Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. (Photo: GCIS).
The DA says dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, the Minister of Electricity and Energy, leaves South Africa’s energy future hanging in the air by failing to implement the mandatory Integrated Energy Plan (IEP).
According to Kevin Mileham, DA MP and spokesperson on energy and electricity, this shortcoming amounts to a serious statutory failure which means that large energy purchases are made without a clear legal or evidentiary basis.
“By not implementing the mandatory energy plan, the minister is not only ignoring the National Energy Act, but he is also making procurement decisions amounting to multibillion rand without any clear legal or evidentiary basis,” says Mileham.
He refers to the department’s third quarter performance report for 2025-26 which was presented to the parliamentary portfolio committee on electricity and energy on Wednesday. Accordingly, the energy plan – which is the main framework for energy sources, costs and infrastructure – continues to be marked as “not achieved”.
Although the minister tries to present it as a technical delay, Mileham says the reality is that the situation amounts to a double breach of the National Energy Act which came into full effect on 1 April last year.
He explains that section 3 of the law requires the minister to create a mechanism to collect energy data to serve as backup for planning. According to Wednesday’s report, however, the department is still just determining the extent of the design of this system.
The law further states that the energy plan must be based on data analysis.
“By not building the data platform, the minister has made it legally impossible to establish a plan that meets the requirements,” says Mileham.
The department attributes the delay to a “delay in technical agreements” while awaiting funding from the Spanish government.
“It is unacceptable that the statutory planning of South Africa’s energy security is treated as a charity project dependent on foreign donations.”
Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Minister of Electricity (Photo: GCIS)
According to Mileham, without a finalized energy plan, there is no basis for the current drive to expand nuclear power or develop gas-to-power projects.
“The minister is opening the doors to a wave of litigation that will further delay the energy transition, simply because the basic administrative duties of his office are not prioritized.”
The DA demands that section 3 of the law be implemented immediately and that the minister give a deadline for the completion of the national energy data platform.
“Planning cannot take place in a vacuum,” says Mileham.
The party is also demanding a clear, legally binding timeline for when the plan will be presented to the portfolio committee, independent of foreign funding cycles.
“South Africa cannot afford a minister who treats the National Energy Act as if it were a set of optional guidelines. We need data, we need a plan, and we need a minister who upholds the law.”