Government-Business Partnership Shows Progress In Addressing South Africa's Challenges

The partnership between the South African government and businesses is showing early signs of success in tackling the country's issues, as per the Presidency and Business for South Africa.

However, more work needs to be done to address more challenges in the country. The partnership, formed last year, aims to promote inclusive and economic growth. It focuses on three key areas: energy, transport and logistics and crime and corruption.

The Presidency and Business for South Africa held a meeting, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, where the significant progress achieved in the energy workstream was discussed.

"The energy workstream was reported to have had the most impact, achieving a dramatic reduction in load shedding, in collaboration with Eskom (over 140 days without load shedding so far this year), and significant grid capacity recovery (with more than 6 gigawatts of new energy generation added) through investment in additional technical support and capacitation from 57 companies investing over 9,000 hours at five power stations," as per the joint statement, SA News reported.

The energy availability factor is now over 60%, compared to 54% in 2023. However, there are still several challenges including rising electricity costs, struggling municipal utilities, complicated market reforms, a slow-expanding grid and a slowdown in investment in new energy generation.

The statement further mentioned that a huge investment will be needed to reform the energy sector over the next five to 10 years. It is widely agreed that addressing these challenges now is crucial.

"Business, Eskom and the Presidency have agreed that the priorities of the National Energy Crisis Committee should include a focus on transmission, market reform, municipal utilities and new energy generation," as per the statement.

The two parties recognized that although there have been some successes, progress has not been as fast or extensive as hoped.

Business has provided important technical support and resources to Transnet Freight Rail, including help with procurement, operations, and port maintenance for Transnet Port Terminals.

The Transnet Board and management are making strides in carrying out the recovery plan. However, it is widely acknowledged that Transnet needs major improvements to better meet customer needs and market demand for sustainable economic growth.

The meeting also acknowledged that expanding the economy is essential for creating more job opportunities.