President Cyril Ramaphosa’s transfer of some powers to decide on the required new electricity generation capacity from the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe has created more confusion than clarity in the market.
Ramaphosa on Friday signed a proclamation to transfer roles and responsibilities in Section 34(1) of the Electricity Regulation Act to the Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.
Section 34(1) of the act empowers the minister to issue a determination that new generation capacity is needed in order to ensure security of energy supply.
This includes the amount of new capacity that must be procured; the type of capacity (for example, wind or solar PV); and the manner in which it must be procured.
These powers and functions were previously entrusted to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.
The Presidency’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa had also transferred to the Minister of Electricity relevant powers and functions set out in Section 34(2) of the Electricity Regulation Act.
“This proclamation will provide the Minister of Electricity with the powers necessary to direct the procurement of new generation capacity and ensure security of supply.
“Other powers and functions contained in the Electricity Regulation Act – including those related to the implementation of determinations made in terms of section 34 – will remain with the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.”
According to Ramaphosa, the Minister of Electricity 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 is implemented without delay.
Ramaphosa said this would provide a single point of command for the government’s efforts to close the shortfall in electricity supply.
On Saturday, Ramokgopa assured the public that load shedding would be significantly reduced by the end of the year.
Speaking on the sidelines of an oversight visit at Chris Baragwanath Hospital, Ramokgopsa said Eskom would have brought back 4 000MW from offline units at Kusile and Medupi power stations while the government tried to procure 2 000MW of emergency additional power by December.
“I’m more than confident of that. Once we get to do all these interventions like I said, importing from Mozambique as an example, the issues around accelerating the procurement of emergency power, I will be able to aggregate what are those megawatts that are possible, and on the basis of those megawatts I will be able to say this is the time that we are confident to have ended load shedding,” Ramokgopa said.
“By the 24th of December we would have had an additional 4 000MW on the grid. But the measure of our ability to end load shedding is not necessarily on summer conditions, it’s really on winter conditions, and 4 000MW will still not be sufficient.”
However, commentators have warned that this “ambiguous” power-sharing was certain to exacerbate the confusion between the two ministers and precipitate the continuation of mixed messaging in the midst of a national electricity crisis.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) said more conflict might lie ahead for Ramokgopa because while he might issue determinations about new generation, Mantashe must sign the contracts.
Outa’s executive director for accountability division, Stefanie Fick, said they were also concerned that Ramokgopa would use his powers to order gas from powerships, leading to speedy Karpowership contracts, or even nuclear power.
“We hope he will use his powers to bring on board the renewable energy that Minister Mantashe has for years resisted,” Fick said.
“Outa notes that the President has not mentioned whether Minister Ramokgopa gets any staff or funding to go with his new powers, which may constrain what he is able to do.
“We hope he will use the President’s National Energy Crisis Committee and take advice from the experts rather than from ANC ‘experts’ who prioritise personal benefits over public good.”
Energy expert Chris Yelland was also not confident that Ramokgopa’s new powers would resolve the ongoing energy crisis.
“I fear that they are not all on the same page and that they are pulling in different directions and that is problematic because when you pull in different directions, the centre stays were it is.
“So, will he make a positive difference? Time will tell; we don’t know just yet. He hasn’t got the budget, he hasn’t got the office, he hasn’t got the staff, but let’s hope those will come in due course and let’s judge a person by his performance and not by words. We need to look at actions, and we need to look at results.”
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