The man behind South Africa’s fight against load-shedding

Eskom’s performance has drastically improved since President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Kgosientsho Ramokgopa as South Africa’s Minister of Electricity and, later, Minister of Electricity and Energy.

He was tasked with controlling all critical aspects of the country’s Energy Action Plan, and Ramaphosa gave him the political authority to do so.

“This will help to deal with the challenge of fragmentation of responsibility across various departments and ministers, which, while appropriate under normal circumstances, is not conducive to addressing the crisis that we are in,” Rampahosa said of the appointment.

Ramokgopa was born in January 1975 in Ga-Ramokgopa village in Limpopo and matriculated in 1991 in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria.

He holds a civil engineering degree from the University of Durban Westville, master’s degrees in public administration and business leadership, and a PhD in public affairs.

Ramokgopa’s political career began in 2000 when he was elected a local councillor in Tshwane Ward 51, representing the African National Congress (ANC).

However, he resigned as a public representative in 2005. He moved on to hold a range of positions in public and private entities, including CEO of the Metropolitan Trading Company and CEO of Johannesburg Market.

He also served as deputy chairperson of the Limpopo Board of Trade and Investment from 2006 to 2010.

By 2010, he was also chairperson of the ANC’s large regional branch in Tshwane.

The City of Tshwane council elected Ramokgopa mayor in November 2010. In 2016, Democratic Alliance candidate Solly Msimanga succeeded him.

Ramokgopa was then elected to a seat in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature through the 2019 general election.

He also served as a Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Economic Development, Agriculture, and Environment.

He resigned as MEC in late 2019, and shortly after that, the Presidency announced that Ramokgopa had been appointed head of the new Investment and Infrastructure Office under Ramaphosa.

Ramokgopa took on the role of electricity minister in the Presidency in March 2023, when Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF) averaged around 53.19%.

The EAF is the ratio of available generation relative to the maximum amount of energy that could be produced over a specific period.

The National Transmission Company South Africa’s latest data revealed that Eskom’s EAF averaged 70.87% for the week from 22 to 29 July 2024.

The EAF is the ratio of available generation relative to the maximum amount of energy that could be produced over a specific period.

It provides a strong measure of the performance of Eskom’s generating fleet.

Through a cabinet reshuffle in June 2024, Ramokgopa was appointed as Minister of Electricity and Energy.

This involved merging the electricity ministry in The Presidency and the Department of Energy and establishing a separate mineral and petroleum resources ministry.

In its latest power alert, Eskom said EAF for July averaged 67.41%, which was last achieved in July 2021.

The improved performance and lessened demand due to more businesses and households using solar power have resulted in no load-shedding since 26 March 2024.

While it appeared that Ramokgopa may have been a little too ambitious regarding his deadlines for ending load-shedding when he first took on the role of electricity minister, his predictions could come true.

In October 2023, he said load-shedding would reduce significantly in the months that followed and that the rotational power cuts would end within a year.

“A year is too long. If we meet next year, we should be happy,” said Ramokgopa.

Energy experts dismissed his claims, warning that load-shedding will remain a reality in South Africa for the next few years.

However, the South African National Energy Development Institute’s Sampson Mamphweli believes this could come true. However, it may take a bit longer than the “within a year” timeline.

Mamphweli said he believes load-shedding could end by October 2024. However, he is confident it will be history by the end of 2024.

“I am very much optimistic that we may be able to continue to sustain this until we start the beginning of summer, and if we go through the beginning of summer without load-shedding, we might see the end of load-shedding,” he said.

“I am very confident that by November, December, government should be declaring the end of load-shedding in South Africa.”