Africa-Press – South-Africa. Business groups that sounded the alarm on Eskom and the Energy Department’s plan to maintain the power utility’s monopoly on energy transmission are breathing a huge sigh of relief.
The groups warned earlier this month that the Department of Electricity and Energy’s proposal to “revise” Eskom’s unbundling would lead to confusion and apprehension in the energy sector, and likely cause private investors to pull out of projects.
Under the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act, Eskom is supposed to be unbundled into three independent entities in the generation, distribution, and transmission spaces—ending its monopoly over South Africa’s electricity market.
A key milestone in this process was hit in 2024, when the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) started trading.
However, electricity minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa threw a spanner in the works in December 2025, when he proposed a “revised” unbundling plan that would keep the NTCSA within Eskom Holdings.
This move would have kept the country’s transmission assets firmly under Eskom’s control, which would have left the Transmission System Operator (TSO) without asset ownership.
Energy experts and business lobbies, such as Business Leadership South Africa and Business Unity South Africa, flagged a range of issues with the proposal.
The biggest of these was around the obvious conflict of interest and uncompetitive nature of such a scenario, as well as the knock-on effect of investors pulling billions of rands out of much-needed investment in the sector.
They wrote an urgent letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa to clarify the country’s official position on the unbundling and asset control.
Fortunately, the president delivered on this request, stating clearly in his State of the Nation Address that the original plan is unchanged.
“We are restructuring Eskom and establishing a fully independent state-owned transmission entity,” Ramaphosa said.
“This entity will have ownership and control of transmission assets and be responsible for operating the electricity market.”
Given the importance of the restructuring for the broader reform of the electricity sector, the president announced that he has established a dedicated task team under the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom) to address various issues relating to the restructuring process.
This will include providing clear timeframes for its phased implementation, with the first reported expected within three months.
The president said that the first round of independent transmission projects will also commence this year, which will see private investment expanding the national grid.
Dark clouds cleared
Business Leadership South Africa Chief Executive, Busisiwe Mavuso
According to BLSA chief executive Busi Mavuso, the president’s statement has brought much-needed clarity and has cleared the air of a nasty dark cloud hanging over the grid.
“The independent Transmission System Operator will own and operate transmission assets and run the electricity market,” she said.
“This resolves the policy confusion that emerged in mid-December…The uncertainty that emerged was affecting investor confidence. Thursday’s announcement removes that cloud.”
The business leader added that Ramaphosa’s announcement of a dedicated task team was also a welcome development that would ensure everyone was on the same page about the unbundling.
“The dedicated task team that the president will establish under Necom provides the right mechanism to manage the complex transition and ensure there are no missteps,” she said.
“BLSA looks forward to supporting that process where we can. The end result will be a resilient electricity system that drives the investment urgently needed in grid expansion and future generation capacity.”
Mavuso said that the task team will help deliver the necessary reforms, evidenced by how quickly engagement with the electricity minister and the president yielded the required certainty.
“The electricity reform clarity shows what a focused government-business partnership achieves when both sides commit to solving problems. We resolved policy confusion in weeks through direct engagement,” she said.
Eskom has also acknowledged the president’s direction, but voiced limited support.
In a terse statement following Ramaphosa’s address, the utility repeated what was said in the address and stated only that it would support the task team.
“In the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday, 12 February 2026, President Cyril Ramaphosa directed that the establishment of a fully independent state-owned transmission entity will have ownership and control of transmission assets and be responsible for operating the electricity market.
“Eskom will fully support the task team that is being created to deliver the TSO.”
Source: businesstech
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