International experience suggests South Africa can benefit by focusing on a simple restructuring of its power utility, allowing well-run state-owned entities to flourish.
The impression that’s been created is that political will is the only ingredient missing in fixing South Africa’s electricity crisis. But this is simplistic.
The hybrid nature of threats to South Africa’s energy infrastructure can only be solved by an integrated solution, including severe sanctions that should include fines and imprisonment.
Every South African who cares about the future of the country will agree with former president Mbeki that, to avert disaster, something must be done urgently about its deep socio-economic problems.
The country is still a very different political space. It’s a noisy democracy with a free media, lots of dissenting voices, and insulting the government doesn’t carry any overt sanction.
The G7 summit offered the most recent insights for Africa into how western nations are considering their stakes in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the impact that could have on developing nations.
The ANC has been using multiple tactics to fend off the looming calamity of not having Ramaphosa as its president, and that of the country, in the clear absence of a credible candidate to replace him.
The unwillingness of African governments to forge a unified position on the Russian invasion has damaged the credibility of their pan-African commitments.
The relationship between South Africa and the West, especially the US, has a complex history. Not least because the US designated those fighting the apartheid regime, as terrorists.
As the July 2021 unrest and looting graphically showed, crime and lawlessness can debilitate and destroy government efforts to facilitate and support economic growth.