President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a proclamation transferring roles and responsibilities to the Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. This means that Ramokgopa is responsible to combat that challenge of loadshedding.
In a statement from the president, it states that Ramokgopa will oversee all aspects of the electricity crisis response, including the work of the National Energy Crisis Committee.
The Minister will work full-time with the Eskom board and management to end load shedding and ensure that the Energy Action Plan announced by the President is implemented without delay,
What Power Does Ramokgopa Have ?
Ramokgopa, in consultation with the regulator can now determine that new generation capacity is needed to ensure the continued uninterrupted supply of electricity.
The minister will also determine the types of energy sources that electricity is generated from as well as the percentages of electricity generated from energy sources.
They will be responsible for determining that electricity produced may only be sold to persons or in the manner set out in such notice.
Additionally, requirements for new generation capacity must be established through a tendering procedure that is fair, equitable, transparent and cost effective. It must also provide for private sector participation.
Ramokgopa will be under no illusions regarding the task before him. At a conference in Cape Town, the minister said 650,000 jobs was lost in the South African economy in 2022 because of the energy crisis.
The amount of jobs lost could increase as South Africans were warned to brace for higher stages of loadshedding.
Eskom CEO Calib Cassim said South Africa could experience loadshedding going as far as stage 8 during the winter months. This is because the country was entering the season with 3,000 megawatts less than in 2022.
In October 2022, a section of the flue-gas desulphurisation duct, which carries emissions from Kusile Unit 1 into a large chimney collapsed. Two additional units, which are also connected to the collapsed chimney, had to be taken offline.
The collapse of the chimney meant that Kusile power station would not be able to contribute 2,400 megawatts of energy to the South Africa’s electricity grid. This equates to around 2 stages of loadshedding.
