuing of other directions during the national state of disaster.”

HOW LONG WILL HE BE IN OFFICE?

Ramaphosa said the electricity minister will remain in office “only for as long as it is necessary to resolve the electricity crisis”.

HOW MUCH WILL HE COST THE TAXPAYER?

According to the DA, the new ministry will cost taxpayers as much as R38m a year.

DA MP Leon Schreiber, who shared his calculations with the Sunday Times, said the figure is based on averages and the assumption Ramaphosa would also appoint a deputy minister of electricity.

He took into account parliamentary replies that found almost R39m and R31m were spent on mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe and public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan and their deputies. 

It includes the cost of VIP protection (R8m a year for the minister and their deputy), the salaries of the minister (R2.47m per year) and deputy minister (R2m), and four luxury vehicles (two for each minister and two for their deputies) at a combined cost of R3.2m. 

DOES HE HAVE YOUR SUPPORT?

A recent poll by TimesLIVE asked readers if they were willing to give the minister a chance to prove himself.

52% of those who responded said they were not because they were “used to disappointment” from ministers.

28% said they couldn't be bothered. 20% asked if they had any other choice.

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