Fikile Mbalula Sparks Fury by Saying Electricity Minister’s Job Ends When Crisis Ends: “We're Being Played”

• Transport Minister and ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula says the Minister of Electricity will only have a job as long as there is loadshedding
• Mbalula clarified that the creation of the position will not change government's plan to move Eskom to the Energy Department's control
• South Africans believe that creating a position just to end loadshedding won't motivate the electricity minister to end the energy crisis

JOHANNESBURG - Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said the Presidency's electricity minister position won't exist forever.

Mbalula wants to assure South Africans that the country will only have an electricity minister until SA's energy crisis had been sorted out.

The ANC SG described the creation of the position as a necessary intervention that will by no means undermine the party's resolution to move state-owned enterprises to their respective policy departments, TimesLIVE reported.

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Both Mbalula and Energy Minster Gwede Mantashe described the electricity minister's position as a project manager to manage the crisis when clarifying what the minister would do.

Kgosientso Ramokgopa pegged as a favourite for the electricity minister position

South Africans have been waiting patiently to see who will be appointed as the nation's Minister of Electricity.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been tight-lipped on details about the position since he announced the creation of the position during the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on 9 February.

There is speculation, however, that Ramaphosa has set his sights on the head of infrastructure in the Presidency, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, to fill the position, EWN reported.

South Africans slam creation of electricity minister position

South Africans have not received Mbalula's assurances about the electricity manager position well, claiming it's a poor motivator to get the job done.

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Below are some reactions:

@NHI_a_Must claimed:

"If the job ends when loadshedding ends, then Electricity Minister won't end loadshedding. Job security."

@PatrickNicholl3 chimed:

"Why don’t they fire one of their useless ministers and replace them with a competent one? That would make a necessary intervention."

@LandOfBlackOuts asked:

"Did CR appoint Casper coz we have yet to see or hear?"

@stony_steen quizzed:

"So it’s a job for life?"

@IanPric54853387 added:

"So the new electricity minister is expected to work him/herself out of a job. Great motivation."

@llutladi said:

"We were told loadshedding is temporary but necessary, and now it's a norm. South Africans must stand up and remove the ANC permanently."

@mulalo263

"What's the role of the energy ministry if we gonna have electricity minister, we are being played."

Energy expert warns SA to brace for Stage 8 loadshedding in winter, angering Mzansi: “Just take the sun away”

In another story, Briefly News reported that South Africans have just been plunged back into Stage 6 loadshedding and an energy expert has warned that things could get worse in the coming months.

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The Head of Business Intelligence at Hohm Energy, Mathew Cruise, says that come July, there is a 50% chance the country will be plunged further into darkness with Stage 8 loadshedding.

The energy expert said a briefing with Eskom indicated that the struggling power utility is preparing for Stage 8 loadshedding in addition to the introduction of higher stages to the schedule.

Source: Briefly News