Cape Town - Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has come under fire from members of the legislature for skipping a briefing to the ad hoc committee on energy at the last minute.
The briefing had been rescheduled several times over the last two months to accommodate the minister’s schedule, and members were incensed that this was the fourth consecutive meeting that he had snubbed.
MPLs, including those from the ANC, expressed their frustration and concern at what they said was the minister’s disrespect for their committee, and after more than an hour of furious debate, voted to suspend the briefing.
During a debate over what to do about the minister’s snub, ACDP MPL Ferlon Christians said the committee had bent over backwards to accommodate him, but to no avail.
When leader of the opposition Cameron Dugmore tried to argue that Ramokgopa had apologised for cancelling with the intent of attending a future meeting, he was opposed by Freedom Front Plus MPL Peter Marais.
Marais said members should no longer accept continuous excuses and disrespect from the minister, and should instead report him to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The 15 committee members were, however, split on demands that the minister receive an official summons compelling him to appear, but in the end the majority voted to postpone the morning’s meeting, while demanding an urgent meeting with him.
When the suggestion to summon the minister was made by committee member Deidré Baartman and supported by Gillion Bosman (both DA), the ANC’s Nomi Nkondlo accused them of being overly dramatic and of political point scoring.
Nkondlo said that while the frustration and concern were genuine and needed to be expressed, “the other stuff is just bruised egos speaking. Let’s drop the drama.”
Nkondlo said the committee should express disappointment, but that there should be no rush to summon the minister.
Cayla Murray (DA) suggested that in the spirit of co-operative governance, the minister should be given another chance to meet the committee, while Aishah Cassiem (EFF) said the focus should be on getting Ramokgopa to answer their queries.
The minister’s chief of staff, Subesh Pillay, told the committee that his decision to attend a different event instead of the committee meeting had not been taken lightly, and that he had given ministry officials the go-ahead to make the presentation on his behalf.
However, this did not sit well with committee members led by chairperson Christopher Fry (DA), who said the invitation was specifically for the minister himself, and that they did not want to be fobbed off with officials.
Speaking after the meeting, Fry said the DA would investigate the possibility of a summons against the minister should he fail to attend the committee’s urgent meeting request.
He said the summons, suggested by Baartman and Bosman, would compel Ramokgopa to “explain exactly what progress – or lack thereof – he had made in resolving load shedding for good”.