AfrOil: South Africa urgently needs new gas deal, says BLSA chief

South Africa faces a looming gas crisis as its natural gas supply is set to plummet within two years, warns Busiswe Mavuso, CEO of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA). The current main supplier, the Sasol-operated gas fields in Mozambique, will cease supplying South African clients by mid-2026, exacerbating the challenge.

“We are facing a new blow to energy availability in our economy, with a cliff in natural gas supply just over two years away. Many industries rely on gas as an energy source, from glass making to beverages,” Mavuso writes in her recent weekly newsletter.

Warnings of this crisis, just like with the electricity generation crisis, have persisted, but policy inaction and insufficient investment have left the country vulnerable. Approximately 70,000 jobs and a significant portion of the economy, amounting to ZAR500bn ($26.4bn) annually, are at stake, BLSA notes.

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