Reforms in the energy sector are likely to be “pushed out slightly” amid Eskom’s “complex” restructuring, said Rudi Dicks, head of the project management office in the Presidency, on Friday. The government was slightly off track on electricity distribution and clearing the title deeds backlog, he said. As part of energy reform, the government is separating Eskom into generation, transmission and distribution companies, bringing in private sector participation in generation, and creating a wholesale market to improve power supply and cut costs.
During the quarterly update of Operation Vulindlela phase II at the JSE on Friday, Dicks flagged Eskom restructuring as one of the risks in the government’s infrastructure reform programme, describing South Africa as a “laggard”. “These things are complex. We have to get stuff right from a regulatory point of view.
The reforms in the electricity sector are likely to be pushed out slightly because we have got to follow particular processes, and I think it is important that the commitment remains that we continue with the restructuring of the electricity sector and Eskom being at the centre,” he said. The reforms under Operation Vulindlela have focused on: We said that having one company providing electricity is not good for South Africa; we have a lived experience out of that. We said we need to reform the electricity industry in order to allow the private sector to generate electricity Operation Vulindlela is a joint initiative of the Presidency and the Treasury to fast-track progress with economic reforms.
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Also reporting on the progress of the third quarter of 2025/26 under Operation Vulindlela phase 2, deputy finance minister David Masondo said on Friday that the reforms had made an impact on stable energy supply and energy generation. “We have not had load-shedding, and it is a consequence of these reforms. We said that having one company providing electricity is not good for South Africa; we have a lived experience out of that.
We said we need to reform the electricity industry in order to allow the private sector to generate electricity,” he said. While Eskom’s restructuring had been slow, the introduction of distribution agency agreements was a critical component of reform. “The government’s focus will now be on releasing the EDI Roadmap to enable implementation of key reform proposals,” he said.
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