Johnathan Paoli
Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, is expected to host and participate in various engagements as part of strengthening the electricity sector cooperation with other member states during the 15th Brics Summit that will get underway in Sandton, Johannesburg on Tuesday.
The Presidency said that it will host engagements in the interest of development of new energy generation, forging support for a common position in advancing Africa’s energy security on Just Transition and technical support to the transition, access to modern energy sources and advancing a call for a common Brics position on the transformations of the global energy architect and governance.
According to the Presidency, among the engagements which the Ministry of Electricity will partake in, include a bilateral meeting with China State Grid, a meeting with TBEA and China National Electricity Engineering company and a meeting with CNG.
In addition, the Minister will participate in a Brick Business Forum on Tuesday as well as the Brics Cultural show on Wednesday.
This follows on the Minister’s weekly Energy Action Plan briefing in Pretoria on Sunday in which Ramokgopa said poor maintenance and lack of servicing are among the main reasons for the continued black outs, especially outside scheduled load shedding times.
Ramokgopa highlighted that collectively, Eskom is owed about R63.2 million and that while certain municipalities have arranged plans to pay the outstanding amount, others have defaulted and failed to effectively organise alternatives with the power utility.
Any further blackouts, would have serious consequences not only to the summit itself and associated logistics involved, but would send a negative message to the world and adversely affect potential investor confidence.
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