Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy has completed its interviews of candidates to fill vacancies on the board of the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) and has agreed on which of them to recommend to Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa for appointment to the board. The vacancies are for the community representative and the labour representative.

The final candidates selected by the committee for community representative are Ernest Tladi and Dr Mosebetsi Leotlela. Those recommended for labour representative are Dr Pulane Elsie Molokwane, Dr Margaret Msongi Mkhosi-Motsaathebe, David Lefutso, Dr Nomcebo Serrah Mhlanga, Grant Son, Zandile Matshaya, Mudanalwo Freddy Ndou, and Lean Mayana Makhubele.

The Minister will choose the two people who will fill the board vacancies from these two lists of recommendations. However, the committee also recommended to Ramokgopa that each of these candidate undergo security vetting, to verify and confirm their qualifications and ensure there are no conflicts of interest.

The interviews were conducted over three days, in closed sessions to ensure fairness and to prevent candidates gaining unfair advantages. These interviews will now be released, as the process was concluded.

The process was initiated last year, at the request of Ramokgopa, through the Office of the Speaker of Parliament, to fill the two vacancies on the NNR board. This was in compliance with the amended National Nuclear Regulator Act, 1999 (Act No.47 of 1999). The Minister also called for nominations of candidates to fill these vacancies, in line with Section 8(7)(a) of the aforementioned Act.

By the closing date for nominations, 103 applications had been received for the organised labour representative vacancy and 17 for the community representative vacancy, for a total of 120. From this long list the committee, in April, drew up a shortlist of 26, composed of four candidates to be interviewed for community representative and 22 for labour representative. Two of the shortlisted candidates subsequently withdrew themselves from consideration.

“The chairperson of the committee, Ms Zama Khanyase, expressed appreciation to all candidates who participated in the process, and for availing themselves for this important national process,” affirmed the committee in its statement. “She said the calibre and diversity of expertise, spanning legal, governance, engineering and academic fields, is a testament to the depth of talent committed to serving the country in ensuring nuclear safety and regulatory oversight.”