ANC makes U-turn on Ramokgopa oversight

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa could now report to the portfolio committee on public enterprises after the ANC in parliament made a U-turn on its initial decision. 

Earlier this year, the ANC rejected the DA’s call to establish an ad hoc parliamentary committee to oversee the Ramokgopa office. 

During a meeting of the rules committee this week, ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina said she accepted a new committee could not be established to oversee Ramokgopa due to budget but suggested the minister reports to an existing oversight committee. 

READ MORE: Ramokgopa explains why stage 6 load shedding is back and likely to get worse

Majodina said she thought “the rules must locate the oversight of that ministry in one of the existing committees” between the portfolio committees on minerals and energy or state enterprises.

“I am not sure where, but between the two, there is somewhere this ministry must be accountable for oversight,” she said. 

Confusion in the National Assembly

ANC MP Hope Papo also agreed with Majodina and proposed Eskom report to the portfolio committee on public enterprises. 

“I think Eskom [should] report to public enterprises, not to mineral resources and energy,” he said. 

Papo recommended Ramokgopa report to the portfolio committees on minerals and energy if it is for other meetings. 

ALSO READ: Eskom hits SA with stage 5 and 6 load shedding from Tuesday – Here’s your schedule

“There is this confusion, even in the NA [National Assembly], about this. That is why I am proposing that, as an extra responsibility, the minister engages with public enterprises,” he said.

Papo said it would not be the first time that one committee deals with more than one ministry. 

Majodina said it made “perfect sense” for Ramokgopa reports to public enterprises to bring in synergy.

“This is about electricity and it also impacts Eskom. So I’ll second, let’s take it to public enterprises and that means mandate of public enterprise will be extended to include the ministry of electricity,” she said. 

DA welcomes ANC’s U-turn

DA MP Samantha Graham-Maré welcomed the U-turn, saying it was a cowardly cop-out by the ANC to absolve itself of any responsibility amid ongoing load shedding. 

“If anything, the ANC in Parliament is complicit in Ramokgopa’s “trial and error” approach to the crisis which has plunged the country into an indefinite stage 6 load shedding schedule,” said Graham-Maré.

ALSO READ: Eskom burns over R18 billion on diesel as stage 6 load shedding persists

“Notwithstanding his dismal failure since his appointment as the minister of electricity, it has been South Africans, not the ANC government, who have stepped up to install an estimated 4,400MW of rooftop solar PV which, according to independent energy analysts, is double the solar capacity procured under Eskom’s four bid windows. 

“With no accountability, Ramokgopa has been saying a lot but achieving less as load shedding has continued to wreak havoc on the economy and the lives of ordinary South Africans. He has made no significant impact in developing viable solutions to end load shedding, both now and in the future.”

How much Ramokgopa cost taxpayers

Ramokgopa and his set of advisors cost taxpayers R13m annually for their salaries. The minister’s office told the DA that Ramokgopa earns R2.4m annually. 

Two special advisers, Sarel Jacobs de la Rouviere and Silas Mzingeli Zimu, cost R2,158,533 each, with the lowest-paid member of the team, Elizabeth Selaelo Mosebedi, earning R125,373 for food services.