Electricity and Energy Minister Kgotsientsho Ramokgopa was among a delegation of government officials and business leaders who sought to drive home that message during an investment session at the African CEO Forum in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, on Tuesday.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is making a submission to the cabinet to revise the targets set out in the energy action plan.
Speaking on a panel at the fifth South Africa Investment Conference on Thursday, Ramokgopa — who was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to oversee the government’s response to the energy crisis — said work to revise the targets will ensure they are still ambitious, but realistic.
On the sidelines of the conference, Ramakgopa said the suggested revisions will be submitted to cabinet in the next two weeks. Ramaphosa announced the energy action plan in July 2022.
“We did say … that we are going to be brutally honest, frank and transparent to the South African population and also to the investor communities on where we are in reaching a resolution to the load-shedding question,” Ramokgopa said during the panel discussion.
“And we’re beginning to have those conversations with industry and also communicating on a regular basis … on where we are so that there is a greater level of appreciation that we are indeed making progress. There are justified levels of anger, despondency and just not believing what government is saying. But I think the more we’re transparent, and we’re able to illustrate that we are keeping to the timeline, I think we’ll be able to close that gap.”
South Africa’s energy crisis was a key topic of conversation at Thursday’s conference, which took place as the country endured another bout of stage six load-shedding. The persistent blackouts are at the heart of the country’s economic woes and are expected to severely hit growth — and investor confidence — in 2023.
Earlier on Thursday, Ramaphosa assured investors that reforming the energy sector, and bringing an end to load-shedding, was a priority of his administration.
“The lack of reliability in electricity supply weakens business and consumer confidence, taints international perceptions about our country and affects investment sentiment and decisions,” the president said in his opening address.
The energy action plan, Ramaphosa said, presents a clear path to reduce the severity and frequency of load-shedding in the short term and to achieve energy security in the long term.
“Though load-shedding will remain a challenge in the immediate future, its severity will begin to ease as some of the more targeted initiatives recently announced begin to take effect.”