The Presidency will not be drawn in to comment on who President Cyril Ramaphosa will appoint as his minister of electricity.
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said on Sunday Ramaphosa appreciated the urgency needed to finalise the appointment but it required patience.
“The president is applying his mind and appreciates the magnitude of the electricity crisis but also with respect to finalising his cabinet.
“In time, fairly soon, those announcements will be made.”
On the criticism levelled against Ramaphosa for declaring a state of disaster on the electricity crisis, Magwenya said: “South Africa faces a crisis which threatens social stability. In consultation with business, labour community leaders, interfaith leaders and the presidential co-ordinating council, President Ramaphosa was urged to take bold measures that will effectively deal with the electricity crisis.”
“The president responded in a bold manner to resolve the crisis, through the creation of a ministry of electricity in the presidency that will work with the national energy committee (NECOM) and the president, which has been enabled through the declaration of the national state of disaster.
“The impact of power outages on food security, water supply, livelihoods, people’s health and the economy requires all South Africans to rally behind the efforts that are under way.
This is not the time for finger pointing or politically motivated court actions or lawfare.
— Vincent Magwenya, Presidency spokesperson
“This is not the time for finger pointing or politically motivated court actions or lawfare, this is the time to look past our ideological differences and to work together in the interests of our nation, our economy and sustaining livelihoods.
“The president expects that even those who harbour reservations about his approach, will join in and put shoulder to the wheel because we are working towards the same goal.
“There have been concerns about possible corruption and looting judging from previous experiences, but we must emphasise that President Ramaphosa announced measures to deal with any form of abuse over and above the auditor-general keeping a close eye on processes as they roll out.
“The president expects all law enforcement agencies to be vigilant and to act with speed in dealing with those who will seek to take advantage of the situation.”
“The president is looking for a project management approach and wants to appoint somebody who is going to be seized with getting the country out of the crisis day in and day out,” said Magwenya.
“Somebody that will be seized with one thing and one thing only and that is to deal with the energy crisis.”
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