The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy is a minister in the cabinet of the South African national government. The portfolio was called the Ministry of Minerals and Energy until May 2009, when President Jacob Zuma split it into two separate portfolios under the Ministry of Mining (later the Ministry of Mineral Resources) and the Ministry of Energy. Ten years later, in May 2019, his successor President

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...

reunited the portfolios as the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy. The current minister is

Gwede Mantashe Samson Gwede Mantashe, popularly known as Gwede Mantashe, (born 21 June 1955) is a South African politician and trade unionist, who as of 18 December 2017, serves as the National Chairperson of the African National Congress. He is also a former ...

, who was appointed to the position when the portfolios were reunified and who had been Minister of Mineral Resources before then. He is the political head of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, which was formed in a merger in June 2019.

History

The Ministry of Minerals and Energy existed as a position in the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

government and was retained in the

Government of National Unity A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nati ...

(GNU) after the first democratic elections in 1994. When the National Party resigned from the GNU, there was a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parli ...

, in which

Pik Botha Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha, (27 April 1932 – 12 October 2018) was a South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era, the longest-serving in South African history. Known as a libe ...

was replaced. Since then, every incumbent of the ministry has been a member of the ruling

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

. When Zuma took office in May 2009, he separated the Department of Minerals and Energy into the Department of Mining and the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

, overseen by the Minister of Mining and the Minister of Energy respectively. The Minister of Mining became known as the Minister of Mineral Resources from the beginning of his second cabinet in May 2014, and the department was also renamed accordingly. During Zuma's presidency, there were a number of cabinet reshuffles, affecting the energy portfolio in particular. The dismissals of energy ministers were linked by commentators to Zuma's efforts to gain approval for a proposed

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

deal with Russia. When Ramaphosa replaced Zuma in February 2018, he retained the separate mineral resources and energy portfolios during his first cabinet, but, after being re-elected pursuant to the 2019 general election, he united the ministerial portfolios and, shortly afterwards, the departments.

List of Ministers

1994–2009: Minister of Minerals and Energy

Susan Shabangu was deputy minister for the duration of Maduna and Mlambo-Ngcuka's tenure as minister. Mlambo-Ngcuka and Shabangu were the portfolio's first female minister and deputy minister respectively, and theirs was the first ministry in the history of the South African government in which both top positions were filled by women.

Lulu Xingwana Lulama "Lulu" Marytheresa Xingwana (born 23 September 1955) is a South African politician who served as Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities from November 2010 to May 2014. Previously she held the position of Deputy Ministe ...

succeeded Shabangu as deputy minister under Hendricks.

2009–2019: Separate portfolios

Minister of Mineral Resources

Godfrey Oliphant was deputy minister between November 2010 and May 2019.

Minister of Energy

Barbara Thomson was deputy minister of energy between November 2010 and May 2014, when she was succeeded by Thembi Majola, who remained in the position until December 2018.

2019–present: Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy

References

External links

Ministry page in government directoryDepartment page in government directoryDepartment of Mineral Resources and Energy website
{{SACabinet *

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...