Electricity minister given power procurement role

Minister of electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa during a visit to assess progress on bringing back online faulty units and boosting power generation at the Kusile Power Station in Delmas, in Mpumalanga. 2023. Source: Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

In March, Ramaphosa appointed Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to the newly created post of electricity minister to try to find a solution to the worst power cuts on record. But Ramokgopa's powers had not been clearly delineated.

"After due consideration, President Ramaphosa has transferred to the minister of electricity all powers and functions contained in Section 34(1) of the Electricity Regulation Act, which were previously entrusted to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy," Ramaphosa's office said in a statement.

Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act deals with new generation capacity.

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Government critics accuse mining and energy minister Gwede Mantashe of being too slow to procure new generation capacity and reluctant to embrace renewable energy, seen as one of the quickest ways of easing the country's crippling power shortage.

Ramaphosa's office said Mantashe would still be the one to implement new power procurements.