Whether you like it or not, Ramaphosa's new "electricity minister" is on the way

President Cyril Ramaphosa says he would proceed with his plans to establish a new’minister of energy’ in South Africa despite considerable protest.

In response to the discussion over his current State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Obama stated that the new minister will be in charge of monitoring all areas of the electrical crisis response.

He stated that it is time for the “government to shift into gear” to eliminate load shedding, which is why he appointed a special minister in the presidency and declared the energy issue a national calamity.

“The minister will be responsible for driving the various actions being coordinated by the National Energy Crisis Committee to end load shedding as a matter of urgency.

“The reality is that the resolution of the energy crisis requires effective coordination across several departments and public entities,” Ramaphosa said.

He stated that this demands the undivided attention of a political leader who does not have to divide their time and energy among other critical obligations.

“This appointment will ensure that there is a minister who is ultimately responsible for resolving load shedding and who is able to work with all fellow cabinet ministers, departments and entities to do so,” said the president.

Responding to opponents who claimed that the minister would produce confusion, fragmentation, and a turf war among ministries, Ramaphosa stated that this is not the case.

“The Minister of Electricity will be focused day in and day out only on addressing the load shedding crisis, working together with the management of Eskom and the board. The Minister will be leading the National Energy Crisis Committee and interacting with all other departments in the spirit of cooperative governance,” he said.

According to Ramaphosa, the incumbent minister of mineral resources and energy, Gwede Mantashe, would continue to oversee energy policy as well as mineral resources.

“Beyond the energy crisis that we face, the restructuring of government will be effected to enable entities that fall under various departments to be properly located in those departments.”

“The Minister of Public Enterprises – headed by Pravin Gordhan – is executing the recommendations of the Presidential Review Commission and the State Owned Enterprises Council in relation to the ownership and governance of state-owned enterprises. That function should be completed in time as we continue with the restructuring of government,” said the president.

He stated that until then, the minister of public enterprises will continue to work on reforming Eskom and other state-owned firms.

With the focus of the minister of electricity and the efforts of the Eskom board, South Africa may have a greater chance of addressing the overarching problem of the energy crisis.

Confusion

The identity of the next electrical minister remains unclear. South Africa’s Cabinet, on the other hand, is set to be reshuffled following finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget statement next week.

While some clarity on the new minister’s job, specifics and answers on the post remain scant, including whether the office is a temporary measure or a new permanent part of government.

The minister’s original declaration during SONA allegedly surprised even Ramaphosa’s closest political friends in the ANC. The action contradicted a caucus resolution to hand over management of Eskom to the Department of Energy.

Mantashe’s answer was to minimise the new minister’s responsibilities, referring to it as a “project management” job.

“To me, my understanding of this intervention from the president is that we must approach this issue as a project management intervention so that we project-manage the management of load-shedding,” he said.

He then stressed that he was not downplaying the function, but rather expressing the president’s intention that the office have a single emphasis – or project – in ending load shedding.