MADRID, 26 May. (EUROPEAN PRESS) –
More than two months after his appointment, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has formalized the transfer of powers to the new Electricity Minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, in a new initiative by the Government to tackle the deep energy problem. crisis of the country.
Appointed on March 7, Ramokgopa will be responsible for “coordinating the government’s response to the electricity crisis as a national priority,” as the South African president explained in his State of the Nation speech. Friday.
His appointment will give this new portfolio the “necessary powers to direct the purchase of new generation capacity and guarantee security of supply” previously held by the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, led by Gwede Mantashe.
Among the powers given to Ramokgopa are to determine the types of energy sources that need to produce electricity, what new capacities are needed to ensure continuous and uninterrupted supply, and to determine sector-specific fair tender processes.
The announcement came after President Ramaphosa was criticized for delaying more than two months since Ramokgopa’s appointment to give him the powers he needed to deal with the ten-hour-a-day blackouts that are crashing the economy in most industrialized Africa.
Eskom, South Africa’s largest power utility, is dragging away €24 billion in debt, coupled with its old infrastructure and malfunctioning power plants, amid accusations of sabotage that has plunged the country into its worst energy crisis ever.
Source: Noti Merica
