As sales to industrial customers slump by 22.5%, Eskom targets new sources of demand

Eskom reports that it is aiming to stabilise yearly sales at the 178 TWh level reported in its 2026 financial year, which represented another 6.1% year-on-year fall. The State-owned utility has... 

Eskom, BLSA endorse TSO-with-assets vision and commit to engage over differences on implementation

Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) and Eskom, which have recently expressed public disagreement over the nature of the unbundling of the State-owned utility, have issued a joint statement in... 

TRIM tests market appetite for branch-line concessions

A new market testing exercise has been initiated to assess interest in partnership opportunities across South Africa’s railway branch lines for freight and passenger trains. This so-called... 

AECI gearing up to invest up to R900m in Modderfontein optimisation

Mining explosives and chemicals group AECI is preparing to invest between R700-million and R900-million to modernise its historic Modderfontein facility, in Gauteng, which the group views as key to... 

IDC sets R51.5bn disbursement target as it aligns strategy to new industrial thrusts

South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has set a target of disbursing R51.5-billion in funding over the coming three financial years having aligned its corporate plan to... 

Palliative relief

There were relatively high expectations ahead of the publication of the revised electricity pricing policy. Partly because the Minister had flagged it as a key document, but mostly because tariff... 

Seriti unpacks big renewables ambition for coal heartland as first 155 MW wind project enters into operation

The first 25 turbines at Seriti Green’s Ummbila Emoyeni Wind Farm, which is rising in the coal heartland of Mpumalanga within site of the giant Secunda coal-to-liquids complex and in close... 

Optimism as a tactic

Few could dispute that Discovery CEO Adrian Gore has emerged as the most influential South African business leader of his generation. Even those, or perhaps especially those, who do everything from... 

Government and business pin hopes of 3% growth on mining, farming, tourism and infrastructure

The four sectors of mining, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure have been selected under Phase 3 of the Government-Business Partnership as the platforms for raising South Africa’s growth to 3%... 

Nersa approves discounted Eskom tariff for Manganese Metal Company

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has confirmed the approval of a two-year Negotiated Pricing Agreement (NPA) between Eskom and Mpumalanga-based Manganese Metal Company (MMC).... 

Draft electricity pricing policy outlines support for industry, poor households

The public comment phase for the much-anticipated revision to South Africa’s electricity pricing policy (EPP) has been initiated following Cabinet’s recent approval of the draft framework and amid... 

Mavuso not confident in commitment of Eskom leadership to reforms

Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busisiwe Mavuso – who has had an ongoing public disagreement with Eskom’s chairperson Mteto Nyati over the creation, with the transmission assets, of an... 

Anthem still targets year-end start for 420 MW Northern Cluster of wind projects despite rainfall delays

The giant 420 MW Northern Cluster, comprising three large wind farms under construction in the Karoo, is still anticipated to enter into commercial operation before the end of 2026, despite... 

TSO close, but not yet

There is no question that President Ramaphosa’s endorsement of the Phase I report of the Eskom Restructuring Task Team (ERTT) is a key milestone in the ongoing reform of South Africa’s electricity... 

TRIM tests market appetite for branch-line concessions

A new market testing exercise has been initiated to assess interest in partnership opportunities across South Africa’s railway branch lines for freight and passenger trains. This so-called... 

AECI gearing up to invest up to R900m in Modderfontein optimisation

Mining explosives and chemicals group AECI is preparing to invest between R700-million and R900-million to modernise its historic Modderfontein facility, in Gauteng, which the group views as key to... 

Eskom flags further coal-closure delays ahead of official update

Eskom Holdings CEO Dan Marokane says the State-owned utility will outline its proposed approach in September in relation to the decommissioning of coal-fired power stations beyond 2030. Eskom has... 

Rooftop solar could save municipalities billions on bulk electricity purchases

By adopting a cooperative rather than an oppositional stance towards rooftop solar, Gauteng municipalities in particular have an immediate opportunity to reduce the cost of their bulk purchases of... 

Important signals

Recent interventions by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and the National Treasury have helped shed light on issues that had hitherto been allowed to fester in dark corners. The most high-profile... 

All three components of R16bn Koruson 2 renewables cluster now operational

All three projects that make up Envusa Energy’s giant 520 MW Koruson 2 renewable-energy cluster are now officially operational, after 130 MW of the 140 MW Hartebeesthoek Wind Farm entered into... 

