Cape Town - The incoming Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientso Ramokgopa, has come full circle politically.
A former student leader, Ramokgopa was a ward councillor in Tshwane between 2000 and 2005, becoming mayor in 2010.
Coincidentally, he succeeded his aunt, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa.
Also the regional chairperson of the ANC at the time, “Sputla”, as he was called from his youth days as a soccer player, is remembered for his grand plans at the helm of the capital city.
He dreamt of new business nodes in all sections of the metro to ensure that people did not wake up every morning and crowd the inner city for economic opportunities.
He would tell all who would listen of his proposed Centurion Symbio-City, which would be the tallest building in Africa.
The development has yet to see the light of day.
The promises of renovated Schubart Park buildings in the CBD went up in smoke the moment he left office in 2016, having lost internal ANC battles to be a mayoral candidate.
The ANC would go on to lose to the DA in the polls. His administration was clouded by allegations of corruption heading into 2016.
It was under Ramokgopa that a bus rapid transit system, A Re Yeng, went live. The metro was among the first in the country to roll out a free wi-fi initiative.
Ramokgopa was ahead of his peers at the time, occasionally bullish about what he believed was the right direction his ANC-led administration needed to take.
South Africa’s electricity crisis is well documented. However, with Ramokgopa at the helm – a civil engineer by trade – there is a visionary who just needs to put his plans into action.
We hope he will get the support he needs to keep the lights on.
Cape Times