Kgosientsho Ramokgopa

Kgosientsho Ramokgopa
Ramokgopa in September 2011
Minister of Electricity and Energy
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 July 2024[1]
President	Cyril Ramaphosa
Deputy	Samantha Graham
Preceded by	Office established
Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity
In office 7 March 2023 – 19 June 2024
President	Cyril Ramaphosa
Preceded by	Office established
Member of the Gauteng Executive Council for Economic Development, Agriculture, and Environment
In office 29 May 2019 – 11 October 2019
Premier	David Makhura
Preceded by	Lebogang Maile (for Economic Development)
Succeeded by	Morakane Mosupyoe
Mayor of Tshwane
In office 2 November 2010 – August 2016
Preceded by	Gwen Ramokgopa
Succeeded by	Solly Msimanga
Personal details
Born	Kgosientsho David Ramokgopa (1975-01-25) 25 January 1975 (age 49)
Political party	African National Congress
Spouse	Georgia Ramokgopa
Relations	Gwen Ramokgopa (aunt)
Alma mater	University of Durban-Westville University of Pretoria
Nickname	Sputla

Kgosientsho David "Sputla" Ramokgopa (born 25 January 1975) is a South African politician who was the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity from 2023, and the Minister of Electricity and Energy from 3 July 2024.^[1] He was the Mayor of Tshwane from 2010 to 2016. He was also a Member of the Executive Council in the Gauteng provincial government in 2019 and worked in the Presidency of South Africa as head of infrastructure from 2019 to 2023.

A civil engineer by training, Ramokgopa entered formal politics as a ward councillor for the African National Congress (ANC) in Tshwane between 2000 and 2005. After several years running public and private entities, he returned to politics in November 2010 when he was elected Mayor of Tshwane. By that time he was also the Regional Chairperson of the ANC's branch in Tshwane, a position he held until 2018. In June 2016, Ramokgopa was passed over for reappointment as the ANC's mayoral candidate in the 2016 local government elections, which the ANC ultimately lost; the ANC's selection of Thoko Didiza as its mayoral candidate led to violent protests in which five people were killed. After the election, Ramokgopa declined to serve as an ordinary local councillor and retreated from frontline politics.

Pursuant to the 2019 general election, Ramokgopa served a brief stint in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature and as MEC for Economic Development, Agriculture, and Environment under Premier David Makhura. He was MEC for only four-and-a-half months, between May and October 2019; he resigned so that a woman could take his position in line with the ANC's internal rules about gender parity in government structures. Shortly after Ramokgopa resigned from the provincial government, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed him to head the investment and infrastructure unit in the Presidency. In addition, Ramokgopa was a member of the Provincial Executive Committee of the Gauteng ANC until July 2022, and in December 2022 he was elected to a five-year term on the party's National Executive Committee.