No sign of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet reshuffle or appointment of key electricity minister

Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa is still mum about announcing who is likely to be announced as electricity minister or giving any indication of when he will announce a Cabinet reshuffle.

According to reports, the minister of electricity might be the Head of Investment and Infrastructure Development in the Presidency, Kgosientso “Sputla” Ramokgopa.

The president has engaged stakeholders, including Tripartite Alliance partners, about the appointment of the new minister, but currently he is dealing with the allegation made by former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter about alleged corruption at the power utility.

Cabinet joined the call by President Cyril Ramaphosa that De Ruyter must lay criminal charges against the minister he accused of corruption.

De Ruyter, during an interview with one of the broadcasters, made shocking revelations, saying undisclosed members of the governing party and government at the highest levels were aware of the corruption at Eskom and also that the utility served as the ANC’s “feeding trough“.

Eskom announced in a statement last week that De Ruyter was vacating the office with immediate effect.

The Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said during a briefing yesterday about post-Cabinet outcomes that the government took the allegations made by De Ruyter seriously.

However, he said De Ruyter could have done better in divulging such important information about the corruption taking place at the power utility.

Gungubele said they were taken aback by the revelations by De Ruyter.

He said a CEO who respected his fiduciary duties would have done better than what De Ruyter has done.

Gungubele said the Cabinet understood the frustration of citizens and businesses over the inconvenience and disruptions caused by persistent load shedding.

“The commitments from the State of the Nation Address and the Budget allocations strengthen the capability of the state to fast track interventions outlined in the Energy Action Plan,” Gungubele said.

Gungubele said the recently published National State of Disaster regulations by the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs allow the government to respond more effectively and with the necessary pace to deal with the severe electricity supply constraints.

“Moreover, it ensures transparency and accountability by enabling departments to guide their sectors. Regular progress updates will be provided,” he said.

Gungubele said Ramaphosa would, in due course, announce the new minister and the Cabinet reshuffle.

Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast, speaking to one of the broadcasters, said Ramphosa has been dragging his feet largely because he has been stuck between a rock and a hard place.

“This is simply because there have been those ministers who have defied orders and those who didn’t want to abide by those orders who also called on him to step down. I think he has been grappling with the question of what is going to be the meaning of letting go of them or what is the political meaning of retaining them,” he said.

Breakfast said if he let go of those ministers, in particular Cogta Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, he might not have a strong foothold in KwaZulu-Natal given the fact that elections are around the corner.

“On the other hand, his supporters have been demanding that he let go of those ministers. There are others… I call them the favourite ministers who aren’t performing the way they should have and who have been implicated with regards to Eskom.”

“I don’t think that he would want to get rid of them either, especially a person like Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe. I mean, it’s an open secret that had it not been for him, he (Ramaphosa) would have resigned,” Breakfast said.

Cosatu urged Ramaphosa to appoint credible officials when he reshuffled his Cabinet.

“We indicate to the president that we will expect him to be decisive in terms of making sure that he appoints ministers who will have capacity, who will be able to listen to the views of the people of South Africa, and who will also be able to deal with and implement the guidelines and the programme that have been adopted in particular by the Cabinet.

“He mustn’t appoint ministers who are lazy,” said Cosatu general secretary Solly Phetoe.

This imminent reshuffle has been spoken about for quite some time, yet nothing much has happened.

The Star