Speaking in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Ramokgopa said he was more than capable of serving as minister and was not there for show.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“I am not a junior minister. There is nothing in the constitution that attaches hierarchy to ministers. My presence is not ornamental.[/perfectpullquote]
“I bring a significant amount of technical skills in addition to my political prowess,” he said.
The minister’s role and effectiveness has come under the spotlight in recent weeks amid reports his powers have still not yet been spelt out.
Ramokgopa’s position was announced three months ago, but Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said last week President Cyril Ramaphosa would meet other ministers to decide on the extent of the electricity minister’s powers, including his function over national power utility Eskom.
Among his first tasks as minister was to visit and assess power stations around the country and reporting on the government’s plan to stabilise the grid.
He told the NCOP the country is unlikely to face a complete collapse of the grid.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“There is what you call a reserve margin of 2,200MW that is kept at every given time by the system operator in Gauteng. We are unlikely to have a grid collapse or blackout, because of that 2,200MW reserve margin,” BusinessLIVE quoted the minister as saying.[/perfectpullquote]
