The Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is actively trying to work himself out of a job.
Speaking during an infrastructure summit on Tuesday he said he is confident that his ministry will be redundant by the end of 2024.
Ramakgopa was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 7 March last year to solve the power crisis.
But Ramakgopa says he is working as hard as possible to ensure that his ministry will no longer be needed, because that will mean the power crisis is over.
He addressed delegates during the NinetyOne Annual Infrastructure Forum:
“For as long as I exist, you know that the problem exists. So I’m a personification of the problem if you know what I am saying. We are doing everything possible to address it. I am more than confident that there will not be a need for this ministry by the end of this year.”
For Ramokgopa to be out of a job means some urgent investment needs to take place particularly to expand transmission lines.
The transmission network has to be expanded by over 14,000 kilometers, which will enable the grid to accommodate an additional 11,000 MW of electricity, particularly benefiting regions like the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape.
The Minister also acknowledged the potential of renewable energy but stressed the persistent challenges hindering its full exploitation.
While there is a substantial pipeline of over 66GW of renewable energy projects, with identified corridors capable of contributing 2,300MW to the grid, sub-stations would have to be enlarged to fully harness this capacity.
Load shedding has decreased by 61% compared to the previous year, attributed partly to the restoration of units at the Kusile power station and the integration of new generation capacity from rooftop solar and private sector investments.
Ramakgopa: Stage 6 caused by boiler tube leaks at 9 units
Eskom’s new CEO Dan Marokane reported to duty from 1 March 2024, and hopefully he will find his feet quickly so that Ramakgopa’s stated intention, to make his own Ministry reduntant, is fully realised.
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