South Africa\u2019s president will allocate more powers to his electricity czar to accelerate efforts to end the nation\u2019s power crisis, a top governing party official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposal has the backing of the African National Congress, which is seeking faster implementation of an energy action plan before next year\u2019s general election, Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said in an interview in Johannesburg on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Kgosientsho Ramokgopa as electricity minister in March to end power outages of up to 12 hours a day that have curbed output in Africa\u2019s most industrialized economy. It took the president two months to assign powers to Ramokgopa as he sought to avoid fallout between the energy and public enterprises ministers, who oversee energy policy and state power utility Eskom, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe will be allocated more powers,\u201d Mbalula said. \u201cYou can\u2019t manage a sector or a crisis without powers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ramokgopa\u2019s current powers preclude him from any procurement or dealing directly with Eskom\u2019s board, meaning he needs the permission of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Mineral & Energy Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe to make decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe has been given generation powers, which were taken from the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources,\u201d Mbalula said. \u00a0\u201cThe most important thing is to have power in order to be in a position to direct what needs to happen without asking from somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The power cuts, known locally as load-shedding, have eroded support for the ANC. The party, which won 57.5% of the vote in 2019, is at risk of losing its majority nationally next year for the first time since it came to power in 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ramaphosa\u2019s spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, declined to comment on the specifics of the planned allocation of additional powers to Ramokgopa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverything possible is being done and being explored to ensure that we reduce the severity of load-shedding, that we add more generational capacity to the grid, and we resolve all other related value chain factors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n