The finance minister must tread a tightrope to fix the economy as he prepares for next week’s budget speech
He must end the Mantashe problem and execute his strategy rather than keep the ANC onside
Sona was a mixed bag but there were some meaningful announcements
The poor condition of state-owned enterprises remains a blight on growth forecasts
Ramaphosa and his role model Nelson Mandela became presidents of South Africa in very trying times
I have been slow but steady in rebuilding South Africa, but it’s time for tough, decisive action
South Africa has a slew of service-delivery problems, most notably in the water and electricity sectors. The time for promises is over: what the country needs is action
The president is facing challenges at every turn, among them the economy, the state of SOEs and factionalism within the ANC. Only if Ramaphosa and his party work together will they be able to turn their declining fortunes around
A broken municipality and a four-year crisis forces residents to consider desperate choices, such as
trading sex for water
The pace of land reform needs to be increased. But taking power from the courts and giving it to the executive will only create more policy uncertainty
The treasury’s rejection of South32’s proposal to increase the value of its Eskom contract by R1.2-billion could spark a coal shortage for the parastatal
State Security Agency still cannot produce the security clearance certificate required for the incumbent, Baptiste Dungu, to occupy the top post at the Onderstepoort Biological Products
Everyone has different solutions, but they all agree that time is running out — and Eskom is the priority
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/ 30 January 2020
General Electric partners with Eskom to upgrade Mpumulanga schools
The union federation says urgent, bold action is needed to keep the state-owned utility (and South Africa) going
Eskom’s negotiators in a R100-million maintenance contract came back with a proposal to push up the costs
The current restructuring plan for the state-owned entity won’t solve its problems, but there is a way to make the power utility work successfully
Citizen action, where diverse groups work together, offers hope that municipalities can be forced to do their job properly
Three children are dead. More than a dozen homes have been gutted by fires in the past six months. And, as the Mail & Guardian reported last week, all this could have been averted had the Lekwa municipality in Mpumalanga followed due process in obtaining new fire trucks. Lekwa is one of the worst-performing municipalities […]
The transition to a decarbonised economy based on water, wind and solar energy will save trillions, plus people’s lives and climate crisis costs
Eskom appointed a new interim chairperson this week — board member Professor Malegapuru Makgoba. Makgoba is not a new face. He was the health ombudsman tasked with investigating the Life Esidimeni tragedy. He was also deputy chair of the national planning committee. He is also a leading immunologist, physician and public health advocate. But for […]
Eskom’s woes are often because of boiler problems at its power plants. R50-billion has been set aside to fix them, but some of the contracts are going to questionable entities
Cyril Ramaphosa wants to do the right thing – bring independent power producers on to the grid. He must act despite opposition from top ANC members
The finance minister says despite the difficult fiscal environment, structural reforms are under way to put SA on a new growth path
Photographer Daylin Paul, inspired by a former colleague, brings into view coal’s devastation in Mpumalanga
South Africa needs to seriously start thinking about shifting its energy focus. This is for two reasons. The first is that the country’s important exports — coal and platinum — face potential collapse with the imminent shift of global energy markets. A number of factors are driving this. The move away from vehicles powered by […]
To improve the South African economy, we need to institute practical measures to effect change
ANC president says only his party can improve lives, as Northern Cape residents lament their struggles in South Africa’s sparsest province
There has been no progress in expanding national electricity grids in most African countries since 2016
Regular maintenance, zero corruption and no emergency coal procurement are the main issues
The environment department has lost patience with Eskom’s defiance of air pollution regulations
I’m hammered — by endless rain, power outages and Cyril’s sabotage performance