Kgosientso Ramokgopa appointed as new electricity minister

Ramaphosa announced the long-awaited changes to his cabinet on Monday evening after weeks of delay.

Ramokgopa holds a number of academic qualifications including a BSc in Civil Engineering, a Master of Public Administration, a Master of Business Leadership and a PhD in Public Affairs.

The former mayor of Tshwane is currently the head the Investment and Infrastructure Office in the Presidency.

His name was in the frame ever since President Ramaphosa announced his plans during the State of the Nation Address to appoint the minister of electricity.

Ramaphosa said the primary task of the new minister will be to significantly reduce the severity and frequency of load shedding.

"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.

“The minister will be expected to facilitate the coordination of the numerous departments and entities involved in the crisis response, work with the Eskom leadership to turn around the performance of existing power stations, and accelerate the procurement of new generation capacity," said Ramaphosa.

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

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