Cyril: No territorial battles between ministers
JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa has dismissed allegations that there are turf wars between his minister of Electricity and the minister of Energy as well as the minister of Public Enterprises.
Addressing the media on Saturday, Ramaphosa said despite delays in him making proclamations on the duties of the newly-appointed Electricity minister, he was very clear on the duties the three ministers are tasked with.
“There is no territorial battle on this matter… of course, in the media, there is talk of this conflict and that conflict, there is no conflict as far as I’m concerned.
“I know exactly the delineation of the tasks of these three ministers, and truth be told, the ministers themselves are surprised that there is this talk of conflict; they work very well together,” said Ramaphosa.
Utterances
His utterances come after Electricity Minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa made a presentation of his energy plan to the party’s national elective committee (NEC) on how he seeks to deal with the load-shedding crisis and how he needed his powers to be clearly defined to achieve them.
News24 understands that Ramokgopa told the national working committee last weekend, the special Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, and the NEC on Friday afternoon that should he be afforded the powers he needs, he could be able to end load-shedding.
Addressing the media on Friday, ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula said Ramaphosa needed to lead his Cabinet and not be led by it amid reports that Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan were antagonistic over Ramokgopa’s demands to be given more powers to fulfill his duties.
Ramaphosa dismissed such reports as not accurate.
He added that: “In many ways, for me, this is a good architecture because it enhances integrated government, joined up government, so that the three of them can address the national challenge that we have, working together from three different aspects.
Addressing the media, the ANC’s economic transformation subcommittee Chairperson Mmamoloko Kubayi said the talks were at an advanced stage for Ramaphosa and he should be making the proclamation shortly.
Kubayi said the legal teams from the Office of the Presidency, the
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, and the Department of Public Enterprises are in constant engagement regarding the allocation of powers from the two departments to the Electricity minister.
Explaining the delay, Kubayi said the government has its own processes and that it needed to follow certain processes when it came to appointing and granting powers to the minister.
“When the president appoints a minister, the legal team will have to sit together and go through a process. If you have been part of reshuffles like some of us have been and are moved from one department and reconfiguration of government where there is an interface between the two departments there, you have to look at the acts that govern those departments.
“You analyse the acts that govern those departments and look at the powers that the Electricity minister needs that you are looking for, so it’s not an overnight thing that you can do within a week.
“Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) legal teams, the legal teams of the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), and then the Presidency are engaging Ramokgopa and then the State law advisers will have to approve the outcomes before the president will announce the deviation of powers,” said Kubayi.
Ramaphosa also again clarified the deviation of duties.