Transmission assets should be transferred to TSO at ‘appropriate point in future’

Eskom board chairperson Mteto Nyati has struck a somewhat cautious tone regarding the timing of the transfer of the utility’s transmission assets to the proposed independent Transmission System... 

Seriti unpacks big renewables ambition for coal heartland as first 155 MW wind project enters into operation

The first 25 turbines at Seriti Green’s Ummbila Emoyeni Wind Farm, which is rising in the coal heartland of Mpumalanga within site of the giant Secunda coal-to-liquids complex and in close... 

75 MW Northern Cape hybrid renewables-battery project enters into operation

A large-scale hybrid renewable energy project able to supply 75 MW of dispatchable renewable electricity to South Africa’s national grid between 5:00am and 9:30pm daily has been officially... 

Missed opportunity

The uptake of rooftop solar in South Africa has increased dramatically over the past five or so years, spurred initially by the extreme loadshedding from 2021 to 2024. Using satellite and other... 

Cabinet approves release of revised electricity pricing policy and market transformation paper for comment

Cabinet has approved the publication of the much-anticipated Revised Electricity Pricing Policy for public comment, amid growing affordability concerns following years of above-inflation tariff... 

AMSA insists ‘profitability within reach’ after reporting R1.49bn interim loss

Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) insists that it is fundamentally stronger than was the case 18 months ago and that “profitability is within reach”, after reporting a headline loss... 

SA signals intent to prohibit goods produced by forced labour after new 12.5% US tariff

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau reports that government will publish a Gazette notice requesting public comments on South Africa’s intent to issue regulations to prohibit goods... 

Distorted lens

Transitions are never easy. They are disruptive and are often fiercely resisted. South Africa navigated its own grand political transition in 1994, following a period of intense uncertainty and... 

Eskom flags further coal-closure delays ahead of official update

Eskom Holdings CEO Dan Marokane says the State-owned utility will outline its proposed approach in September in relation to the decommissioning of coal-fired power stations beyond 2030. Eskom has... 

Sasol says Secunda output at five-year high after coal destoning project

JSE-listed energy and chemicals group Sasol reported that its Secunda Operations, in Mpumalanga, achieved its highest annual production in the past five years during the 2026 financial year to June... 

Think electricity

Global statistics continue to reaffirm the role of electricity as the future dominant energy carrier. More and more energy services are being electrified, including through electric vehicles, while... 

Fossil generation ‘substituted’ by renewables in 2025 amid electricity tipping point

Record global electricity demand last year was met entirely by low-carbon sources, resulting in fossil fuels generation being substituted rather than supplemented, the Energy Institute’s... 

City of Johannesburg’s high operating expenditure dubbed ‘utterly unsustainable’

New research into the crisis afflicting the City of Johannesburg warns that the widening structural imbalance between the metro’s operating expenditure and capital expenditure (capex) poses a... 

Gap between policy intent and action must be closed to halt deindustrialisation

Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) president Mervyn Naidoo has called on government to urgently close the prevailing gap between its stated commitment to... 

Alarm over tender cancellations

Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) has raised concern about the high level of tender cancellations, which it believes is having a negative impact on the construction market, as well as on meeting... 

Two entities shortlisted to bid to partner with Transnet on ‘LeaseCo’

Transnet has issued a formal request for proposals (RFP) to two shortlisted bidders that participated in an earlier request for qualification (RFQ) process relating to the creation of a railways... 

Measured ambition

South Africa’s planned R1-trillion infrastructure programme is undoubtedly a chance to revive the struggling construction sector and to stimulate industrialisation. After more than a decade of weak... 

Investment vehicle Zafiri launches with $176m to support African distributed renewables firms

A new investment vehicle dedicated to deploying long-term equity into distributed renewable energy businesses across sub-Saharan Africa has been launched with initial committed capital of... 

ZET says ExxonMobil agreement further strengthens LNG terminal’s commercial foundation

The Zululand Energy Terminal (ZET), which is aiming to build South Africa’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at the Port of Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, has signed heads of... 

Populist omen

South Africa is approaching the fifth anniversary of the deadly July 2021 riots and looting in an atmosphere that is again heavily laden with the threat of violence. It’s a fog made denser by the...