In the next two weeks, starting today, Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, will be visiting all 14 Eskom power stations to engage with the management, workers, and unions.

The minister will today kick off his drive at Kriel and Duvha power stations in Mpumalanga, where he is accompanied by his advisor, Silas Zimu, and other senior officials.

According to media reports, the minister said he has no regrets for taking on the toughest job in the country – to end load-shedding.

Early this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Ramokgopa as the new minister in the presidency responsible for electricity.

Ramokgopa’s primary goal, according to the president, will be to drive government’s programme of significantly reducing the ‘severity and frequency of load-shedding as a matter of urgency’ and to expedite government’s work to ensure the full implementation of the Energy Action Plan.

The minister is empowered to carry out his duties through the transfer of certain powers and functions from the president in terms of the Constitution.

He is also tasked with urgently resolving the energy crisis through the recently gazetted National State of Disaster related to electricity regulations.

The newly appointed minister said he was ‘humbled’ by the president’s vote of confidence in him.

“We have a mammoth task ahead of us to resolve the energy crisis that confronts our country.”

In the immediate, he said, the primary responsibility is to turn around the performance of existing power stations and stabilise the energy supply, while adding new capacity to the grid.

The minister has hit the ground running and has been engaging with various key stakeholders, including meetings with the Black Business Council, mobile network operators, and conducting media interviews.

He has also met with the Chinese ambassador to South Africa, Chen Xiaodong, to discuss possible areas of collaboration to end the rolling blackouts.

The leaders discussed sourcing technical expertise, demand-side management intervention as it relates to supply, training young people to meet demands for solar PV installations, and the introduction of microgrids and emergency power. – SAnews.gov.za