Johannesburg - It is expected that the Minister of Electricity will be revealed today, amid government claims that this is urgent.
At this stage, according to reports, this might be taken either by Head of Investment and Infrastructure Development in the Presidency, Kgosientso "Sputla" Ramokgopa, or former Gauteng Economic Development MEC, Parks Tau.
Ramokgopa said he has not been told that he was made the minister of electricity, he said that is a prerogative of Ramaphosa.
Mondli Gungubele, Minister in the Presidency, will address the media post-Cabinet in Cape Town today.
Opposition parties tore apart President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address for the past two days during a debate by a Joint Sitting at Cape Town City Hall, especially the imminent appointment of an electricity minister, the power crisis, and the declaration of a state of disaster.
During their debates, the MPs also expressed their mistrust of Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa will reply to MPs this afternoon.
Gungubele defended Ramaphosa and took a swipe at the opposition parties who criticised him, saying the fact that they are opposition parties explains that they don’t think alike and are not pursuing a common mission.
"The key trust that the president has to always fight for is the trust of South Africans," Gungubele said.
He said, recently, a number of surveys reported that the president has been beating all the leaders in terms of the trust South Africans put on leaders.
"What is key about what the president is presenting at this stage — they say the taste of the pudding is in the eating. Most important thing about his energy plan, which he pronounced last year, is being implemented is being accelerated through a state of disaster.
"Even the minister of electricity is the reinforcement, not of armchair politics but of implementation. The important thing that this president needs is the turnaround and the difference that we are going to make in load shedding," Gungubele said.
Political analyst Thembisa Fakude, speaking in an interview with one of the broadcasters, said that according to Gungubele, it seems like the minister might be announced today.
"What is important is that all of us want to know what's going on; it will bring some sort of stability in terms of where we are heading towards sorting out this current challenge we are all facing with energy," Fakude said.
The Star