Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.
- Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says he will be accounting to the Western Cape legislature.
- This comes after he snubbed the province’s ad-hoc committee on energy earlier this week.
- The legislature threatened to issue a formal summons should he miss another meeting.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says he will account to the Western Cape legislature after snubbing the ad-hoc committee on energy earlier this week.
Ramokgopa was responding to questions on Saturday following a media briefing on the implementation of the Energy Action Plan.
“We are accounting on a daily basis. I am appointed on a national level; I account to the executive and to Parliament. When I get invited to other legislatures, we go and account,” he said.
Ramokgopa added that he had met with the Western Cape government before and held engagements.
He was expected to brief the committee on the impact of load shedding on the province on Tuesday, but informed the committee chairperson at the eleventh hour that he would not be able to make it on account of a personal matter.
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The ad-hoc committee on energy ultimately voted to postpone the meeting, demanding an urgent meeting with the minister, failing which could lead to it formally pursuing the issuing of a summons.
Ramokgopa said during the briefing that the issue of summonsing a minister at a national level was receiving attention.
“I am aware that I am not the only minister. There are other ministers who apparently have been summoned by the Western Cape legislature. It is something that government and other departments will attend to in relation to whether there are rights and powers to summon a minister,” he said.
Ramokgopa said he would be accounting not only to the Western Cape but to other provinces too.
He said:
The energy solutions will not be federalised. It’s a national issue and requires national attention, with the participation of all roleplayers and legislatures.
DA Western Cape energy spokesperson, MPL Christopher Fry said: “Minister Ramakgopa’s efforts to duck accountability cannot be allowed to continue. The people of the Western Cape have a right to know what the national government is doing to resolve the energy crisis, and the Minister must be held to account if his efforts are not sufficient.
“This situation of endless postponements cannot be allowed to stand, and the DA will now investigate the possibility of a summons against the minister, should he fail to attend the committee’s urgent meeting request, which will compel him to explain exactly what progress – or lack thereof – he has made in resolving ANC-sponsored load shedding for good.”