Ramaphosa defends electricity minister appointment

President Cyril Ramaphosa. Source: Nic Bothma/Reuters

Some lawmakers said the appointment would add a layer of bureaucracy as Eskom is overseen by the public enterprises minister while the energy minister is responsible for procuring additional power generation capacity.

Ramaphosa told parliament some people had suggested the appointment will "result in turf wars amongst the ministers who deal with energy and Eskom".

"This is not the case," he said, responding to a debate by lawmakers on his State of the Nation Address.

"(The power crisis) requires the undivided attention of a political principal who does not need to split their time and energies among different important responsibilities," he added.

Explainer - How will the 'state of disaster' resolve the power crisis?

Carien du Plessis and Kopano Gumbi  13 Feb 2023

Ramaphosa said declaring a "state of disaster" would remove unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles to urgently adding power capacity to the grid.