The complex and multidimensional nature of life in any country means that more than one thing is invariably true at the same time. Moreover, these truths can be highly contradictory, or as Charles... 

When South Africa transitioned to democracy in the 1990s, and when climate constraints were not yet on the agenda, energy policy was arguably the country’s main industrial policy lever. The country... 

There are signs that the long-promised change to the composition of government spending – from consumption to capital investment – is at last taking shape. In his Medium-Term Budget Policy... 

When ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) initially announced in January that it would be closing the Newcastle mill and winding down its long-steel businesses in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and... 

Given the many moving parts in play currently within the electricity industry, there is a real risk of becoming distracted from what is truly important. Developments over the past few months alone... 

The latest edition of the Integrated Resource Plan for electricity, dubbed IRP 2025, has been Gazetted and its contents have not really come as any surprise. But that does not suggest it does not... 

It is now widely accepted that we live in a misinformation era – one where it has become acceptable, even fashionable, to be anti-science. Scientific consensus is making way for conspiracy... 

South Africans are naturally strongly opposed to any more hefty electricity hikes, having borne above-inflation increases for years while power disruptions intensified and Eskom’s finances... 

The twin crises of surging municipal arrear debt owing to Eskom and rising electricity theft have been lurking for years, and with all efforts to combat the problems having failed. In fact Eskom’s... 

When should a Minister intervene at a State-owned company or independent regulator? It’s a difficult question to answer, and will remain so for as long as Ministers have shareholder... 

South Africa is thankfully surfacing from a of period of prolonged electricity disruption that all but stripped the country of its ability to grow and create jobs for more than a decade. But this... 

It is understandable that few are fully aware of the South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM) and the likely significance of this complex reform, which represents an important... 

The extreme pace of the 2025 news cycle has made it difficult to remember even the most important developments. For instance, it is difficult to recall the immediate concern raised in January over... 

Developments in the South African steel industry offer a glimpse into the pressures being faced by the manufacturing sector as a whole, and the likely industrial and trade policy responses to those... 

With industrial and trade policy firmly back on the global agenda, South African industry is becoming more vocal in highlighting the threats posed to South Africa’s industrial capacity by policy... 

The message delivered by Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa that the reforms under way in the electricity sector are “irreversible”, is an important one. Doubly so, given that... 

There has been an important, yet largely overlooked, shift in South Africa’s approach to meeting its goal of providing universal electricity access by 2030. A proposed revision to the delivery... 

The idiom ‘one step forward, two steps back’ has surely arisen in the minds of those who have been monitoring developments in the electricity industry over the recent past. It is undeniable that... 

There are worrying signs that the economic reforms under way in the electricity sector are stalling, or are even facing active resistance. Arguably, this development is predictable given the... 

A picture has started to emerge of the potential economic fallout of America’s existing, as well as potentially imminent, tariffs on South African goods. Recent econometric modelling has helped to... 

The decision by US President Donald Trump to implement ‘reciprocal tariffs’ of 30% on those South African goods not specifically exempted or subject to sector-specific duties is a major blow... 

South Africa’s recent trade policy interventions have been nowhere near as attention grabbing as President Donald Trump’s April 2 Rose Garden performance that included a giant cardboard chart... 

One of the marvels of the post-Covid era is the ongoing ability to participate in live events that are many miles away. Although technology fails from time to time, there are several government... 

Memories of that ‘dim-the-lights’ Oval Office ambush have been enveloped in a fog of billionaire-bro brawls, immigrant raids and protests, the militarisation of law enforcement, vaccine-committee... 

Few would argue that South Africa’s procurement of electricity generation capacity from independent power producers (IPPs) is one of the country’s very few public procurement success stories. But... 

The fact that it takes an exceedingly long time in South Africa for policy decisions to be made let alone implemented is something of a doubled-edged sword. On the positive side, it can sometimes... 

If there were but one lesson to draw from the 2025 Budget, it must be that inadequate consultation seriously reduces the chances of navigating the new normal of coalition governance. To their... 

In a world turned upside down by the performative antics of US President Donald Trump, it is easy to lose one’s bearings and one’s cool. And while the South Africans that entered the White House... 

Updating South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity has always been a perilous endeavour. Despite various attempts, it took nearly ten years for the 2010 edition to be updated,... 

The announcement by Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa that the load factor for proposed gas-to-power (GtP) plants in South Africa will be increased from 25% to above 50% was... 

The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) has initiated two major tariff reviews that could have significant implications for the country’s existing real-economy... 

The full implications for South Africa of US President Donald Trump’s untargeted trade and industrial policies are not yet fully known. They are unlikely to be pain-free, however. Besides for the...