President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, as South Africa’s new Minister of Electricity.

Ramaphosa state that Dr Ramokgopo’s main objective will beto prioritise the government’s efforts to urgently decrease the frequency and severity of loadshedding and accelerate the implementation of the Energy Action Plan.

Dr Ramokgopo’s LinkedIn profile reveals that he possesses various academic credentials, which comprise of a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Durban-Westville (currently known as the University of KwaZulu-Natal), a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Pretoria, and a Master’s degree in Business Leadership from Unisa.

The new minister had a brief tenure as the MEC for Economic Development, Agriculture, and Environment under Premier David Makhura in the Gauteng provincial legislature, which only lasted 5 months.

“To effectively oversee the electricity crisis response, the appointed Minister will have the political responsibility, authority, and control over all critical aspects of the Energy Action Plan. This will help to deal with the challenge of fragmentation and responsibility across various departments and Ministers which, while appropriate under normal circumstances, is not conducive to a crisis response.

“The minister will be expected to facilitate the coordination of numerous departments and entities involved in a crisis response, work with the Eskom leadership to turn around the performance of the existing power stations, and accelerate the procurement of new generation capacity,” said President Ramaphosa.