PRETORIA – Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokopa has taken a swipe at the Multi-Party Charter (MPC) over its comments that he was not working to end load shedding.
“When President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the ministry, he pointed out that we need to focus on the implementation and tracking of the energy action plan that he presented to the country in July 2022,” he said, adding that this has been his mandate since he took office.
As far as the ANC was concerned, Ramokgopa said this was not a permanent solution to the energy crisis. He said there was nothing new in the MPC’s plan to end load shedding.
“There’s nothing new, there’s a discovery that was made yesterday,” he said, taking a swipe at the DA-led pact. Ramokgopa made the remarks during a media briefing at the party’s Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg on Thursday.
The briefing was aimed at unpacking priorities 1 and 2 of their election manifesto, which spoke of job creation and economic transformation.
On Wednesday, the ANC unveiled its plan to create a competitive and open energy market that would end load shedding and improve Eskom’s performance.
The MPC had said there was an urgent need for voters in 2024 to remove a failed government and hand over the reins to leadership with the skills, political will and integrity to end blackouts and promote sustainable energy development.
Ramokgopa said since March 2023, 3,500MW of additional energy had been added to the national grid and there had been a prioritisation of the maintenance and performance of six Eskom power stations.
He said there was increased investment in renewable energy from the private sector and households. “There is increased investment in the expansion of transmission infrastructure to enable new generation to be added to the grid,” he said.
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