MP appointment took her by surprise

Update

KAROO NEWS - With the announcement of the seventh administration's cabinet on Sunday, 30 June President Cyril Ramaphosa merged the Electricity and Energy Ministries and appointed Kgosientso Ramakgopa as Minister and Graaff-Reinet resident and Dr Beyers Naudé Constituency Leader, Samantha Graham-Maré, as Deputy Minister of this new ministry.

This position is not entirely new to Graham-Maré as she has been serving as the DA's Shadow Minister of Electricity since April last year, fulfilling the pivotal function of holding Kgosientso Ramakgopa (who was the Minister of Electricity at the time) accountable to his mandate.

However, speaking to Graaff-Reinet Advertiser, Graham-Maré said the appointment took her by total surprise. "At most, I was hoping for a position as a chairperson on the portfolio committee, but I certainly did not expect to become a deputy minister – most definitely not of the Ministry of Energy and Electricity – so that was a huge surprise," she said. "I am obviously still reeling from the shock of it and very daunted by the task that lies ahead but I am absolutely honored to be part of this groundbreaking Government of National Unity (GNU).

I think the GNU is something that everybody can get behind, no matter what their political affiliation and it is an absolute privilege to be making history in such a positive way. I am thrilled to piece on that." Graham-Maré added that she is astounded at the outpouring of congratulations received after her appointment. "The level of support blows my mind. You wouldn't think that it matters so much to so many people but evidently it does. I think people in this country are so desperately looking for hope and the fact that the DA now has some positions in the GNU has brought that hope to them," she says.

Merging of the Ministries of Energy and Electricity

Graham-Maré is of the opinion that the merging of the ministries of energy and electricity was an 'excellent move'. "Hopefully, with the breaking up of the state-owned enterprises, Escom will fall within the ministry of energy and electricity as well and that will give us an overarching ability to deal with energy as a whole instead of only with sectors thereof," she explained. "I also think that the split of energy from mineral resources also makes a lot of sense because we now have a ministry dedicated solely to energy and electricity. Putting it all together in this way will make planning, decision-making, budgeting, and everything else far more effective and efficient."

Dealing with the energy crisis

Graham-Maré stated that the energy crisis is an ongoing challenge. "One of the biggest challenges we are facing is the transmission grid that needs to be enlarged substantially," she said.

"About 14 000km of grid needs to be added because we cannot necessarily add green, renewable, or alternative energies to the existing grid without increasing the size thereof so that it can carry the additional energy." According to Graham-Maré finding money to cover the cost of increasing the grid will be a huge task.

She also added that the just energy transition – moving from a substantially coal-powered energy system to a more diverse and integrated energy system that includes green, renewable, and alternative energy resources as well as coal-fired power stations – will also be challenging.

"It is going to be a difficult task to ensure that we transition effectively and fairly in a way that will not be costing jobs but rather creating more jobs in the green and renewable energy sectors," she said. "These are the two big challenges. And then obviously dealing with our aging electricity infrastructure and making sure that Escom is properly resourced and able to function effectively in order to ensure that we continue to have no loadshedding," said Graham-Maré.

"Although we have had three months of no loadshedding and it appears as if we have dealt with the energy crisis, the crisis is far from averted and there is a lot of work that will have to go into maintaining a loadshedding-free country.

Previous article: Graham-Maré named Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy

Deputy Minister of Energy and Electricity, Samantha Graham-Maré.