South Africa’s minister provides update on grid performance, status of electricity sector reform process

South Africa’s Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has assured the nation that ongoing reforms in the electricity sector are “irreversible.” The minister has called a media briefing to update South Africans on the state of the electricity grid, government media agency SANews reported on August 13.

During the briefing, Ramokgopa addressed growing concerns that the state-run power utility Eskom was once again relying too heavily on its expensive diesel generators to supplement inadequate power generation.

The minister noted that South Africa had not experienced crippling power outages, or load shedding, since May this year. “We are beginning to see that the system is stable, resilient and becoming more reliable as we move on,” he said.

Ramokgopa added that Eskom did not “expect any major surprises in relation to the performance of the grid” for the remainder of the winter and the subsequent transition to the warmer months.

“We are in a good space. We are moving in the right direction,” he was quoted by SANews as saying. “We made the promise that we are going to address this situation, and we made the promise that we are confident of our technical ability to resolve what many thought was an intractable challenge.”

At the briefing, Ramokgopa also dealt with questions about the status of the reform process and Eskom’s move to have the High Court review and set aside five domestic trading licences, Engineering News reported. The minister confirmed that he had asked the Eskom board not to proceed with its legal case against the national regulator’s decision to license electricity traders.

He acknowledged that some friction was inevitable as the market moved from a monopoly to one with multiple participants, but said he did not support Eskom turning to the courts to settle what was a technically complex issue.

Ramokgopa noted that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) had already begun finalising the rules, with the process timeline shortened from 12 months to three to provide certainty more quickly.

“It’s in that context that I told Eskom that it’s not advisable that they go to the courts,” the minister said, adding that he had conveyed the message directly to Eskom chairperson Mteto Nyati and asked Eskom to contribute to the rules-setting process.

Furthermore, Ramokgopa rejected claims that Eskom was resisting the reforms and maintained that the government remained committed to its course. “The reform agenda is irreversible,” the minister said as cited by Engineering News.