President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed South Africa’s first electricity minister in an effort to address crippling power shortages that have seen the country suffer blackouts lasting up to 15 hours a day.
Apart from spearheading the government’s response to the energy crisis, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa will also have to deal with allegations of corruption at the state-run power company Eskom.
“We said in the State of the Nation Address that our most immediate task is to dramatically reduce the severity of load shedding in the coming months and ultimately end load shedding altogether,” Ramaphosa said as he announced his cabinet reshuffle on Monday night.
“The primary task of the new minister will be to significantly reduce the severity and frequency of load shedding as a matter of urgency.
“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.”
The cabinet shakeup comes more than two months after Ramaphosa comfortably won a second term as leader of the governing ANC.
In a widely anticipated change, Paul Mashatile, who succeeded David Mabuza as the party’s deputy leader in December, has taken over from him as South Africa’s deputy president.
Other ministries that have changed hands include tourism, transport, communications and cooperative governance.
“The purpose of these changes is to ensure that government is properly capacitated,” Ramaphosa said.
“The people of South Africa want action, they want solutions and they want government to work for them.”
Here are the cabinet appointments announced by Ramaphosa in full:
- Minister in the Presidency – Khumbudzo Ntshavheni
- Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities – Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
- Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation – Maropene Ramokgopa
- Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity – Kgosientsho Ramokgopa
- Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies – Mondli Gungubele
- Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs – Thembi Nkadimeng
- Minister of Public Service and Administration – Noxolo Kiviet
- Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure – Sihle Zikalala
- Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture – Zizi Kodwa
- Minister of Tourism – Patricia de Lille
- Minister of Transport – Sindisiwe Chikunga
Deputy minister appointments:
- Deputy Ministers in the Presidency – Nomasonto Motaung and Kenneth Morolong
- Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities – Sisisi Tolashe
- Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation – Pinky Kekana
- Deputy Ministers for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs – Parks Tau and Zolile Burns-Ncamashe
- Deputy Ministers for Water and Sanitation – David Mahlobo and Judith Tshabalala
- Deputy Minister of Public Works – Bernice Swarts
- Deputy Minister of Small Business Development – Dipuo Peters
- Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises – Obed Bapela
- Deputy Minister of Transport – Lisa Mangcu
The new cabinet is likely to remain in place until the current government’s mandate expires next year.
The size of the executive will then be reduced when the next administration takes office, Ramaphosa said.
“While this will result in an increase in the number of ministries in the short term, as indicated in the State of the Nation Address, I have instructed the Presidency and National Treasury to develop a proposal to rationalise government departments, entities and programmes to ensure greater efficiency,” the president said.
“This work, which will result in the reduction of the number of ministries, will inform the configuration of government going into the next administration.” – Staff Reporter