JOHANNESBURG, Feb 13 – South Africa will proceed with plans to separate its power utility Eskom and establish an independent state owned transmission company, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday, reaffirming a reform first announced in 2019.
In a national address to lawmakers in Cape Town, Ramaphosa said the government is restructuring Eskom and creating “a fully independent state owned transmission entity” that will own and operate grid assets and manage the electricity market. He said the entity will take ownership and control of transmission infrastructure.
The announcement follows debate over a revised unbundling strategy approved in December by Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, which proposed keeping transmission assets under Eskom as a subsidiary within a single holding structure. Earlier plans had called for splitting Eskom into three stand alone units covering generation, transmission and distribution.
Ramaphosa said he has set up a task team under the National Energy Crisis Committee to oversee the restructuring and deliver a report within three months with clear implementation timelines.
Africa’s most industrialised economy has faced years of rolling power cuts as Eskom struggles with ageing plants and financial constraints. According to the Department of Electricity and Energy, South Africa requires about 390 billion rand over the next decade to expand and modernise its transmission network, funding that Eskom cannot provide alone.
Private sector investment has already mobilised more than 200 billion rand, or about $12.5 billion, in renewable energy projects, adding roughly 6,000 megawatts of capacity without adding to Eskom’s balance sheet, industry data show.
In its latest Article IV report, the International Monetary Fund urged South Africa to accelerate electricity reforms, including separating generation and transmission units and establishing a functional wholesale power market.
