Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
EskomIn the news
The solar panels are going up. The wind farms are being commissioned. The investment is flowing. The problem? The wires to carry all that electricity don't exist yet and the unit deciding who gets access to them still sits inside the organisation most conflicted by the answer
ENERGY TRANSITION

Africa's clean energy future is stuck in grid traffic

South Africa, rich in solar and wind resources with billions ready for investment, faces a critical bottleneck: a severe lack of power lines and an opaque grid access queue. This…

  • Heinrich van der Walt
5 min read
Former president Thabo Mbeki.
SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICS

Thabo Mbeki: The retired firefighter who arrives at the scene of his own fires

There is a trend, uniquely South African, with retired politicians. Unlike retired teachers, retired engineers or retired surgeons, they never seem to retire. They merely…

  • Reverend Lionel Jean Michel
5 min read
As renewable investment scales across the continent, conventional risk tools will need to be complemented by market-responsive strategies that reflect the institutional and financial realities of each context.
ENERGY INVESTMENT

The risk problem with investors treating African energy as one market

The 2024 El Niño drought severely impacted Southern Africa's energy infrastructure, notably Lake Kariba, exposing the diverse and complex risks investors face across the…

  • Vuyo Mafrika
  • Chewe Chumany
  • Opy Ramaremisa
5 min read
Slippery slope: The sinkholes started forming in the township in 2021, forcing families to abandon their homes as they were deemed unsafe. A clinic and schools also had to close. Photos: Lunga Mzangwe
LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Merafong sinks but funds go elsewhere

Cash-strapped Merafong City Local Municipality has spent almost half its R2.6 billion annual budget on professional services while failing to service its water and electricity…

  • Lunga Mzangwe
6 min read
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Video

The BYD storm is upon SA but a local factory depends on ‘market readiness’

BYD's entry into South Africa has dramatically reshaped the new-energy vehicle (NEV) landscape. After initially withholding sales figures, BYD's recent disclosure to Naamsa…

  • Eyaaz Matwadia
7 min read