President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended as “misguided” criticism he is facing for establishing a ministry to deal solely with electricity in his office.
Ramaphosa said on Friday people who are criticising the creation of a ministry of electricity in the presidency don’t know what they are talking about.
This has been met with a lot of criticism, with accusations he is creating a “super presidency” by moving key state apparatus to his office.“That minister will be in my office because in the end it is the responsibility people of South Africa have imposed on me and so I must have the capability to deal with it,” said Ramaphosa.
“So there is the notion that this is a 'super presidency' or we’re creating a super presidency which is also a misunderstanding of the role that the centre of government must play,” he said. The DA flip-flopped from being proponents of a declaration of a state of disaster to being its biggest critic once it was announced, which transport minister Fikile Mbalula referred to as “like calling for rain but complaining about mud”.