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Speaking at a Ministerial meet and greet session with Departmental staff for Minister Kubayi, Deputy Minister Ambassador Thembisile Majola, and Director-General , Mr Thabane Zulu welcomed Ms Mmamoloko “Nkensani" Kubayi as the new Minister of Energy. In her welcome message Ambassador Majola shared her positive experiences of working with team energy since 2014. Meanwhile the Director-General assured Minister Kubayi that the team that she heads is hard working and will rally to deliver on the mandate that she and Deputy Minister Ambassador Thembisile Majola have been given by President Jacob Zuma.

Director General Zulu and Deputy Minister Majola assured Minister Kubayi that the team will continue to work towards entrenching the implementation of the energy mix, which promotes the harnessing of all energy sources for enhanced broadened access, and will bolster the national effort towards radical economic transformation.

Addressing officials Minister Kubayi thanked all present for availing themselves and explained that she that felt it was important for her to make the acquaintance of the team as soon as she could. She also committed to visit staff at the Regional Offices as soon as possible. Acknowledging the fact that the energy mandate is largely delivered through the work of the sector State Owned Entities and other stakeholders, the Minister also stated her intention to engage with the entities as a priority. She assured officials of her commitment to deliver on the energy mandate in partnership with all role players. To this end she has been engaging with the Deputy Minister, DG and executive management team since the day of her appointment.

Minister Kubayi has committed to avail herself to receive full and frank briefings of the DoE’s programmes, achievements, challenges, and work towards solutions where necessary. Expressing her expectations, of the entire department, the Minister urged all officials to deliver in line with their responsibilities and to work as a team in order to build a strong team that will contribute to the countries growth. “As a country, South Africa has overcome a lot of obstacles and challenges, and will continue to overcome any other challenges coming our way. Government has not changed but, the Ministers have changed. The change should not bring fear to any Team Energy member because, there will be synergy and swift transition in the Department of Energy,” she said.

In terms of her political background, before her appointment as Minister of Energy, Ms Kubayi was the ANC Proportional Representative from 2006-2009 in the City of Johannesburg Metro. She went on to serve as a parliamentary counsellor to former-President Kgalema Motlanthe while he served as the Deputy President. The accomplished Minister of Energy has also served as the Whip for the Committees of Basic Education, and Higher Education, as well as in the whippery of the majority party in Parliament.
As she takes up her new responsibilities for the Energy mandate, Minister Kubayi’s most recent legislative responsibility was as the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Telecommunications and Postal Services.

Prior to her entry into the legislature and government, Minister Kubayi served as a Provincial Executive Council (PEC) member of the Gauteng ANC Youth League. She also worked in the corporate sector during the period 2001 – 2006.

Minister Kubayi is a graduate of Vista University where she completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree, and also holds a Master’s Degree in Public and Development Management from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Issued by Department of Energy