Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has been appointed as South Africa’s first Minister of Electricity.
This was announced last night by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his long-awaited cabinet reshuffle.
Born on 25 January 1975, Ramokgopa is an African National Congress (ANC) politician.
Ramokgopa holds several academic qualifications which include:
- A BSc in Civil Engineering (University of Durban-Westville),
- Master of Public Administration (University of Pretoria),
- Master of Business Leadership (UNISA),
- A Certificate in Executive Development (Stellenbosch), and
- A Ph.D. in Public Affairs from the University of Pretoria.
Political history
In his early political life, Ramokgopa served in the leadership of the South African Students Congress (SASCO) and the ANC Youth League at the University of Durban-Westville.
He entered formal politics as a ward councillor for the party in Tshwane between 2000 and 2005.
He also served as Mayor of the City of Tshwane from 2010 to 2016.
In 2019, Ramokgopa was appointed as the MEC of Economic Development, Agriculture and Environment in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature under then-Premier David Makhura.
He however only held this position for a few months as the ANC gender policy required that he be removed to make way for a female MEC in Makhura’s executive.
Shortly after his resignation, President Ramaphosa appointed him to head the Investment and Infrastructure Unit in the Presidency.
Corporate governance
Ramaokgopa also has experience in corporate governance. He has served in several roles, including:
- CEO of the Metropolitan Trading Company,
- CEO of the Johannesburg Market and,
- Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Trade and Investment in Limpopo.
Throughout his career, Ramakgopa also received several awards and accolades, including the 2008 MTN Boss of the Year and the 2009 CEO of the Year.
In 2010, he was the recipient of the Black Business Quarterly Young Business Achiever of the Year Award.
President Ramaphosa says Ramokgopa’s new role as Electricity Minister is: “To effectively oversee the electricity crisis response, the appointed minister will have political responsibility, authority and control over all critical aspects of the Energy Action Plan.”
In the package below, Samkele Maseko reports on Ramaphosa appointing South Africa’s first Electricity Minister:
