Cape Town — The Democratic Alliance (DA) has implored President Cyril Ramaphosa to give Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa more power, saying that his appointment “is beginning to look more and more like a damp squib”.
The party alleged that Ramaphosa’s announcement of Ramokgopa’s appointment was made as an attempt to assure the country that he and the ANC were serious about addressing the load shedding crisis.
“However, it is becoming more and more apparent that the position was created purely to appease us and not as a genuine solution to the problem.
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“If President Cyril Ramaphosa was serious about holding Ramokgopa to account to solve South Africa’s untenable electricity crisis, he would have already gazetted the responsibilities of Ramakgopa’s portfolio so that the new Minister was empowered to do his job,” said the DA’s Shadow Minister of Electricity Samantha Graham-Maré.
Graham-Maré also insisted that Ramaphosa should publish Ramakgopa’s performance contract, “so that South Africans can hold him to account for the ongoing load shedding crisis”.
She also criticised Ramakgopa’s newly released plan to end load shedding, adding that the country needs a clear and sustainable plan that will reduce load shedding and provide a pathway to a sustainable electricity supply.
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Picture: Democratic Alliance
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
